51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap

[brothers69c-10]

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[dubie]

The truck is turning out amazing bud.

More importantly, I hope your daughter's surgery changes her life. We have a 16 year old daughter with scoliosis. Hers isn't as severe as what your child has but bad enough to cause constant discomfort. Ours curves right between the shoulder blades which causes a hump in her upper back and she leans to one side. She sees a massage therapist every month as well as a Bowen therapist every week to relieve the stress that her spine puts on her muscular and lymphatic system. The specialists say it's not bad enough for surgery but to keep a watchful eye on her. It's also a good thing that her mom is a registered personal trainer and has had her in the gym for the past year getting everything strengthened up. It really has helped her tremendously.

Our thoughts go out to you and yours man

[jlwilliams598]

You daughter is in my prayers. I am really loving your truck. I don't post on here much, just love to read everyone's threads. The reason I don't is because I am building a 1955 International Harvester R-110 half ton panel on a (like you) 1992 s-10 frame. I KNOW, I KNOW, NOT A CHEVY!!! I love chevys, just couldn't find a chevy panel when I was ready to start a project. Hope to find one soon though!!!!! I can't wait to see more pics!!!

[Daze57]

jlwilliams598

A R-110 panal ? that is v v cool - c;mon show some picts - it would be nice to see a different panal once in a while - IH - ya just dont see them in a lot of builds .

[Atommik]

Dubie,
My older daughter (17) has scoliosis as well as my younger one. She had surgery last summer and hers went well also. Her curve sounds like your daughters. Between the shoulder blades, causing her right shoulder blade to "stick out" and her right shoulder higher than the left. After wearing a brace for 18 months, her curve continued to increase in size. By the time she had surgery it was 60 degrees. During the surgery, the also removed a 1 inch section of three ribs to help "flatten" the shoulder blade area. She is now fullly recovered, and looks so much straighter than before!! We have been so impressed with doctor/surgeon that performed both of their surgeries. They said it was very rare that siblings would both have scoliosis to the point of needing surgery. I asked for a 2 for 1 discount!! No deal! My wife and I hated to have to see our kids go through all that, but we know that the surgery was needed and will benefit them the rest of their lives!!


Now, back to the build. My first "truck time" in almost a month. I started building the rear roll pan on Saturday. It's mostly complete and fit up. Of course I left my camera at work. I'll stop by there later today and get it so I can add some pics!!!

[99 to Life]

wow you are dealing with quite a bit. I'm sure working on the truck is a bit of relief from your family life. Keep it up man, glad the cards are going in your favor.

[Atommik]

Here's a few pics of the in progress roll pan. Started with a 13"X96" piece of 20 gauge from a local steel vendor. Only $10.00!
Even though I work in a body shop, we do mostly collision work so we don't have many sheet metal working tools. I made this using a cut off wheel to score the back side of the areas to be bent. Then bent it over the edge of a long steel workbench. The roll was made by bending the piece over a 4" diameter incoming water pipe in the back room of the shop. You gotta work with what you've got!!

I picked up a couple of trailer L.E.D. tail lights that will mount up flush behind the holes in the roll pan. I hope to get it finished this week and paint it next Saturday.

Also, got some tax return money this week. Now, I need a little "discussion" with my wife about how much of it will be truck money!!

[FarmerSid]

Watch the paint!!

[xpickup]

Atommik. Looks great. Can not wait to see it painted and with the lights in it. Glad you daughter is recovering well and your older one is doing well also. It is amazing what the doctors can do now a days.


Shannon

[oldman3]

That is going to look great when it all finished. Glad the family is doing OK...Jim

[Atommik]

So this week I was able to finish the roll pan. I painted it today, then mounted the tail lights and installed it. I lit up one of the lights using a battery charger just to see it. Unfortunately, the light kind of gets washed out in the pics (cheap camera can't handle the brightness/contrast)...but it looks good in person!!

I also started working on shortening the drive shaft. I'll need to remove about three inches from the short front section.

[Daze57]

lookin really clean - blue dots would look really nice in those lights

[oldman3]

Very nice, like the way it looks....Jim

[Atommik]

Well today started with a little fit up of the alternator. After relocating the ps pump higher and in, the alt will have to be moved a little. Shouldn't be a problem though...

Then I decided to jump into the wiring harness. If I'm going to get this thing running soon, I figured I'd better get that project started!! A few months ago I bought an EZ Wiring harness. So far so good. I've got most of it "roughed in". All of the wires in their place, but nothing hooked up yet. I"ve spent about 2 1/2 hours on it so far. I still need to wire in a headlight relay and get a headlight switch.

Here's some pics...

[99 to Life]

ahhh let the fun begin. Funny how it takes that long to ruff in right!! Wiring is just very time consuming and you wouldn't think it would be. I got the 21 circuit kit and I like it, especially for the price. A headlight relay is def worth having. Learned that the hardway, the aftermarket switches out there are like 20amp and can't handle the high beams. This is when the truck really comes to life I feel, cause its almost done. Great feeling getting in and turning the key. glad your daughter is recovering well.

[Atommik]

I got a little done today. Mounted and wired my xenon headlights. Still a ways from having all the wiring done, but just had to power up the headlights!!

Also painted the mid 50's Caddillac air cleaner to match the anodized valve covers I have.

[Rednek13x]

Love the headlights

[Daze57]

v v interesting look for the headlights -- cool

[Atommik]

Thanks guys,
I'm really happy how they turned out.

[xpickup]

Atommik, they both look great. I like the headlights. I would love to see how they are at night.

Shannon
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[torchlight]

Did you go to the car show this weekend at the state fairgrounds? Maybe I'll see your truck there next year!
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[Atommik]

Worked on the wiring some more today. I ordered LED 1157 amber bulbs for the front turn/parklights. Nice and bright! Also ordered the LED licsense light bolts for the rear. They seem to put out a good amount of light. I got the tail lamps, licsense lights and front turn signals all wired. Every splice soldered and heat shrunk. It took alot longer than I thought it would. But I did add a seperate ground wire for each light instead of just grounding thru the body where the parts are bolted on, so I guess that basically doubled the number of connections to make. I've got LED flashers on order too.

Last week I ordered s10 v8 swap headers from JEGS. They came friday so I trial fit those today also. Pass side fits great and the driver side will, as soon as I get the rest of the pieces I need for the steering shaft. I'm trying to find someone local to buy DD shaft from and universal joints so if there's something I buy that I don't need, I can bring it back instead of shipping it back.

One of the guys at work wet sanded and buffed the truck on friday. It looks great! I decided to leave a little "orange peel" in the clear so it will be a little easier to keep looking nice since I am planning on driving it quite a bit. I can always sand it down more at a later date if I change my mind. Since the buffing is done, I can do the final install on the running boards and fillers.

[torchlight]

Love the classic Minnesota plate. Looks great!

[oldman3]

Plates a nice touch...Jim

[Atommik]

Last week my boss gave me this T shirt. He saw it at Tractor Supply and thought of me. He didn't know it was 2 days before my birthday!!