51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap

[Atommik]

Chev3600,
I considered that, but I will still have a lock cylinder on the passenger side for "emergencies".

[Atommik]

Just found out on Friday, I got my Mercedes Benz/ ISO aluminum welding certification. We are currently the only shop in the 5 state area (MN,WI,ND,SD,IA) to have this certification. Mercedes will not sell structural aluminum parts to a body shop if they are not certified. Hopefully this will bring our shop some more work!

Started assembling the vent window frames. The weather stripping kit from LMC is very complete and nice stuff. I will be actually putting the glass in the frames on Monday.

Still waiting for my Altman latches to arrive...

[Root2812]

I'm still looking forward to seeing that truck in action at one of the shows this year.

[99 to Life]

congrats on the certificate.

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

congrats on the certificate.

X2, good deal...Jim

[Atommik]

Thanks guys.

Greg I plan on being at a few Anoka Saturday nights and Back to the Fifties on the Sunday of that weekend. Maybe some others along the way!

[53ChevyKevin]

Just read the build from first to last post. Great job. I just bought a 53 3100 that was already put on an S10 frame. Looked like they were in a big hurry, now Im going thru the whole thing to make sure its safe. I have no radiator core supports on the front and no inner fenders. You can literally pick up the whole front end by hand cuz its not attached to anything. Ill have to get the inner fenders and a rad support bracket and do some mods on them so i can get it all buttoned up.
I saved all the picks of your rad support for ideas. Thanks for the in depth posts, its been real helpful

[Atommik]

53 Chevy Kevin,
Thanks for you comments. I was helped so much by others on this site, it is my pleasure to "pass it on". Glad I could be some help to you. Feel free to ask any questions or if you need pictures, I probably have pics I didn't post that may be helpful.

[53ChevyKevin]

Thanks a bunch. If i have any questions i'll be sure to ask.

[Atommik]

Heres a couple of pics of the vent window frames.

[99 to Life]

looks good, I love the vents.

[Kodiaks53]

I finally got to sit down and read your whole build thread. My truck was in about the same shape as yours and we are pretty much following the same route with the rebuild. Yours is looking really Great. I posted a picture of my wheel setup and then realized I just deleted all my photos from my build thread.... bummer. Now to find the time to fix my mistake, as soon as tax time has passed. Keep up the good work and I'll be watching !

[Atommik]

Finally got my Altman latches and door actuators. Hoping for a little warmer weather to get back at it!! Now I need to dig around and find my lock cylinder...

[Atommik]

I started on the latch install today. The jam on the drivers side was so tight that the new latch plate was rubbing on the striker plate. After a little "massaging" of the door frame, I got it all to clear with not a whole lot to spare. Then while lining up the striker, I could tell there was no way the striker would line up with the latch correctly.
So with the striker out I shut the door and marked where I will need to drill a new hole for the striker on the plate. I'll need to move the hole almost a 1/4 inch lower. A little welding and re-drilling tomorrow and it should be good to go. I'm not sure why this jam/inner cab corner is so messed up. The door gaps and body lines are nice...I wish the inner door wasn't painted already, I've put a few gouges in it that will need to fixed. When I painted it I wasn't planning on switching out the latches and I also thought this would "bolt in" a little better. Overall I'm happy with the latch kit, but I could think of a few improvements.

[Atommik]

Driver's side latch is done except for paint. I'll do the pass side next then paint it all at once.

I thought I had a fuel tank pick up tube problem...turns out truck was out of gas. Still learning how to read the fuel gauge that I swapped into the original cluster. The needle is shorter and the sweep is a little different. I guess I pretty much drove it dry before I stored it last fall.

[Atommik]

Finally got the passenger side latch in. Still waiting to get started on the power locks, then the door glass. I've been really busy doing home chores and preparing for my oldest daughter's High School Grad party. At least my truck is drivable so I can cruise around and enjoy it while I continue to work on it!

[99 to Life]

nice job, I'll be tackling some of my own interior pieces soon as well. just like anything else the right tools and practice and you can pretty much do anything yourself.

[Atommik]

Minneapolis local news had this story last night. 1957 chevy truck purchased used for $75 and driven daily for 38 years...he got his money's worth

Here's the link:

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/loc...-75/21169665/:

[99 to Life]

man thats ironic, my buddy sent me a link to that via text at 6am. cool story. though I don't see why the guy doesn't maintain the truck a little.

[Atommik]

A little progress. I got the headliner finished (but not installed yet). Still thinking of things to add to my project list for this summer. I did get a FM receiver/mp3/cd player and speakers for the truck for Christmas. Waiting for a little warm weather for install!

[99 to Life]

Nice, I'll be attempting most of my own interior as well, minus the seat cover. I didn't got the extent as you did with the fiberglass mold you did. Did it work out well for you then?

[Atommik]

The fiber glass mold worked well. However, next time I would do 3 or 4 layers of glass mat instead of 2. It's a little flimsy, but it does make it easy to get it in and out of the cab. It does hold it's shape very well when I hold it up in place.

[Atommik]

I got my headliner installed and replaced the leaky S10 gas tank. Hoping for some more warm weather to get some more things done before the Back to the Fifties show in June.

[99 to Life]

nice job, hope you get some miles in this summer.

[Atommik]

I got a couple more little things off my list today. Installed the refurbished speedo, and finished wiring my auxiliary gauges.