It finally starts... another S10 swap...

[JML55]

Nice work.

[jeffs51chevy]

Me likey, likey. Nice work!!!

[BlueJeep]

Thadious,

Do you have the stock s10 gas tank in yours? If so, does the "lowered" front part of the tank stick under the cab?

Mine's sitting on 4x4's right now on top of the frame (3.5" up), and it wouldn't work this low and still be able to use the tank if it wasn't an extended-cab frame.

Also, I've noticed that my front bumper brackets are different than yours. Mine (was) a 3800 1-ton, and the brackets are perpindicular to the frame rather than parallel like yours, and it just mounted flat to the front of the frame. Makes me think it'll be easier to mount this way...but I'm not that far yet to see.

[Thadious]

I spent alot of time deciding on how to best do the tank. I'm not going to be using the stock s-10 tank as I've opted for the blazer tank to go back by the rear axle. I'm currently trying to work out how to relocate and set up the filler neck so I can fill from behind a centre mount license plate flip down bracket. I've noticed that the fill necks on the tanks are just soldered in and since I teach at a sheet metal shop, this would be cake to relocate.

I'm just trying to keep from a fender or side mount fill neck and not desiring to have a in-box filler.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Ted.

[OrrieG]

I am going to run mine up next to the driver rear stake pocket, my tank is after market with side fill. I found details where a guy put his in the stake pocket with a boat type flush fill cap but I don't want to work that hard. I'll just add a box next to the stake box, flush with the side offset and use the original fill/vent piece from the cab. I am going to have a muffler shop fab a pipe from the fill to tank and use short pieces of hose to connect them. PM me with an email if you want photos of what I found in my search.

[Thadious]

Had thought about the stake pocket idea as well... and since I've rebuid the box sides without the holes in the top... that may be a possibility, besides, I think the fill neck for the blazer tank is right there...

Hmmm...


Ted.

[BlueJeep]

How low will the truck end up? The reason I ask is the center fill behind the license plate might be a PITA if it sits too low when done. Mine's coming out the driver's side, kinda like the 47-48's did on the pass side.

[wibas]

Hey I'm gathering thoughts and parts for the same type of swap. What do you use for headers or exhaust manifolds? What needs to done to the front and rear s10 suspension? I'm doing a 1952 GMC with a 1993 S15. Are you using a chassis swap kit like advance desinge or ez-swap or are you fabbing your own brackets? I have not wrenched like this for 20 years. Thought I would give it a try. Thanks!

[pgf545]

Looking great Ted!!! I totally missed when you started posting. It is amazing how much better things look with a little elbow grease. Your frame and motor look great. Good luck and I will make it a point to check out your progress every once in a while.

Bernie

[Thadious]

Suspension stays exactly where it is... I swapped for the 4x4 rearend and did mockup with 2 1/2" front spaces (going to mockup and fab new control arms in the future) and the remaining distance makeup for fenders will come from offset on the rims.


Headers and exhaust manifold are all stock from the 4.3 tbi and nothing had to be changed. I did lengthen the intermediate shaft of the steering for distance (about 8 1/2" added), but I ground the weld points for a full root pass and a good cap on both so I had full penetration on the welds and then machined them back to diameter with the base metal. After a coat of boxliner paint, you'd think they came that way from Chev.

Right now, I still have the blazer tank, but one of the other things I'm toying with is the thought of putting it further forward on the frame, right behind the cab and above the driveshaft... I've got about 2" of clearance and if I pull the spotwelds on the pump/sender lock, I can spin it 180 degrees so the lines head to the drivers side and the fill neck is almost exactly where they belong on the '47... coming out the forward lower end of the box. That way I've still got a nice chunk of space for the spare... (Now I have to figure out how to run the exhaust... sigh.

Cheers,
Ted.

PS Last fall I redid the entire suspension with Energy Suspension bushings in black... well worth it for the handling IMO.

[53GMC]

Ted.....it is amazing to me how extremely similar the first picture of your truck and the second picture of my truck on my page look as far as the position it has sitting against the woods and brush line!! when i look at your thread i keep thinkin im looking at mine!! haha

[Thadious]

Well... it's been quite awhile since I did a little update and quite frankly since I've had the time to get some work done!

So... after this long... I finally got to the point where it was time to get some sandblasting to raw sheetmetal and some priming done so I can actually get moving forward.

