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

[Thadious]

Well, a couple of good buddies and I travelled up to the parent's place to finally pick and choose the parts that is to be my truck. We spent 7 glorious days up drinking beer, eating fantastic food, having some great laughs and somewhere in there we got to get some work done on the trucks.

The first day ended up with all of the trucks at the same place for the first time and ready for the next day's teardown!



After a week, we had 2 partial trucks and 1 full one... which was bound for my place... 600 miles away.



So, ready to roll, we were off at a god forsaken hour of 5am... gah!



Eventually the sun decided to make an appearance and we couldn't resist the pic... was also an opportunity to check the straps and chain hauldowns before the first town (good thing we did, one had slipped off!)



By mid morning we were well on our way and the scenery was excellent... time for a morning watering break and strap check!



So, with everything finally home safe and sound... the time had come to finally put a body on the frame and engine that I'd been prepping for so long.

Well, after two days (didn't take any the first day) here's where I sit... the front has been trimmed to fit and the cap is in place... the two bolted together, but not mounted to the frame as of yet.





Now, clearing out the box and running boards and getting ready to fit them as well and then get them all fittin properly. I'd like to extend a great thanks so far to Jeffs51chevy for his measurement and assistance so far... making the trimming of the sheetmetal soooooo much easier!

Cheers,
Ted.

PS Yes I know it's a GMC hood and Chev grill... the chevy hood is in the shop atm getting worked on... just wanted to keep the dust and rain outta the engine bay.

[jeffs51chevy]

Ted,
Great looking first day of sheet metal hanging. I wish it went that fast for me. You will be driving it in no time. Keep up the great work.
I'm glad I could help. Let me know if you need anything else.
Jeff

[iokua80]

Looking real good. Love the scenery pics too! You've got a good start on it all.
Later
Josh

[BlueJeep]

Are you planning on shortening the ext. cab frame to long bed specs, or using a longer bed on the truck?

Thanks!

[Thadious]

Actually, I cut 5" out of the frame to 117" as this sets the wheelbase almost perfect. These frame are relatively easy to shorten, just make sure you make lots of alignment marks! I laid out the cuts with a scriber, but I also made measurements on taped lines to make sure the end result was well within 1/32". Also made front tape marks for straightness of the frame (up and down) and diagonal reference marks as well. All in all, it came out pretty damn square and level!

Cheers,
Ted.

[BlueJeep]

Any pictures of that process? Did you split it at the factory seam?

I have a frame out of a 95 s10, and it's boxed clear back to the rear kickup so it'd be more work to cut it down...

[Thadious]

The frame that I started with came from a 91' S15 Sonoma (same as the S10) but was only boxed up to the joint (just under the cab door).

Basically, layout a cut line 5" back from the original end, using a square, scribe the line all the way around it.

I laid out two pieces of tape, the first about 4" infront of the original joint and drew a verticle line on it (perpendicular to the frame). Then another line on a piece of tape 17" back from there. Reason for this is that after the cut and re-alignment, the tape lines will end up being 12" or 1' apart. I found this to be crutial since there always seemed to be little 'bits' stuck inside the back corners of the original welds.

Next, take a 4' level and lay it on the long straight section on the frame above the joint, place a piece of tape and a mark on the forward kickup section. This will help to ensure that the frame is aligned horizontally when you put it back together.

Finally, lay 4 pieces of tape on the frame, 2 forward of the place to be welded and 2 rearward of. Make 4 marks on these tapes so that, diagonally, the marks are the same distance apart. The location isn't critical, just as long as the marks are the same distance diagnally apart.

Cut out the weld, cut off what you don't need (in this case 5") and butt everything back up. Triple check all measurements to within your acceptable tolerances (mine was 1/32") and start welding. Make your final verification checks after welds are complete, clean up and remove tape marks... Voila!

Good luck,
Ted.

PS Sorry... didn't take any picks of the chop process, but feel free to PM me if you have any further questions... I'd be happy to advise.

[hotrodjoe1952]

Originally Posted by Thadious

Well, a couple of good buddies and I travelled up to the parent's place to finally pick and choose the parts that is to be my truck. We spent 7 glorious days up drinking beer, eating fantastic food, having some great laughs and somewhere in there we got to get some work done on the trucks.

The first day ended up with all of the trucks at the same place for the first time and ready for the next day's teardown!



After a week, we had 2 partial trucks and 1 full one... which was bound for my place... 600 miles away.



So, ready to roll, we were off at a god forsaken hour of 5am... gah!



Eventually the sun decided to make an appearance and we couldn't resist the pic... was also an opportunity to check the straps and chain hauldowns before the first town (good thing we did, one had slipped off!)



By mid morning we were well on our way and the scenery was excellent... time for a morning watering break and strap check!



So, with everything finally home safe and sound... the time had come to finally put a body on the frame and engine that I'd been prepping for so long.

Well, after two days (didn't take any the first day) here's where I sit... the front has been trimmed to fit and the cap is in place... the two bolted together, but not mounted to the frame as of yet.





Now, clearing out the box and running boards and getting ready to fit them as well and then get them all fittin properly. I'd like to extend a great thanks so far to Jeffs51chevy for his measurement and assistance so far... making the trimming of the sheetmetal soooooo much easier!

Cheers,
Ted.

PS Yes I know it's a GMC hood and Chev grill... the chevy hood is in the shop atm getting worked on... just wanted to keep the dust and rain outta the engine bay.

Thadious, In this picture did you have wheel spacers on the front or is that just how well the swap turned out?

[Thadious]

Sigh... I wish... I had 2 1/2" wheel spacers on there... now I'm trying to figure out how to get it back there without them. I've moved my offset on the tires from 4 1/4" to 2 1/2" but still have a ways to go... (about 3/4" but it makes a difference.)

Looking at full size chevy control arms and see where that leads me...

Tubular are going to be a b*tch to jig up and weld.

Ted.

[hotrodjoe1952]

Originally Posted by Thadious

Sigh... I wish... I had 2 1/2" wheel spacers on there... now I'm trying to figure out how to get it back there without them. I've moved my offset on the tires from 4 1/4" to 2 1/2" but still have a ways to go... (about 3/4" but it makes a difference.)

Looking at full size chevy control arms and see where that leads me...

Tubular are going to be a b*tch to jig up and weld.

Ted.

Was hoping you would say you didn't have any lol...Oh well, I have a 52 and I am so stressed about which way to go so I think I will just keep it a 3/4 ton for now and maybe when I retire I will attempt this build....thanks for the reply

Joey

[Thadious]

Gimme time... I figure I will find a way for a swap that will work. I'm not fond of having to build suspension parts... so if I can find a swap that will work, trust me, I'll post it!

Cheers,
Ted.

[hotrodjoe1952]

Originally Posted by Thadious

Gimme time... I figure I will find a way for a swap that will work. I'm not fond of having to build suspension parts... so if I can find a swap that will work, trust me, I'll post it!

Cheers,
Ted.

sounds great to me, i figure i will retire in 10 years and old s10 frames will be hard to come by and old nova and camaro sub frames so i have one of each stored away, all of your notes, ideas and build pics are logged in a folder stored on my pc to lol

[nickp51chevy]

Originally Posted by hotrodjoe1952

sounds great to me, i figure i will retire in 10 years and old s10 frames will be hard to come by and old nova and camaro sub frames so i have one of each stored away, all of your notes, ideas and build pics are logged in a folder stored on my pc to lol

This guy has a long term plan Great idea!!! I just jumped in and I was hoping to figure it out along the way.

---------


Great job on the trans and the engine. I can't wait to see it in and bolted down. I tell ya I was stoked when I got to that.