47-55.1 Project: Kechi AD S10 4.3 auto

[joedoh]

first update was the last page, copied here

Originally Posted by joedoh

she is the age where we barely see her unless she needs something, so asking her to do plumbing wouldnt produce any result. although let me be clear in case she finds this post years from now, both she and her sister have always pitched in wherever possible.


and now back to everyones favorite dumpster fire show: "COAXING DEAD STUFF BACK TO LIFE". I love bargains and hunting for bargains. so most of the trucks I start with are literally 10s of random parts. cab here, door there, bed over there, you get the idea. I would love to start with something complete but my frugal bone would probably suffer a compound fracture, popping out of my skin wherever the frugal bone resides (probably somewhere around the buttocks). so I spend a lot of time on repairing various parts. for example:

the cab I bought had three hinges, and you can see what happened with a little thought. they removed the passenger upper hinge and broke a bolt, which soured them on removing any more. I had to drill it out carefully, the fine threads of these hinges wont take much shenanigans like a coarse thread would.



afterwards I ran a tap through all the holes to clean them up, if you are needing to know the thread and pitch its a 3/8" 24 . a trio of new bolts in the right size and viola.



normally I would run a lock washer on these but I didnt have them so I will buzz them back out when I run for the door side hardware.

a quick trip to the backyard for the doors and the tires I will use to set ride height, the current tires are staggered and that makes it hard to get a good visual.



the doors had three hinges too, well, two and a half. so same again, get the bolts out and run a tap through them. same size, 3/8 24. I luckily got the lower cover to bend down, there was about 2 cubic yards of dirt inside this door for some reason and the screws were reluctant but the bolts blessedly cracked





more in a second post

then it was time to tackle the hood, I had good luck taking it off the truck until I didnt. one bolt broke and a second threatened to, so I took the spring off at the firewall on the last bolt and have been soaking it randomly with penetrant. worked good for the stuck last bolt, it turned right out, but the broken one fought all the way, I was up to the 7/32 before it spun out.





I use my drill motor for the tap, its fast and easy, juts make sure to turn it down, I use low speed and set the clutch low too. I have turned taps into potato chips by forgetting this step



so after tapping all 6 holes, the thread size is 5/16 24, another fine thread, the hood bolts just hand thread all the way in. dont skip this step either, the tapping out of the hood bolts, the new hood bolts are stainless and will gall and break in dirty threads.



I dont have them in the right order, but they are all 5/16 24.

more to come!

[reaper71]

Good old crusty rusty bolts!!

I hate fine thread, It strips way to easy and gawls threads as well.
nice work on the fixes Russ!!

Mark

[8man]

Drilling out those bolt holes takes something special! Good for you.

[joedoh]

I decided the back was much higher than it should be, I had some 1" blocks and some 3" blocks and being a man of great restraint I just settled on the 3" with the 2 degree shim. took my time with it, last assembly for some of this stuff.



got the wheels switched and the spacers (2.5) on too. time to see what a fender looks like on there.



oops. maybe the 1" would have been better. luckily though its just right for a 235/75/15, and until then, I plumbed the air shocks.





ahh thats better. my son stopped by to hold the bolts for me as I grunted and squirmed my way to tetanus wrestling with the fender. (I only have daughters)




more in a second post.

[joedoh]

while I was on the floor I thought I would install the taillight brackets. I got 47-53 brackets but 36-37 taillights, so I had to modify the brackets (and the taillights, eventually)




I bought 36-37 CAR LED lights and they dont fit the truck housing but they do fit completely inside. I will drill a hole through the breadboard there for the LED wiring to pass through.





I cant seem to locate the second LED lens (I have the housing, just misplaced the bubble pack with the second LED), dear lord I hope I dont have to order it. truth be told I will probably just buy 47-53 led inserts if it is lost forever.



oh and here is the right side fender in case you thought I was slacking off.





this one had a tweak in it, my idiot brain forgot that its easier to put fenders on with the wheels off and the truck high on jackstands so I shouted some prayerful words much to the happiness of my wife and literally anyone within a quarter mile.

[OutlawDrifter]

Is it really wrenching if you're not swearing and bleeding?!

