51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap

[Root2812]

Sorry that happened to you. Had I known you were going to be at the Anoka show I would have gone. I haven't been there for about a month. Last time I went there I had to push start my truck and then lost my brakes.

I'm glad that you are getting to cruise in it after all that work. Lets just hope for no more hiccups.

[Daze57]

atomik
bout 20 years ago i had a lil 67 vw beetle - right rear did the same thing - boy what i must have looked like chasin a tire down the road - idiot !!! (me not you )
tire was blown and i also tore the rear fender up.
junk yard next day and some paint wrk !! all good

so my friend i know how ya feel !!!

[99 to Life]

wow, you scathed a bullet. Glad nothing worse happened. I run spacers, so if I feel a vibration I'll know what to do now. We all make mistakes, I've almost drove off while swapping out tires many times and forgetting to tighten lugs, it happens.

With the fender, I hope you fix it. Unfortunately I haven't seen that rear part as a patch for sale, I had about a quarter of a rear fender I had to make a patch for and it was alot of work, but I simply couldn't find that part as a patch. I'm wasn't about to cut up another fender for it either.

showed looked great, glad you made it there atleast. You'll be back at it don't sweat it.

[51Charlotte]

Wow, sorry to hear bud. I'm glad you're ok.
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[Atommik]

Thanks all for the kind replies and encouragement!!

I was really bummed Saturday night and Sunday, not wanting to think about it or do anything, but now I've got a better attitude about it and want to get moving on the repair.
I'm planning on filing an insurance claim and make sure they write it for a "new" fender. That way if I can't repair it, I'm covered on getting a re-man part or used part.

Who's got the best quality "new" parts, LMC, Goodmark, Classic industries, or do they basically all come from the same place?

[Root2812]

Originally Posted by Atommik

Thanks all for the kind replies and encouragement!!

I was really bummed Saturday night and Sunday, not wanting to think about it or do anything, but now I've got a better attitude about it and want to get moving on the repair.
I'm planning on filing an insurance claim and make sure they write it for a "new" fender. That way if I can't repair it, I'm covered on getting a re-man part or used part.

Who's got the best quality "new" parts, LMC, Goodmark, Classic industries, or do they basically all come from the same place?

I think they all come from the same place. There is a local guy out of Montrose that sells all the repop stuff at the swap meets. You could email him and check his prices. He is usually at a comparable price to LMC and classic parts but since he is local there is no shipping cost and you can handle the part before you pay.

He is a forum member too. daburb@gmail.com

[Atommik]

State Farm Insurance came by today and gave me an estimate of $1650. It is a very fair estimate. I should be able to repair it myself and come out with a little cash left over. I'm still hoping to repair the fender instead of replace. I'll start on that Saturday.

There's a show I want to go to on Saturday the 17th. So hopefully I'll have it fixed by then, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to get it all done.

[99 to Life]

nice little come up

[xpickup]

Atommik, man that stinks what happened. You will get it fixed better than new I am sure.

Shannon
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[Atommik]

I "roughed out" the damaged fender on Saturday. It came out pretty well. So I removed it and will bring it to the shop to finish the repair and paint it, hopefully this week!

[Atommik]

Came across these old photos of 2 of the service stations my dad owned when I was a kid.

The one on the left is in Saint Louis Park, Minn and the other is Hopkins, Minn.

[Rods57]

Originally Posted by Atommik

I "roughed out" the damaged fender on Saturday. It came out pretty well. So I removed it and will bring it to the shop to finish the repair and paint it, hopefully this week!

That's really a bummer. Lucky its not a really bad hit, and you do great body work so you will have it fixed in no time I am sure.

I dropped a trailer on my new truck when it had 75 miles on it and my wife said "well you got that over with, now drive it"

[99 to Life]

dang those old flicks are awesome. Wish I had some fam with roots in anything to do with automobiles. All I got is a photo of my grandparents on their wedding day in a 53' buick. Low and behold I have one, can't wait to have that on the road. So how is the fender coming, aside from your last pic?

