47-55.1 55.1 S10 swap Gypsum

[gigamanx]

watching along! Good find and build started there. What tweaks are you thinking of trying this time? Sunroof? Camper top instead of a bed? EV instead of combustion? ok don't do that last one...we're the ones who have to keep the old hot rods alive until they ban gasoline.

[Rusti]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

BAAAHAHAHAHahahahahah!!

no no no ... Bosch in-line mechanical injection pump. like the P7100 on a 2nd gen Cummins. is the benz a direct injection?

not. it has a pre-combustion chamber injection

so long
Arnd

[joedoh]

yes rusti is right, its the pre chamber that makes it clatter. its still a high pressure injection pump though.


got the cabs all switcherooed. if it looks crooked its because it is, the shackles were still on and in 101 heat i was poooped




i still need to pop the door open and see if we have a 54 or 55 haha

[rnrdthefox]

Nice project. It's coming along nicely. I'll tag along.

[doowopper]

Reminds me of the stuff my dad had back in the day. I'm all eyes. Buddy

[vintovka]

Looking good!!

[okndn]

Following

[joedoh]

thanks fellas, I sure like feedback!


as i am wont to do, I like to burden myself. i had a run on kit parts so I worked 35 hours in three days to get them all cut and shipped. a nice guy who bought a kit last year called and asked for help, his dad has some health challenges so would/could i help?

sure.

meet side project 1.

[joedoh]

well i wanted some adjustability, you know in case your floor is out of whack or something, so i tried to improve on the previous design.

prototyped



mocked up



test fits




alles güt!




i am really happy, from cab not mounted to mounted in about 30 minutes, and with all those holes in the part maybe it all could be bolted on, who knows?


it was murder in the sun this afternoon, i almost used my 5th picture to show you my "fresh from the shower" look (sweating through my shirt and glasses, get your minds out of the gutter) but maybe another time. i need to get out in the MORNING when the sun is behind the house instead of the afternoon when its like a blast oven in my driveway. cest la vie, usually i am doing dad stuff for the 9 year old till about 1. rather do that than anything in the shop anyway!

[Father&son56project]

That's a nice tweak on your design. After so many years I can't imagine finding a truck where things are not out of whack. Not to mention the production tolerances back then (I could measure them on my cab using a yardstick!). A chassis swap will be child's play with these mounts.
Nice work!

[8man]

Let's see, 9 year old vs working on a truck. The truck has been there for 70 years, the 9 year old for only a short time and then TEENAGERS emerge. Good choice.

The mounts are really slick.

[vintovka]

Beautiful Work. My Cab supports came out of a junk yard and too ugly to post a pic!!!

[oldman3]

Russ, nice work on the new improved piece...Jim

[mongocanfly]

those mounts look great Russ..!!!!!

[vintovka]

Your mounts beat the bejebbers out of mine. I have 4, 4"x 4" squares of synthetic decking stacked up on my rear cab supports with a thru bolt!! Works fine, but gets comments from those who have seen underneath.

[28TudorAZ]

Are you doing the whole truck for him or just mounting all the body parts? Those mounts look great. Too bad they weren't available when I started my project.

[joedoh]

just mounting BBB body bumpers boards. and the pedals. and column. its a mutually beneficial relationship, like clownfish and anemones.

tomorrow I am not looking forward to, he put in " 3" drop springs". but they might be for a 1 ton dually, because I can stand on the frame with a friend and it doesnt budge. so I have a plan to take them out and put in some REAL 3 drop springs.

yesterday and today I started assembling the front clip. I have no inkling why the first thing everyone seems to do is blow the front end into a thousand pieces? so out comes the 5/16 18 tap and the 3/4 5/16 bolt collection.




he had a 1.5 ton and a 1/2 ton and brought some of the wrong parts. thats my gang sign I am throwing up. Westside WrongPart Craps.



he also said he only broke one bolt taking it apart but i found 7, i had to weld nuts to them to get them out. and then 5 more broken bolts on the hood. thats a 5/16 24 tap if you were wondering.