[oldman3]

Looking good Russ...Jim

[dsraven]

great work. keep those pics coming, love to see them. I was laughing to myself when I seen the pic of the part in the vice. I think you have me beat for the number of grinder marks in the vice metal, haha. no paint left on that beauty either.

[joedoh]

thanks all! D I got that vise well used and still have put some skids on it since.

some guys might be looking for a how-to on making perfect doors fit a reworked cab with new hinges but this aint it. time to make OLD DOORS FIT OLD HINGES ON AN OLD CAB.

I grind all the rust off the hinges with a flap disc and then slather on a little bearing grease. if you took these apart before you know they grab tighter than a used car salesman.



the door will almost fall on. I use a jack in the center of the door because thats all you need, once its balanced you are free to move it around and if you line the jack up in line with the door and hinges you can scoot it in and out.




eagle eyed readers will notice I put lock washers on the hinge side bolts.
now thread in your 6 bolts but dont tighten them down yet, here is a tip: shut the door.



to get it shut you will have to lift it into the right spot, then you can use a flat screwdriver to get the gaps right all around the door. now reach through the window and tighten the hinge bolts. easy peasy!

in my case the door was a little in at the top and a little out at the bottom. Vic (father in law, provider of the flatbed) was a RNVH guy at a chevy dealer for his career and taught me this inelegant trick, stick something in the jamb and push around on the high spots. in my case it was the bottom of the door, a couple hip checks below the 2x4 and everything was hunky dory. the door shuts with a fingertip!






more in a sec, picture limit

[joedoh]

I did the drivers door first, its a bit more finicky because the door edges are a little bent, but everything still shuts and works.



then I backed up a little and put the spacers on the front. here is a little info on that. on the left is the lug nut that comes with the spacers. on the right is the correct nut for the s10 wheels with screw on lug caps. neither of these is the right lug nut to attach the spacer to the hub. compare the length to the center lug nut, which is an ET (extended thread) lug nut. you can see its longer than either of the others, which means more thread length and a better grip on the stud. they dont come with spacers, you have to buy them, make sure to get the 19mm versions because they also sell them in 21mm versions and the socket wont fit in the spacer.




funny story, I was at the swap meet and a guy had a set of honda pilot wheels and tires for FIFTY BUCKS. good michelins, probably no TPMS because for 50 bucks why would there be TPMS. I picked them up for the wifes pilot, it has mismatched tires from all of her flats working on the house (random nails). well the bolt pattern is different, found that out when I took them to be installed, the 2010 pilot wheels are 5 on 120mm. i chucked one on the spacer just to see what it looked like, pretty good! oh and the TPMS sensors are installed. go figure!



but funning aside, I had the other s10 wheels. look close but fit great and turn lock to lock.



I picked up cotter pins for the front end and bled the brakes again. tomorrow is glass and closing out the interior, putting the nuts on the body mounts etc, maybe running board mounts.



stay tuned.

[reaper71]

Looking good!!

[oldman3]

Great tips...Jim

[joedoh]

thanks mark and jim!

marc I go for volume as well as creativity. my neighbors are nonplussed though


did the back glass, got sidetracked in a good way, stopped by to see my daughter and check fluids in her car while I was out grabbing the window strip tool I borrow from a good friend. turns out she was hungry and invited ME to lunch. parents of young adults know that moment.

did the corner windows first, that new hooky tool from lmc made it a breeze.


I put the rubbers in a 100 degree over for a while, they were curved the wrong direction. everything went perfect though.





my friends window strip tool worked great, I used WD40 instead of windex because the glass was all safety type, no center film that the oil would seep into.







a couple scuffs, but no big deal. I got the drivers door together after that but no pics yet.

[Low Elco]

Good lookin work. Feel you on the plumbing. What part of town are you in? I grew up and my extended family still lives in Valley Center/Park City /53rd St corridor.

[oldman3]

Nice job...Jim

[Rusti]

grate progres on the truck. by the way what type of spacers are you useing? how thick are they?
so long Arnd

[reaper71]

Came out nice Russ!


