53gmc build! With pics!

[53GMC]

thanks blue jeep and mr48Chev! I really appreciate all of yalls help.....the wheelbase i measured this morning was approx 123"....exact to what you stated mr48Chev.....so its a perfect fit for me...doesnt look that long in the pic but its because i took the picture with my camera on my phone....not top knotch quality.....i probably shouldve told yall it was a long bed to save yall the trouble of worrying about my sanity!!

I BOUGHT THE S10 this morning!!! Guy gave me a great deal on it and i plan to get to work on it soon.......

It has a V6 Vortec Engine and runs really well....test drove it up the road at about 60 to 65 so it was running really good!!! .so im looking forward to the best !

So....i believe what i fear the most is fabricating the computer wiring and all on my old truck....connecting all the things together and making the correct hookups from the new to the old...

Its an automatic so i am going to leave it that way, but put me an in-floor B&M shifter to use so that i can use the original steering column and all out of my old truck in the project.....automatics are easier for my girlfriend to drive anyway im told! haha im used to driving big lumber trucks so it wouldnt bother me, but now at least she can drive it once everything is finished...

Blue Jeep, you said you did a swap with a 95 S-10..any little bits of advice before i get going into it that i should look out for?

[BlueJeep]

You will have to move the engine back in the frame. The amount will depend on how high you mount your cab off the frame, but mine is about 6.5 - 7". I only started mine a few weeks ago, so I'm not done yet. This weekend I hope to have the engine permanently mounted, the running boards on, and the front clip finish mounted.

When I gutted my s10, I took every single wire out of it and didn't cut anything. I intend to re-use as much as I can in the 49. I also took the switches, etc. out of it and plugged them back in to make it easier when it's going back together. Mine is nice because there is a separate harness for the front clip, one for the engine and ECM, and another under the dash. If you want to get rid of the ABS, all the ABS wires are wrapped in yellow tape with yellow connectors - makes it pretty easy to identify and remove.

Best advice I can give is to read and study the pictures of other's trucks first, so you have a really good idea of what you're doing before you start.

Originally Posted by 53GMC

thanks blue jeep and mr48Chev! I really appreciate all of yalls help.....the wheelbase i measured this morning was approx 123"....exact to what you stated mr48Chev.....so its a perfect fit for me...doesnt look that long in the pic but its because i took the picture with my camera on my phone....not top knotch quality.....i probably shouldve told yall it was a long bed to save yall the trouble of worrying about my sanity!!

I BOUGHT THE S10 this morning!!! Guy gave me a great deal on it and i plan to get to work on it soon.......

It has a V6 Vortec Engine and runs really well....test drove it up the road at about 60 to 65 so it was running really good!!! .so im looking forward to the best !

So....i believe what i fear the most is fabricating the computer wiring and all on my old truck....connecting all the things together and making the correct hookups from the new to the old...

Its an automatic so i am going to leave it that way, but put me an in-floor B&M shifter to use so that i can use the original steering column and all out of my old truck in the project.....automatics are easier for my girlfriend to drive anyway im told! haha im used to driving big lumber trucks so it wouldnt bother me, but now at least she can drive it once everything is finished...

Blue Jeep, you said you did a swap with a 95 S-10..any little bits of advice before i get going into it that i should look out for?

[Thadious]

I did the same thing... one of the good ideas the I found was to remove all the sheetmetal, cross connect the two heater core water lines together and keep the rad core hooked up until the very end. Then, after you have all the wires worked back out, reconnect them with the sheet metal out of the way and start the truck up... that way you can be assured that you have all the accessories onhand to have atleast a running vehicle and didn't toss anything you needed away.

Cheers and good luck!
Ted.

[53GMC]

Thanks blue jeep! I have been studying a great deal on the work of others on here....hopefully with you being a few steps ahead of me i can refer to you and ask for help when i need it in the future....do you have a thread of your build i can look into? i plan on mine being about that same height off the frame from what you mentioned...so how far back did you have to move your engine?

