47-55.1 Project: Kechi AD S10 4.3 auto

[OutlawDrifter]

Man that's cool that it worked out so well, great job!

[oldman3]

Russ, some nice stuff going together...Jim

[joedoh]

thanks jim and marc, knocking on the door of test drives and shakedowns.

running boards! some guys build tube mounts but I always have a butt-ton of original brackets and if you know how to cut em it is easy peasy.

this is a drivers front mount, cut to 13" on center with the outer bolt. when you cut them you have to notch them for the body mount, it lands right on top.



tacking a rear drivers mount. that one is 15.5" on center, the frame is wider at the front on an s10. the rears fit nice and flush, easy to get a get weld up. 47-53 mounts are slightly different, these are 40-46, just extras.



both sides came out great. took about an hour and a half, I remember the first time I did running boards I measured and trimmed and cut and yada yada. probably TWO DAYS. EACH SIDE. today its just "oh yeah running boards".




while I had the welder out I touched up a spot on the cowl where someone put a giant antenna.



my good friend came over yesterday and bled the brakes in about an hour. I had been funking around with them by my lonesome for a couple days. needed that second guy on the pedal, larry if you are reading, thanks a pantload. I also put cotter pins in the front end and the bolts in the trans mounts. a couple zip ties, everything underneath is all tucked up. I need to decide if I am doing bumpers, while its in the air. I also mocked up those foose 20s. holy carp sea bass, they look just right. we will see if I trip over some tires.

[reaper71]

Nice work Russ.
Running board brackets can be a pain! (factory stuff anyway)

[8man]

Nice idea on the running board mounts.

[Palf70Step]

Very nice. As always, really enjoying your builds.

[joedoh]

thanks bill, robert, and mark!

did you know, that there are THREE DIFFERENT headliners for the 1949? Bet you thought there were only two, right?

it has to do with the mid year changes, the 47 to EARLY 49 had screw in windlace retainers and a screw in center bow. the LATE 49 to 53 had slip in windlace channel and a floating center bow. you cant put a screw in bow in a later truck, even if you wanted to, because there is not a center rib in the roof, and you cant fit the floating bow in the early truck because that center rib gets in the way.

well there were a few, just a few, mid year 49 that snuck through with a screw in center bow and slip in windlace. They make an early headliner with punched recesses for the screw in windlace and center bow, and they make a late headliner with smooth edges for the floating bow and slip in windlace.

if you have one of the mid years, your only choice is to buy an early headliner and cut the windlace edge off. this picture might be a confusing perspective but thats the top side of the headliner and those three cutouts on the top side are for the screws in the windlace retainer. the headliner wont physically fit until you cut that section back, could take a couple tries at it.




I have read a lot of how-tos on installing the headliner, most say to work it over the windshield surround trim and above the center bow and around the windlace. hogwash. I already had everything out, and that made it the easiest I have ever done. I held the back up by selfishly using two drill tip screws to hold the headliner to the center rib and then installing the center bow.



then you will need an extra pair of hands to slip the rear section in and viola!



I slipped in the windlace too, and lemmetellya, holy crap I wish I had that DAY back. the old stuff was roached and wouldnt come OUT and the new stuff was grabby and soft and wouldnt go IN.

but I am finally ready for carpet and seat! missed a deal on some parts this afternoon but a buddy got them and I may end up with the stuff he doesnt use.

[joedoh]

gotta patch that gigantic hole in the firewall/floor. cardboarded a pattern.



built it and sealed it



I sealed all the random holes in the floor then a layer of sound deadener on the floor. then jute. if anyone wants the pattern, its 57 inches wide at the back of the door, 52 inches wide at the front of the door, 33 inches apart. I made it 56 inches total length which went up the firewall a good way.



carpet, i put it in and cut it to fit so it goes into the area behind the seat too.



seat!





more in a second post.

[joedoh]

rolled it outside and put the hood on.






circling the field on this one, got some trim to install, (does anyone know how to get the windshield garnish trim in? I think I need a rubber mallet) some taillight wiring, maybe some bed wood, maybe some bumpers, wipers, and it will be ready for its forever home.

I also got a piece of equipment I have been wanting a while, shook hands on it anyway. gonna do a quick body swap for a friend before christmas and then the next one is already at the new shop!

[reaper71]

Came out nice russ

[oldman3]

Sweet...Jim

[Palf70Step]

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice work Russ, carpet is one of my projects this winter.

[NeoJuice]

If you bought the deluxe front window rubber with the slit for the window trim you need to install it in the rubber before you install the front windshield. We did this on my truck. I also had a buddy who is a glass guy help me install the windshield.

I attached a picture of my windshield before we installed it. Make sure you have some lube and a hook tool. It will definitely help with the install.

[joedoh]

thanks! the windshield was definitely not coming out with all the trouble it gave me going in the first time, so I decided nothing ventured nothing gained.


I got it in, silicone spray and a soft mallet. only dinked it a little in the center where the stainless trim... tongue? was juuuust a little too long in that spot so it buckled. I trimmed the other side in that same spot and had no trouble. I used that windshield stick from LMC to open the slot and slid my hand along the trim.

