1947 S10 4x4 Blazer swap

[msaintg]

I didn't realize how dim my tail lights were until I was driving behind my truck the other day. The directional and brake light bulb is down at the bottom of the lens and hard to see from a distance. Just for grins today, I took some LED lights that I bought awhile back and added them to the tail light housing. I have no idea if they are going to hold up or melt, so I did not mount them at all. They are flexible, so I just curled them around in the housing. They actually fit in there very well. It is hard to tell from the comparison pics, but they are brighter.

[99 to Life]

just browsed through the whole thread, very cool. Glad your wife is into the truck, def makes life easier. Love that sign she bought you. Keep racking the miles up man. I like the color scheme.

[msaintg]

I was still not happy with the rear tail lights after adding the LED lights... the directional and brake lights were still too dim. I realized that I had the bulbs positions swapped, so I rewired the lights to use the middle bulb for the directional/ brake lights and the lower bulb for the running lights. I am happy with it now.

I went to the weekly car show Saturday and saw a few 'new' vehicles that I had not seen before. I actually stayed by my vehicle for the first time to talk with people rather than walk around the whole time. It was fun talking to people. Here are a couple of pics of the vehicles I saw for the first time. The first is a 1947 suburban and the second is a 1948 3100. Check out the passing mirrors and factory wing louvers on the '48. The guy with the '48 did a real nice job doing a static drop on an S10 suspension.... it is only 2" off the ground. Oh, that is a real bullet hole in the hood too.

[msaintg]

I am still playing with the ride height. I adjusted the front end up some more, so it was sitting almost level. I started out with 3" blocks in the back, then I cut them down to 1.5". Now I have completely removed the rear blocks. I think I finally like it. I gave it a bath and took it out for some pics.

[Truck Guy99]

Truck looks fantastic! Its come a long way since you first dragged it home

[msaintg]

thanks, I am really enjoying it now that it is running. I cringe at the thought of doing another one. My little brother has me helping him with his '54 Willys pickup. We just replaced all 6 stake pockets last weekend. good times.

[msaintg]

Intel had an emplyees only car show that drew over 60 cars and over 600 spectators. Not bad for a 1st annual

I got to park next to this hot 65

[msaintg]

7/4/2014 - Small update. Wow, I can't believe I have been driving this truck for a whole year now! I have racked up over 8500 miles on it. That's a lot of miles when you consider it is not my daily driver.

I bought a house in Payson and have used the old Chevy quite a lot running back and forth between Mesa and Payson. Payson is about 70 miles / 4000 ft higher elevation than Mesa and the Chevy's cruise control works waaaaay better on the hills than my 2001 F150. The F150 goes way too fast on the down hills. The Chevy transmission holds you back on the down hills.

I even used it to haul stuff on occasion.

[rgunlock]

Congratulations on the new home Mike! Glad to hear you are enjoying your truck so much.

[msaintg]

thanks Rick, I do love getting out of the valley when it is so hot. The new house is just the latest 'project' of mine.

I had a near miss on the way home the other night. I came across two deer standing in the road. I went between them about 50 mph before I even realized what they were. You just don't see deer in the road in AZ! That would have made a real mess of the '47. Oh well, all is good.

[msaintg]

I decided to put the truck to work..... I put my wife's new logo on it. I figure if you're going to put a logo on your truck, it might as well be a real business.

[99 to Life]

Goes well with the truck, nothing wrong with promoting family biz.

[msaintg]

Thanks, I like it. My wife was very surprised that I would put something so permanent on the truck, but I figure she will use it more, and I want it to be driven.

last week she was cruising down the freeway and ran across a construction area where they had left a bunch of gravel on the road. Everyone slowed to 45mph but she still got rock chips on both halves of the windshield and also took out a headlight. She was very upset. I didn't care. I was actually quite pleased that the insurance company would pay me to fix it. I was able to fix it and pocket a little cash.

I was experimenting with my first youtube video. lets see if this link works: http://youtu.be/1Go8d6wnJDI

[oldman3]

Sweet video Mike, truck looked great running down the road...Jim

[msaintg]

thanks, Jim, My buddy took it with his new dash cam. I think I am going to have to get me one.

[msaintg]

small update. It has been about 1.5 years since I finished building the truck (never finished the fan shroud or the electrical hookup for the wipers) and the wife has been driving the wheels off of it.... over 15,400 miles so far!

She got into a gravel storm on the freeway which chipped the windshield and the paint on the front end, but nothing major. Yesterday she rubbed the wall when backing out of the garage, again nothing major. Man I am soooooo glad I did not put too much work into the body work and paint on this truck

motor on

[rgunlock]

Well, she's picking up a few scars, but sounds like she's getting a lot of good use!

[99 to Life]

well, I feel a truck is meant for work. just a symbolic and practical piece of art that really helped define this country. kinda like the horse, or wagon or wheel etc. she is putting it to work, more than most of us on here!!!! I'm glad I like patina for those very reasons, its alot of upkeep for paint. though I'm planning some painted trucks soon, living on dirt roads suck. glad to see your getting some use outta your hard work.

[msaintg]

ya, I couldn't get mad at her, she felt really bad about it. She is normally an excellent driver. What happened is, we moved into a new home and the new garage is a lot tighter than the old one and the truck is parked on the opposite side than it was before. I guess she was just in too much of a hurry. Funny thing was.... she did it on my birthday.

[rgunlock]

Happy Birthday, and congrats on the new home!

[msaintg]

small update..... chevy is still motoring on like a champ, so I have not done anything to it, except enjoy it. I moved 6 months ago, so I spent 4 months tiling the kitchen counters, painting the whole interior of the house, wood flooring in 4 bedrooms and all new light fixtures, ceiling fans, and bathroom faucets. I finally got back to working on the CJ5. got it done (almost) just in time for an all Willys car show. here is what the jeep looks like now after a full frame off restoration (8 months worth of work):

[99 to Life]

congrats on the house and the new project. glad to here the truck is going good.

[Purcell69]

I just stumbled across your thread and started reading it yesterday. That is a great build you completed (both actually)! I had to chuckle when you mentioned reusing the motor mounts, only because I did the same thing. Unlike you, I can't begin to imagine the time/$ I have in my build, since it has morphed over twenty years.

I bought my '57 project when we still lived in AZ for $1500 with a good title, no motor or transmission, uncut frame. This was around 1995. Since then, we moved to OK where I converted the straight axle to disc brakes and added power steering. I didn't like the way it drove due to some hellish bump-steer. After that, I cut the stock frame and added a Camaro clip. Even with 2" spacers between the frame and subframe, My nose was in the weeds, which was not what I wanted. I finally got to where I am now, on a 1994 Dodge 4x4 frame.

I like the idea that you didn't do what everyone else was doing, and converted a 4x4 Blazer to 2wd to suit your needs. I'd toyed with the idea of using my Chevrolet drivetrain in my build, but opted to use the Dodge drivetain instead, because it would be different than all the SBC stuff out there and I all ready had all of the needed parts from my donor truck. Like your build, I'm not looking to be car show material, just something I can enjoy driving.

Any plans for another build?

-Joe

[msaintg]

thanks guys.

no, joe, no plans for another build. I am actually thinking of selling the jeep already because I am too big for it. my head goes all the way up to the roll cage and I cant see out of the front windshield without hunching over.... I am only 6'-1". My wife just grins because she thinks she is getting another vehicle. I think I prefer house projects to vehicle projects, but I don't have any projects in mind for the rest of the year.

[DeanTX]

Mike, I've read your thread over many times. Not sure if you check in here much anymore. I was wanting to know if you swapped out the stock bar keys for lowering ones?