[Atommik]

The rear fender is repaired and in primer. I'll block it out tomorrow and hopefully paint it Friday.

Tonight I bled the brakes and put some lock tite on the studs for the wheel spacers. The right rear lug nuts to the spacer were just snug, not tight! I think I figured out the main cause of the problem. When I got the spacers they came with a set of lug nuts. They were nicer than the original S10 nuts I had been using on my Z28 wheels. So I used the S10 nuts to hold the spacer on and the new nuts to hold the wheel to the spacer. As I disassembled everything tonight, I realized the beveled edge on the S10 nuts did not fit snugly in the wheel spacer. I think it was not making enough surface contact with the spacer's beveled edge, causing them to loosen with vibration. So I put the correct nuts on the spacer and bought some new lug nuts to fit the Z28 wheels. That should take care of that problem. I will be checking those nuts on a regular basis from now on!!

[oldman3]

Working fast on the fender, glad you got the lug nut problem taken care of...Jim

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by Atommik

Came across these old photos of 2 of the service stations my dad owned when I was a kid.

The one on the left is in Saint Louis Park, Minn and the other is Hopkins, Minn.

Very neat pics. In the fifties I worked at a Pure station that looked like the bottom pic. I'm considering having my truck doors lettered to look like our service truck. I got to drive lots of nice cars while working there, including a new 56 TF that belonged to a customer.

[skymangs]

Real sorry that happened to you Atommik, but glad no one was hurt and the damage was limited. Nice that you are getting it fixed quickly. Best of luck, this makes me wanna check my lug nuts too!

[Atommik]

All of the studs that the spacers are on, now have thread lock and all of the new lug nuts are installed.

The show I'm going to on Saturday is 7-10pm. So I realized I've never driven my truck at night. So after wiring up the gauge lights, I took it for a spin. Beautiful night for a drive!! The BMW converted xenon headlamps are awesome. Such a nice bright, white light, but aimed correctly so I didn't get any high beam flashes from on coming traffic.

I am very grateful that my "accident" didn't hurt any one or damage my truck too badly. I learned some valuable lessons. Some I already knew but had ignored. It was 2 weeks ago that it happened. I missed driving it! Thanks to all for your kind words and encouragement. That's what great about this forum.

Russell Ashley, I still have a bow tie and a "string" tie that were my dad's. Both have the "PURE" logo on them. As soon as my rear widow is installed, it will get a Pure Oil decal!!

[Atommik]

Fender on, ready to roll!

[99 to Life]

looks great, quick turnaround and you made bank. But luckily you didn't get hurt, hurt anyone else or hurt the truck anymore. Glad things worked out for you. You worked hard to get to this point, hate seeing bad things happen.

[xpickup]

Atommik, better than new. Looks great but too bad it happened. Glad you got it figured out what had caused it to happen. I love the old pictures of your dads old garages. I love to see old pictures.

Shannon
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[oldman3]

Fender looks great, would never know it was damaged...Jim

[Atommik]

Had a really nice night at the show on Saturday. It was called "Sweet Summer Nights" and it was another beautiful Minnesota summer night!! There was a big variety of cars and trucks,(probably about 250). Mine was the only AD there. Got a lot of nice comments.
Met one father and son doing an S10 swap on a 49. They had a lot of questions and I was glad to help. I told them about this forum. Hope to see their truck on here. Here's a few pics...

[99 to Life]

awesome, cool being the only AD at a show isn't it? its always cool meeting people that want to build and AD. Just met someone at a show that really wants a patina AD. Been helping her find one. The more of these we can get on the road the better. Keep the demand up and keep them outta the scrap yards.

[Shak]

Atommik,
Just read your build cover to cover. You are obviously very skilled and it shows in your finished product. I just bought a 51 AD and will start slowly putting mine together. It will certainly take much more time than yours, as this is my first project, and I don't have nearly the experience, nor expertise you do. I too love this forum. I've gotten many ideas to use in my project.

Once again, great job on a fantastic looking truck. Despite all the issues, big and small, you persevered and have an awesome ride. Keep updating the build!

Steve