I am not complaining, this is the work that it takes. a lot of guys focus on mounting the body but this is where the work is, the everything else.

I have a plan tomorrow for the springs like I said, we will see if they turn projectile. keep an eye out for an unauthorized missle test in the midwest, these 1 ton springs are probably gonna FLLYYYYYYY

[joedoh]

Booooiiiing!


i backed up my 2500hd and jacked the s10 frame to the flatbed, then put a jack under the control arms. i lifted the flatbed at least 4" before the lower arm moved at all. once i had the pressure of the spring on the jack I took off the lower balljoint nut and let the jack out slow.




but the jack went all the way down and the spring was still pushing. I threw a loop of chain through it and pried a little from the relative safety of the flatbed. BOING! even with the chain looped through it, it flew into the yard!

these were sold as lowering springs for S10, thats what the part number came back as. here is a comparison of a 3" belltech to this 3" amazon.




replacing them was simple with the right spring, now there is oodles of travel and the truck is MUCH lower.




its going to rain tonight so i got the front end and hood just thrown on loosely to push inside.



i got more done but there is a 5 picture attachment limit. the hood is on and i am doing the final trim on the front sheetmetal. i want this done by sunday so more tomorrow!

[8man]

Man, I hate changing springs!

[Tempest67]

Originally Posted by 8man

Man, I hate changing springs!

I agree, it is always a relief when that job is done.


I have used a chain before for a 'safety', are you saying it broke the chain?

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Tempest67

I have used a chain before for a 'safety', are you saying it broke the chain?

i dont anchor the chain i just throw a few loops through the coils, its a good way to eat up all the potential energy as it tries to drag the chain with it.

so it didnt break it, really more just ignored it.


edit: rather than posting another time, I will just edit this one. I am chipping away at the fit of the front clip and hood. i didnt take this apart and i am pretty sure it is a homologated recipe of 3-4 trucks so its being fiddly. I also got the bed almost cleaned up.

[joedoh]

front clip mounted, finished, very strong with the new mounts. did the column and brake pedal. i planned to use a speedway lower bearing on this one but the column shift lever did not respond to prying and so i just sanded the existing weld on the lower closeout till it was loose and rotated it to close out on the firewall. waste not want not. thats my 5 degree booster plate I make, it mounts the booster at 5 degree angle (right for the anti dive gm masters since about 1980), as well as being 16ga cold rolled really stiffens up the firewall once its welded in.






I have to install the little plate to close out the original column hole but thats later. more in next

[joedoh]

the new mounts incorporate the frame side running board mounts so it was a simple matter to tack the legs on and just drop them on for a trial fit. which they fit perfect!





probably the number two request I get on kit parts is to include the bed crossmembers. I try to keep the kit price incredibly low though, and shipping two 50" pieces of 1x1.5 is about 3x more expensive than just buying two pieces local, because of the extra charge shippers put on parts over 48" in length. so what i came up with was parts to reuse the stock be crossmembers that people would already have on their bed.





would you believe that the stock frame to bed mounting holes were only about 1/2 inch off from lining up! a quick trim of the ends and the holes and...

[joedoh]

VIOLA! quick and easy bed mounting, even easier than using the 1x1.5. mount with 3/8 carriage bolts so if you put bed wood down you can fasten it the original bed way too.





those are my running boards, he doesnt have any and will buy new, he doesnt have rear fenders yet either so this one is a couple bumpers and some final assembly away from going home. I have about 8 days in it, keep in mind there were some design hours in that too. this new kit part stuff is amazingly fast and easy to install.

oh i forgot to mention. remember the clacker motor i got for this "supposed" baby cabover i keep blabbing about? well, I got the chassis



and the donor truck.




all i really need is a transmission! and some cajones to stretch the colorado HSS frame....

[oldman3]

Russ, always enjoy your updates and assembly work...Jim