[NeoJuice]

The trim I got for my windshield is an original off an old truck from my uncles farm. I had to ding out a couple dents but it's to be expected for being so old.

[olcarguy]

Nice job...makes me want to get back to work on mine....

[reaper71]

Super close now!!

[joedoh]

thanks fellers.

I put the hood on and sure as taxes the brake booster sprung a vacuum leak. so the hood is back off.

story time.

my daughter flew in for thanksgiving, super surprise, a bit of the "christmas with the kranks" totally last minute and we hadnt planned the big celebration because of all the new property work (coughcoughmoneyworkcough). but it was great, small and great, love that girl. my middle girl even came, she has been suffering from myparentssuck-itis like they all get around 19-22.

anyway. since it was a small thanksgiving I didnt have a lot of prep to do like normal, I saw a nice pair of 52-54 wing doors for sale, they kept popping up in my feed, priced high but no rot, clean everything and the glass was good. I sent the guy a low offer, said I dont really need them but would hate to miss them if I ever did. no response. its ok, happens with last ditch offers, and at least I shot my shot.

so monday, another set of doors in my feed, not so nice, broken glass. funking with the door latch on kechi so I offer what a good used latch would cost me for both. a couple minutes later, ding, "ok come get em" and a number to call.

but the name he used was different. it was the first guy, from thanksgiving. who has two thumbs and 4 doors?




I still think the wing doors are the better deal, even at double the price, but pretty happy with both, at the price.


I WANTED to have kechi rolled out and for sale. the guy who aasked me to build it is ducking me though, I can take a hint. another friend asked me to set up his truck, so if nobody minds I will just append it here. just mounting body and pedals, bumpers and running boards. nothing groundbreaking.

pitter patter, lets get at er.






as usual I cut the frame right behind the core support mount, the front clip comes off in one big chunk, and on a first gen the hood stays with it! I cut out the firewall chunk for the pedals, he wants to run a clutch and T56 eventually. not keeping the wiring harness which I think is A DAMN SHAME

[joedoh]

so got the s10 frame bare for nick, but his 54 wont be here till Saturday.



so lights and some other stuff. on the taillights, I bought the 37 truck housings but apparently 37 car LEDs. even though the housings were already 12v and new, I still like LED and the car LEDs were still superfreakin bright behind the truck lenses, so all I really needed to figure out was the tag light on one side. the car light came with a separate LED tag light but it was made to fit t he car housing. I coulda glued it in the housing but that seemed lazy.




so I marked the circle and made it a plug with a cutoff wheel.




super dope. more in the next post.

[joedoh]

now a little fuse it. I love that stuff, waterproof and stays flexible forever.



popped the leds in and checked the fit. hold on. do you see it?




the left light is about an inch higher than the right. sheesh, serves me right for buying brackets like a pleb instead of building them like I usually do. put a pin in that problem to wire them up and... more disappointing news.



when I bought the truck, the owner told me the local cops in his town LOVED pulling him over to tell him of various problems with his lights. if you ever had an s10, you know the problem, grounds. sure enough, a jumper makes it work, but the tape was thick and I didnt feel like messing around. so I went after the misaligned lights. moved the passenger bracket up an inch, pretty close.



oh and the tag light works perf! we have a weird tag system now, where you title it and then they mail you a plate. They give a paper one (not cardboard, literally printed paper in a flimsy plastic sack) but the stickers dont line up with the bracket and I am not really driving it anyway, so here is my hand to show the glow.



still more!

[joedoh]

had the hood off so I wired the high beams and installed the second horn.



still need to attach the rad top and hook up the trans cooler lines, may do that while the hood is still off.

tackled that reluctant drivers door. it was super jiggly even when latched, I bought that extra door but I wasnt keen on swapping the door side latch behind my freshly installed window channel. I read up on adjusting and it said to add a little tilt to the cab side latch. problem though, the screws were SUPER reluctant from 70 years of being in the same place. I found a screwdriver with no handle in nicks S10, so I cut it short and hammered it in a 9mm 3/8 drive socket (finally a use for one). it worked for the tops, but the bottoms didnt budge. time to break out the big guns. I didnt want to drill out the screws, besides they had a good head still, not stripped (yet).

so I used a simple trick to use a cut of wheel and deepen the head slot for more bite with my kludged 9mm slotted screwdriver ratchet. it does score up the cab side latch, but not in a place that is important except for looks, and I am not putting on airs. worked a treat.



after that everything was ice cream on sunday. adjusted the tilt of the latch slightly and the door shuts with a finger now. the door stain is penetrant, I still think a good bump will open the door so I am planning to swap the outside handle.



after that I finally finished the booster swap. I cant attach video any longer but suffice it to say that there is no more rough idle and brakes are great.



I cut down the seat, need some seat bolts. tomorrow I will do seat and wipers and maybe some bed wood? dunno. Nic is bringing his 54 saturday morning, I would like to have mounts cut and tacked by then.

[oldman3]

Russ, moving right along...Jim

[NorCalGal]

Wow another one done! You’re amazing, wish I was as fast as you. I just want to finish one!!!

[8man]

Thanks for sharing that, and as Jan said, you are quick!