1947 S10 4x4 Blazer swap

[88Lt1wagon]

That's awesome you got your mechanical issues solved, and it's looking good, shouldn't be long now

[YahamaR1]

Very nice truck, I like the stance of the truck...
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[msaintg]

Thanks Jason,
Ya, one down, four to go. I still think there is something wrong with the tranny. It does not shift into OD and feels like it is slipping when coming off a dead stop. Engine is happy now though. I took it to the muffler shop yesterday and got a muffler and tailpipe section done. Now all I here is engine.

Thanks yahamaR1, I like the stance, but I think I may have it too low for a daily driver. I have a heck of a time getting it on my trailer. I have to put a jack under the hitch and lift the back end of my truck waaaaaaay up and put blocks under the ramps to get the angle better so that it does not high center. And I can't open the doors far enough when it is on the trailer because the doors hit the trailer sides. Yesterday when I took it to the muffler shop, I pulled up too far to the right (to make clearance to get out) and I scraped the passenger rear fender on the trailer. Arrrgh! Once again, I am very glad this is a cheap, home done paint job.

[msaintg]

Week 69 - I worked on the interior some more this week. I installed the seat belts and then added some more insulation to the back wall, inside the doors, and the floor. I then added a sheet of aluminum across the back to cover the open space. I started to put the carpeting in, but ran out of time today. I will try to finish that up tomorrow and post those pics to.

[msaintg]

more for week 69 - I got two layers of insulation put on the firewall and then I got the carpeting roughed in. I actually used up a whole gallon of contact cement putting in the insulation and carpeting! The carpet looks kinda gray in the pics, but it is actually dark brown like the trim. I think the seat belts turn out real nice .... all hidden by the carpeting. I have not decided how I am going to trim it out yet.

[msaintg]

week 70 - Sorry, not much to report this week. All I managed to do was to get the door rubber weather stripping glued on. Now the doors fit soooooo tight I have to slam them. My drivers door was so tight I couldn't even close it. I had to remove the weather stripping along the hinge area. Oh well, at least they don't rattle I don't know why they have a second 'windlace' strip on the inside of the cab. I think I will leave that off for now.

[Daze57]

lookin good !!!!!!

[Bubba54]

Trucks looking nice. Must feel good getting close to finished. Also, thanks for the hinge bending tip, worked good for me.

Thanks Shawn

[av8tr33337]

Speaking of windlace inside the cab,do most of you gys remove that channel and eliminate the inside windlace all together?? I was kinda thinking about doin thet because it looks bad.

[msaintg]

thanks guys. glad the hinges worked for you Shawn.

Bartman, I don't know what other guys are doing. I have already purchased the windlace rubber, but don't think I need it. I am going to put the metal trim back on (in order to cover up the edge of the headliner and edge of the carpeting), but just leave off the rubber. I will see how that looks and keep you guys updated.

[msaintg]

Week 71 – This week I finished gluing the seems in the carpeting… (I still need to put on the trim). Then I moved on to cleaning up the wiring under the dash a little bit (I removed three of the connectors…. 87 wires) The first pic is before, the 2nd is after (the third pic is of the connectors that I removed). I still have a lot of work to do under there, but it was a good start. I got the seat belts and seats placed to check for fit (I will have the seats reupholstered sometime later on down the road).

Oh, I almost forgot…. I also took it into three transmission shops to have the tranny checked out….. Two wanted $1500 to rebuild it…. NOT! The third guy said I might have an electrical problem to fix first. After some more investigation, I think the computer is not sure what gear it should be in based on the speed. Like it is starting out in 2nd gear. Sometimes it will not shift to overdrive (maybe a sensor, maybe the shift selector). I may need to revisit the speedometer wire too…. It is supposed to be a shielded wire and I didn’t have one when I hooked that up. I am a little more optimistic about the tranny now, I don't think it is slipping.

[Daze57]

wires from hell !!!

i have the same seats - lookin good

[mknittle]

I was pretty skeptical at first but it is really coming out nice!

[msaintg]

Daze57.. thanks. You ain't kidd'n, I don't know what half of those wires were for, but I am afraid to remove any them for fear something might stop working. I took the head rests off of the seats because I think it looks better in an old truck, and they were in pretty bad shape.... hope I don't get rear ended though.

mknittle... thanks. Skeptical about what? I don't think I am doing anything too radical with it.