Here's the hood itself in progress... the rust is pretty much washed off and notice the amount of sand in the background (it's actually crushed glass btw)



This is what my inside shop looked like after 3 days of cleaning up parts... huge difference from what they looked like on the truck!



Now, this also included the cab getting done and a ton of cleaning up afterwards... so, next to prime and seal it all up to prevent rust and allow me to do the bodywork at my leasure, then reprime it all again prior to painting...







And yes... that's me on the business end of a paint gun!

Well... that's it for now.. more to come in the future!

Cheers,
Ted.

[50adrod]

nice progress, I see you are painting with your shop light, been there and its not getting any better.

[Thadious]

Lol... just a quick prime to seal up the sheetmetal and prevent rust (it is winter in Canada after all)... the sanding and bodywork is in progress now...

Cheers,
Ted.

[BlueJeep]

Wow, I can't believe you do your blasting inside your shop! It's messy enough outside.

[nickp51chevy]

Good stuff. Way ta go!

[Thadious]

Christmas vacation has been wonderful! With the extra work that I've had during the fall, a chance to make and spend some seriously needed money, I finally got all of the replacement sheetmetal to replace the rotten 6" of the cab with some nice new stuff!

So, here's most of what I ordered (minus the driver's rear cab corner and the two pieces from the second shipment, driver's rocker panel and passenger's rear cab corner)



This also didn't preclude the requirement to fab and install new floor pans and a firewall... from scratch!



With everything welded in and solid, time to prep for the new priming before it rusts in the beautiful Victoria winter.... ugh!



So, rolling it on it's back and priming the underside was the first priority! Had to get at the new cab mounts and such!



Then to set it back down right on it's dolly and paint the insides!





So, that was all done yesterday and with me being the type of person I am... I had to get it sat tonight so I can finally get the frame and stuff outta the driveway and into someplace dry and semi-warm!



I love the looks of this so far and in the next day or two, I have to cut the floor for the trans tunnel and clean out the nasty hole from the original stereo and plate it in, so I can wrap the dash in black leather. Then onto the seats and mocking in the steering column!

Cheers,
Ted.

[nickp51chevy]

Damn! When you get time you certainly don't waste it. Nice work.

[1950 GMC]

Man that's looking good. Have any better photos of that custom firewall? Thanks for sharing.

[Thadious]

The 'custom' firewall was just a piece of 18 ga cold rolled steel that was patterned from the original that I drilled all of the spot welds out of (so about 100 over the span) and laid out exactly where the brake booster is going and without the steering hole, for now. I mig'd every hole back up effectively spot welding the new one back in. I found the best way to close up any gap between the sheet metal was to us an 18" "Quickgrip" and invert it so that closing the grip on the dash forced the tail end of it to push the new firewall forward, then I could dolly the cowl sheet metal back to where I wanted it and mig it up. Do this every 6" or so, then go back and do one in-between the last welds, then so on and so on... no heat issues and all up!

Since I'm using the 4.3 in mine I didn't need to dish it for the rear of the motor or the distributor and it left it nice and clean, both inside and out.

Cheers,
Ted.

[Thadious]

Found out today *crosses fingers* that I may be able to pick up a 96 Caprice cop car with and LT1 and a 4L60-E trans with a disc rear for about $300... may be time for a swap... and I haven't even built the truck yet!

Any suggestions before I dig into this one?

Cheers,
Ted.

PS I'm using a 91 - 4.3 Tbi / TH700r4 atm...

[Funeral]

Impressive work! Keep it up.

[nickp51chevy]

Originally Posted by Thadious

Found out today *crosses fingers* that I may be able to pick up a 96 Caprice cop car with and LT1 and a 4L60-E trans with a disc rear for about $300... may be time for a swap... and I haven't even built the truck yet!

Any suggestions before I dig into this one?

Cheers,
Ted.

PS I'm using a 91 - 4.3 Tbi / TH700r4 atm...

If it were me I'd do it, but I like the HP. It's up to you if you want the HP or MPG.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by nickp51chevy

If it were me I'd do it, but I like the HP. It's up to you if you want the HP or MPG.

MPG probably won't be any different, 4.3's don't get good mileage.

[steve53]

holy progress batman! keep up the good work!

what kind of compressor and sand blasting equipment did you use? did you constantly have to wait for the compressor? i may be in the market for some soon.