Mark

[joedoh]

thanks mark and jim, rusti they are 2.5". I have some camaro 18s that may end up on this and 2.5 will be perfect for them


windshield. IN. finally. it seems like either the front or the rear or the side windows will alternate problems, last truck it was the rear, this was the windshield. you have to shove around on the windshield to get the gaps right, slapping and pushing. dont slap too hard.



luckily I had a spare half, just one, so this time I waited for my wife to come home and help, and it went much smoother with me pushing and her prying.

one thing I have found though, is the center bar NEVER wants to grab with the stock screws, which are marginally long enough. so here is my trick, I buy longer bolts (usually 1.75" long but all they had was 2"), and lop the heads off and make it a through hole install.




then no matter how far away the rubber is, you can just use the hex nuts to pull it tight, trim the length, and finish with a cap nut. I suppose you could even install the stock screws one by one with it held tight, but I like this look anyway, and if I want to put a rearview mirror on there ya go, nuts/threads right in the right spot.

[oldman3]

Nice tip on the center piece...Jim

[reaper71]

Russ, Do you have a link to the tool from LMC
I looked last night but couldn't find it.


Mark

[mongocanfly]

Here it is Mark....called a hook tool...I think I got one when I did my C30.....
https://www.lmctruck.com/1973-87-che...body/hook-tool

[joedoh]

yep thats it. its inexpensive, and works amazing. all three rear windows took an hour. the windshield could not have been done without it.

my ONLY complaint, and its a very small one, is that the handle is round. working on ADs, you know that round things roll off the truck no matter where you put them. ii probably picked that took up from the floor about 12 times.

I also got the plastic window pusher thingy too. 38-0796, it was TWO BUCKS. i had been using a sliver of an old lawnmower motor cover, but that thing was worth it too.

[reaper71]

Thanks Guys

[joedoh]

now that I have a windshield I can put a punch list on it.

first up is bolting the body down, next is the running board seals, then I can install running boards. I have tried to do them in different order and it sucks, the running boards make it hard to get the seals on and the seals and running boards make it pretty difficult to put the steels and rubbbers on the bottom sides of the mounts. right away, there was a problem, one of the rubber donuts was missing, I tore everything apart everywhere at both garages, no dice. in a stroke of fortune though, the guy that loaned me the lock strip tool worked at a salvage yard and they just got an S10 in the night before. Thanks Travis!



with that sorted (after three trips for the right length bolts) I worked on the running board seals. there are holes in the bottom of the cab, and the screws are intended to go through the rubber into a metal strip with speed holes for the coarse screws, sandwiching the rubber. but laying on your back or side, this sucks, which seems to be the theme of the post, so what I do is mark the rubber and drill holes.




works great!

then I worked on the blower pass through on the firewall. If you dont remember, I am using the S10 HVAC which has a large component installed on the firewall, including the blower. but I had to cut the blower off because it wouldnt fit, the hood and hinges get in the way. on the last truck I made a square hole and a flange to screw the blower to on the firewall. it worked, but I felt I could improve it. on this one I was more careful with my cut on the firewall box, so I got some 3" ABS plumbing bends. the 45 degree street bend was a perfect fit, and I trimmed the inside of the flange so the air would blow straight into the AC box. this was surprisingly easy, I figured it to be a real problem, at least the last truck this took a lot of work.



I used a new 4" holesaw and a coupler to make it all removable but still air tight. this is the view of the coupler end from inside. an L bracket and some sealant will make it solid and watertight. this is definitely easier than the last one.






more in the next post.





.

[joedoh]

I went and got my heat gun and squished everything together. there was a reason I chose ABS parts, because the box and blower housing was abs.



sure its ugly now, but after using my favorite fuze-it stuff and a squirt of paint, no one will know the ugliness, and besides, function is what we are after.

next I needed to adapt the blower to the coupler, I started using a 90 and it was too long, so I cut it to a 45 and it was perfect.




but really the surprise here is that, with a little more prior planning, I could have bolted the blower to the kick panel and drawn air RIGHT IN FROM THE FACTORY AIR INLET LOCATION!



if you can see it, the coupler is inserted into the blower and the blower is against the kick panel, almost in the right spot!


now isnt the time to goof around with it, but I will sure remember it next time.

I should finish the blower tomorrow, which is the last thing before bolting the hood on, then a full day of interior work should transform the trucks appearance.