[BlueJeep]

I haven't started a thread with my build yet, wanted to get mostly done first. My cab is 3.5" off the frame to the bottom of the body brace at the front mount. I'll let you know how far I move the motor back after this weekend, but it'll be about 6.5". The limiting factor is when the passenger side head/valve cover hits the firewall.

[53GMC]

Thanks blue jeep.....lookin forward to talkin to ya in the future!

[53GMC]

Thanks so much Ted.....so stripping off the sheet metal means cab too right? i know i sound pitiful sometimes with my questions, but im used to restoring old tractors and is my first experience with trucks and especially swaps like this...tractors are so much simpler

ive re-wired my old antique tractors and made harnesses myself before, but do you by chance have a schematic for that new model and how it would hook up to the old truck gauges by chance? ive heard computers are the devil to deal with.....is that an exaggeration or are they extremely difficult and ridiculous?....wiring scares me.....just a little... haha

a lot more than body work! haha

but thank you all again!

[BlueJeep]

OK, I moved my motor back 6 7/8". The passenger side head is a little over an inch from the firewall, and since the firewall has the dish in it for the 6cyl, there is loads of room for the distributor. I moved the mounts straight back, and kept it offset to the passenger side 3/8". No clearance issues whatsoever doing it this way. I made a new transmission crossmember out of 1 3/4" .120 wall square tube. Looks like I can bend the power steering pressure line a little and screw it back in. I'll have to section a little out of the fuel lines too.

Here's some pics to show you how I did it:




Sorry about the size, I'm new to posting pics...

[53GMC]

thanks blue jeep......got the S10 home saturday and began a tune up on that motor...not in bad shape just needed a new throttle setting relay to regulate the rpms a little better......so those pics are of the frame stripped off and the front of the horns are what im seeing right? not sure yet because i havent had the pleasure of strippin mine down yet...but i know they will be extremely helpful when i get that done!

thanks again blue Jeep! and keep the pics comin! i need all the help i can get!

53GMC

[53GMC]

Hey everyone.......

i replaced the throttle regulator on the side of the throttle body on my rough running RPM 4.3 Vortec engine......and.....RUNNING GREAT!! More power, sounds better under the hood (doesnt sound like a vacuum leak) and reegulates the RPM's so much better....so all in all i basically stole that truck for what i paid for it!! Looking forward to getting it under the hood of my 53!

[britnjc]

thats great do you have any pics of the s10.

[53GMC]

yeah britnjc haha i thought i put some on here but i guess i forgot about the pics!

guys...my recent excitement this morning is now gone....After continuing a checkup on my truck i found that the issue was only partially fixed with replacing the throttle regulator sensor, but the real problem is the torque converter...the clutch within the converter was not locking it fully into high gear....it runs great until i get to the overdrive gear around 50-55....im told by a local mechanic ive always trusted that it will be fine and not hurt the engine or transmission until the swap is done, then replace it and/or the wiring to it to help it......

here's some pics of the S10/ 53GMC wannabe....the bed has been removed already...
pics of V6 Vortec engine and truck from back and side with hood up

[britnjc]

good looking donor truck.

[nickp51chevy]

It' just a thought, I don't know exactly because I put a SBC in my truck w/ the s10 frame. Leave the engine and trans on the frame and set the cab and front clip on the frame and see if you do need to move the engine. You don't want to make more work if you don't need to. I asked that question once before because I want to build an AD on an s10 4x4 frame. I really don't think that you need to move the engine. One thing that I do know is that the 4x4 frame is a bit wider behind the front wheels. I've seen someone trim the frame down and box it in again. Just get use to getting your cab on and off the frame.

Looks good. Keep it up and take the time to do it right. No need to rush. Safety first, and who likes rework?

Don't toss any part off you GMC until your done building. You never know what you might need.

[53GMC]

thank you nick!

got a couple questions though...

1. whats an SBC? a small block chevy motor?

2. how much wider is the frame on a 4x4 model frame? what provisions might you have heard of other than reboxing the frame or are there any?

thanks again!
53GMC

[Thadious]

Leaving the 4.3 in mine, I found that I wanted to move the engine back about 3 1/2" just simply for the clearance from the front of the engine to the rad. This centered the engine better in the bay and still left me room between the firewall and distributor.