[mknittle]

[QUOTE=msaintg;6145315]Daze57.. thanks. You ain't kidd'n, I don't know what half of those wires were for, but I am afraid to remove any them for fear something might stop working. I took the head rests off of the seats because I think it looks better in an old truck, and they were in pretty bad shape.... hope I don't get rear ended though.

mknittle... thanks. Skeptical about what? I don't think I am doing anything too radical with it. [/QUOTE

Not so much the frame swap but converting four wheel drive to two wheel drive and getting it anywhere near low.

[msaintg]

ya, it is lower than I thought. I am actually thinking about raising it 2" (a little more practical for a daily driver). I had no idea how it would sit once everything was put on and settled. The great thing about the torsion bars up front is that I can tune it very easily by turning two screws (and change / modify the blocks on the back). I only have about 5" of ground clearance right now.

[msaintg]

week 72 - over 115 deg here, need I say more Actually, I put about 12 miles on the project truck while testing out the tranny. I am almost positive my tranny problem is NOT slipping.... It is just not shifting down properly. If I pull the shift selector down to 2nd, it starts out from a dead stop just fine. Sometimes shifts to OD, sometimes not. I had it up to 75 on the freeway no problem. The CC even works!

[msaintg]

Today I got the passenger side hood hinge working again and then I got the hood latch adjusted so that it stays latched while driving. Put a few more mile on it... think I am up to 30 miles now.

[rgunlock]

Hood staying closed while driving is a good thing Looking good. Hope you get the transmission gremlins worked out soon.

[msaintg]

ya, hood staying closed is very good. I don't trust the safety latch to do its job.

I went to lunch with friend yesterday and took the truck to show him. We had two people stop and want to talk with us. I guess I am going to have to get used to that.

[Atommik]

Yeah, I've been told to allow extra time when ever you take the truck some where. Some one will almost always want to ask about it!!

I think that's a good thing!!

[msaintg]

Week 73 - I spent this week doing a few little misc. things, like installing a mounting bracket for the air filter, installing the dome light and some of the passenger side wind lace. I gotta say, I am not happy with how that trim holds the wind lace in place. Looks very sloppy. I am quite happy with the dome light though. Nice and bright, even in the daytime (as you can see, I barrowed the LED idea too). Oh, I was too lazy to repair the fender where I scraped it on the trailer, so I strategically placed a sticker there. I still have to repaint the running boards, so I will fix that later.

[msaintg]

week 74 - All I did this week is research my tranny problem and mechanics to fix it. I finally took it into a shop and they determined that my problem WAS actually in the transmission and not the wiring or computer. They said the signal to downshift was there at the tranny, but it was not responding. I gave them the OK to fix the selenoid that was bad, but then they found a ball bearing in the pan, so I gave them the OK to pull the valve body and check / fix that. I am hoping to get it back by Tuesday.

I am going to have them align it while it is in there too.

[msaintg]

week 75 - The mechanic ended up replacing two of the shift solenoids in the transmission (the ball bearing found in the pan turned out to be just an extra one, but the tranny was missing the gasket on the valve body). I now have over 120 miles on the truck.

I did the numbers recently, so here they are: Grand total of 75 weeks, 695 hours (9.3 hrs per week), $8730 invested in the project (that includes $670 for intake manifold repair by a shop and $540 for transmission repair & alignment by a shop). My original projection was 2 years / $5000, so I am very happy with the outcome. I still have a small list of items to finish it up, but I should have them knocked out pretty quickly. What I still need to do: fan shroud, tinted windows, finish wiring (connect head light switch and wiper motor), replace 3” blocks in back with 2” blocks, finish trim on carpeting, install door wind lace, add the felt strip to inside of the window frames, install passenger door lock, and repaint running boards.

[msaintg]

more from week 75 - Today I got the windows tinted, put the felt strip on the inside of the windows, and cut the 3" blocks on the back down to 2". The truck now sits 1" higher front and back (bottom of the front fender is now about 5" off of the ground). Now I will be able to open the door when the truck is loaded on my trailer. I also worked on the trim around the carpeting a little.

sorry, the site won't let me upload any pics for you guys.