"Geronimo" 54' 3100 LS built in PA

[wwbill617]

Love reading your builds...

I only wish I had the time and patience you do... LOL Oh, and skills....

Bill

[*Kenny]

Very nice progress so far! I'll be watching this.

[99 to Life]

1-5 well I head back to my normal work schedule this week, so back to 3 days a week on Geronimo.

Got some steel rims made by US rims from summit, I shoulda been getting these from day one rather than looking for the perfect factory steel rim, and worrying about getting them blasted. These were a killer deal and came with the centers. they have a lot of options which is nice. Im going with the 15x6" and they have dual bolt pattern. Can't wait to get them in paint and get some tires tossed on so I can get this on the ground and proceed.

Whipped up the outter leaf bracket with some .25" angle iron I had laying around. Not the most factory looking piece but its sure is stronger than an s10
bracket. My plan is to make some up on cnc and some plans, therefore if anyone wants to do a rearend/leaf spring swap my kit will be a cheap alternative than the big brands. The bracket that is in the way is the stock ebrake bracket which I'll relocate.

[lower50's]

I would put some gussets on the angle iron and call it done.

[99 to Life]

yah that's not a bad idea, but honestly I think its overkill, the under portion of the bracket is .5" thick since I doubled up the angle iron. Factory brackets, though diff design, are 1/8" thick at best. I'll see what I can do, thought about rounding off the bottoms too, so it looks more factory.

[Coach529]

I sure like the looks of those rims......Need to look into those some more!!

[Sim6]

Coming along 99. You puttin white walls on it?

[99 to Life]

1-8 Yeah white walls it is for now. I got snubbed on a great deal on some NOS 15" www's, which I can rarely find the 15". So I'll be putting my used 15" on for now until I can find him a cheaper set, or see how the budget is and buy new ones when its on the road.

Speaking of tires, I hope I can get them put on monday so I can keep the flow going. I degreased and scuffed the rims today and then brushed on this Kem bond HS I had. I'm hoping to sand this down, maybe put some high build on and or the 2k enamel I have. Its just too cold and too much of a PIA to spray epoxy right now. So I hope it all works out.

Got the blazer tank in as well. should be routing the filler out behind the rear fender just like my 49'.

Here is the kembond description, I never even heard of it until I was given this, so I figured it would be worth a try and save some money for the build.
KEM BOND HS
is a fast drying, high solids, low VOC, heavy metal
free, rust inhibitive, universal, phenolic alkyd metal primer. Kem
Bond HS can be topcoated with alkyd, acrylic, and high performance
coatings. Also suitable as a "barrier" coat over conventional coat-
ings which would normally be attacked by strong solvents in high
performance coatings.
• High build to protect sandblasted steel
• Good corrosion and rust protection
• Can be used as a "universal" primer under high performance
topcoats
• Fast drying
• Low temperature applicat

[Advanced Design]

Looks good 99. What year is that Blazer tank?

[99 to Life]

AD- same as I posted on the other thread, here you go

Capacity: 20 Gallons/76 Liters
Dimensions: 33 X 22 X 10-1/2 inches
Depth of bottom half - 5-1/4 inches
Not correct for Fuel Injected models

Includes the lock ring and gasket for the sending unit.

Brand NEW fitting for the following years and models:

1985 Chevy Blazer S10 Fuel Tank 20 Gal non F.I.
1983-84 Chevy Blazer S10 Fuel Tank 20 Gal non F.I.
1985 GMC Jimmy S-15 Fuel Tank 20 Gal non F.I.
1983-84 GMC Jimmy S-15 Fuel Tank 20 Gal non F.I

[Advanced Design]

Ok thanks 99! Sorry... Thought it was fuel injected tank for this one.

[99 to Life]

no worries, nope I'm carbing this LS for now, keep it simple. I may add EFI later down the road if the carb doesn't work out for him, which I'm sure it will. I can prolly find an in tank pump for higher pressure that would work with this later on, or do an external pump. My plans are to run and external low pressure pump for the LS. Thinking maybe a carter, something that isn't too pricey but dependable. any thoughts on that would be great.

[47 Fasttoys]

OK 99, making good progress but I gotta ask: why not remove the E brake cable mount? and why the half hole at the top of the bracket? I like the wheels they remind me of some wheel vintiques I had on my '54. That dual bolt pattern is handy if you have a mis-matched front and rear or if you may change later.
Rob

[99 to Life]

Carter P4070 - Carter Competition Series Electric Fuel Pumps
JEGS Part Number: 180-P4070
Electric Fuel Pump
Pump with 1/4" NPT Inlet and Outlet
4-6 psi Output
No Regulator Required
72 gph Free Flow
its not even $70

[99 to Life]

Rob, yes that ebrake bracket is getting moved up and out of the way. The half hole on my bracket was because the material I had didn't extend up enough to have the full hole. So when I get these Cnc'd out, I'll design it to do just that, so you can mount all three holes.
You can still put a bolt in the top there as is, or I can extend this piece to go up higher if I end up just using this actual piece. again, this is just more of a prototype to get the leafs in there. I'd like to have a more aesthetically looking piece, even though this thing is a brute.

I really wish the ebrake bracket didn't need moved but it does. I wanted to have a kit to be an easy bolt on with less headache, like the TCI kit is. But with their kit, its A.expensive, B. not as beefy, and C. I don't see how their leaf springs are parallel with the frame since it tapers in about 4" in the back. With my set up, the rear xmember needs moved, the rear of the frame needs boxed and a huge hole drilled for the shackle bushing, then up front the ebrake cable needs moved. So it becomes a bit more of task.

[99 to Life]

1-9 sat, today was one of those days that kept fighting me. Long story short, got the rims painted. So hoping Monday I can get tires on.

[Cuttin up]

Man i dig that color on those wheels

[Coach529]

Wheels look great!!

[joedoh]

nice color and finish!

[lower50's]

Nice color!! What color is that?

[99 to Life]

1-11 thanks guys, the color is rustoleum metallic blue. Got tires mounted today, put on. Its not quite at normal stance, even though I like it. The front will come up with the coils and the rear will come down. I have a wheel spacer in the back, so I'll have to order up a set to get the back wheels out.

Got the stock brake stuff off, plasma cut the trans xmember out. I put a plate on the inside of frame and then a boxing plate where the patch on the frame was. I'll continue boxing farther down. and clean it all up.

Got engine in for a quickie moch up. Hoping to possibly make engine mounts and get cab on next. I have some stainless headers coming so that's the next mission. I'll prolly just level frame to where I feel ride height will be. Hard to say right now without the springs in (which they say will settle after a while).

[*Kenny]

I really like the wheel color also! Lookin good!

[Advanced Design]

I painted a 1940 Willys gasser that color once. It was a model and I was 11 and loved it then too. Looks good!

[99 to Life]

1-18 Monday, not much to report, didn't work but a few hours on the truck this week. Got headers and I'm happy with them, seem like they will clear no matter how high or low the engine is. I ordered up some poly bushings and DOM to make my engine mounts. I tossed on the only trans I have just to get a "ballpark" on things. I'm waiting for the drop blocks to show up for the rear then I'll level the front and get on dialing in the engine placement. I'll toss cab back on for that.

In the rear, I haven't finalized the leaf springs quite yet. So I started on the one side. I used the plasma to cut the circle out of the frame, then welded in the tubing and put the bushing in.

Finally found a decent deal on an ash tray for the dash, I'll have to do some fabbing as the back of the dash is jacked up and the ash tray has nothing to pivot on.

[FarmerSid]

Liking the plasma eh! Headers look nice.