Yes, a SBC is a small block chevy and normally a 350 but also a 305.

After moving the block back and setting up the engine mounts the way I did, I found that I have a fair bit of room for a 350 mount should I want to change it in the future.

Cheers,
Ted.

[53GMC]

Thadious,
So if i believed the clearance between the front of the engine and the radiator to be sufficient would that in fact eliminate the moving of the motor back?

or perhaps could i use an electric fan and instead of the fan already in place to help with clearance?

[nickp51chevy]

I think Thadious covered your questions for me well. And for your question yes. Have you checked out Sgtusmc's build yet. He left all the s10 power train in, and so did britnjc. Check out what they did for engine clearance.

[Thadious]

I just found that keeping the engine in the stock location was just a little too close for comfort and any future work between the front of the block and the rad. I will be going with an electric fan as well, but moving it back that little bit further just made it more "comfortable" to build on.

Basically what I did was replate the original bolt holes on the frame with 1/4" steel plate, locate the new holes 3 1/2" back, weld the nuts to the backside of the plate then weld the plate in place. After that I skirted all around the mounting plate in 1/8" to close it all in and add rigidity, then just cleaned it up, mounted the new mounts to the block, and lowered it in place.

Then moved the trans crossmember back 2 1/2" and cut 1" out of the centre mounting bracket for the trans, rewelded it back up and bolted the 700r4 back into place... it all aligned right up.

I ended up taking about 8 3/4" out of the front half of the driveshaft (machined out the welds, cut the section out, reweld, remachined and balanced) since I started with an extended cab version.

Holler if you have any other questions.

Cheers,
Ted.

[c10addict]

I too am building a 54 GMC with the S10 chassis and 4.3... Subscribed!!

[53GMC]

C10 addict -
Well i will do my best with details to help you know how i go about my swap! it has been a relatively slow process for the past few months....college and working too...so time becomes an issue...and its all taking away from my hobby!

but now that i have gotten most of the inside of the S10 cab taken apart, i can go ahead and get that cab off and the old cab on!!

here is a pic of the inside of the S10 with dash removed and wiring being DISCONNECTED not CUT!!! it has made this process a little more tedious, but well worth it in the put-back-together phase!

The old 53 Cab is sitting on a little red yard wagon i made when i was about 10 with solid rubber wheels....it finally came in handy because it was the perfect size of the underside of the cab!

Nothing really helpful about the pics but just an update....better info and pics will come when i start mounting the other body and what not within the next few weeks

53GMC

[c10addict]

Yep thats how my cab looked... I spent all the time yanking the harness and started cutting out all the stuff I didn't need but then I ended up just buying a new stand alone engine and trans harness from fuel injection specialities... It is so much cleaner... I finished my frame late last week and am ready to start swapping tin myself... I agree time is the biggest problem with this project..

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by 53GMC

The old 53 Cab is sitting on a little red yard wagon i made when i was about 10 with solid rubber wheels....it finally came in handy because it was the perfect size of the underside of the cab!
53GMC

When my kids were young I got them a Red Radio Flyer wagon. They used it for a long time then I started using it for hauling around trannys, engine blocks, rear ends, etc. Between the kids and me we wore it out. After a couple of rebuilds to repair torn metal at connection point we finally retired it with full gear head honors.

[53GMC]

Thank you for your help 49ZR2. Where did you find a radiator that had a built in transmission cooler...i found one before but it did not have the same placement for connections to the trans cooler...did it connect up the same way the stock one does?
thanks again!

[50adrod]

Originally Posted by 53GMC

Thank you for your help 49ZR2. Where did you find a radiator that had a built in transmission cooler...i found one before but it did not have the same placement for connections to the trans cooler...did it connect up the same way the stock one does?
thanks again!

you can use an external cooler mounted to the frame, it will work better than one in the radiator also. one like this http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Alumin...oler,6768.html