My version of the s10 swap

[ghettoluxury]

I would just cut it down a little and use an exhaust pipe adapter.

[tlorber]

Ghetto, did you mean exhaust pipe EXPANDER?

[ghettoluxury]

Originally Posted by tlorber

Ghetto, did you mean exhaust pipe EXPANDER?

No, I was thinking of one of these.

[low54panel]

I like what you did with the inner fenders, I was trying to decide what to do with mine since my vortec 4.2 with the alternator and ps pump is pretty wide. I think what you came up with will work perfect without having to lose the inner fenders.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by low54panel

I like what you did with the inner fenders, I was trying to decide what to do with mine since my vortec 4.2 with the alternator and ps pump is pretty wide. I think what you came up with will work perfect without having to lose the inner fenders.

There is a lot of wasted space when using stock or stock-shaped inner fenders. I pulled the coil springs out of mine and cycled the suspension with 28" front tires just to make sure everything cleared with my setup and tried to build it just a little bit outside those parameters. That way I know everything will fit and not rub, but will maximize underhood space. I feel good that I achieved that with my inner fenders. Where that A/C compressor mounts I easily gained 5" of horizontal space over what the original inners allowed.

[low54panel]

Your ac compressor looks to be about the same place as the power steering pump on my 4.2, I really didnt want to cut a chunk out of the inner fender to clear the pulley, will have to play with it when I get back from vacation

[72-c20]

looking good!

[BlueJeep]

I took a short break to see Robert Earl Keen in concert, very good show!


Back at mounting the evaporator. I finally finished with version 3. Vintage Air's brackets didn't come anywhere close to fitting, but that was fine with me because it allowed me to put it where I wanted to. Version 2 had a dash side modeled after the one Vintage Air provided. It worked, but I was not at all happy about how much it made the dash move...it wasn't very secure at all. The dash on the passenger side is just not stiff enough to do that IMHO.




So after looking around for a while I came up with version 3. This time, I take the primary support vertical, gaining strength through the pinch weld area near the windshield. I then added a kicker to the dash and this resulted in a VERY solid mount. Plastic will have to break for this thing to move!






It clears the wipers and will give me points in which to zip tie wires to later. I'm happy now!

[BlueJeep]

Today I worked on door gaps that were too tight on the passenger side. I really don't like setting door gaps I've decided...



The Jamb is still too tight, and I can't get the door to latch before it hits the small lip on the inside of the jamb, so more cutting and fitting of that tomorrow.

[skymangs]

Very nice! Is that a Gen II compac? I prefer that evaporator, it's hose connections are really in a very convenient place compared to the rest. Looks great!

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by skymangs

Very nice! Is that a Gen II compac? I prefer that evaporator, it's hose connections are really in a very convenient place compared to the rest. Looks great!

Yes, it's the gen II 55288-VUE-A evaporator that comes with the Sure Fit evaporator kit. I have the under dash panel too, I don't care for the plastic look but when it's painted to match the dash it'll look OK.



Today so far has been working on the latches. I have Altman easy latches, but I had previously chopped up my door jambs trying to use regular bear claw latches. For these reasons and because my passenger side door jamb was just a shade bigger than the actual door, when bolted all together there was metal on metal rubbing. My solution is to further modify the door jambs to eliminate the 1/8" thick plate Altman supplies and fit the jamb to the latch, and then then drill it for the latch pin. Also, when I closed the door I had metal on metal contact right about where the door would be in the closed position. To avoid chipping the paint all off when the doors are closed in the future I needed to make some room here.

This picture shows the contact I had when the doors were closed, with the outer door panel being flush with the cab corner:


I felt that I needed to gain about 3/16" so that there wouldn't be any contact under normal use.

Getting to a clean slate:


It still hit at the "inner" lip, so more clearancing was required. Here is where I had enough that I could stop:


This allows me about 3/16 that the door can go in past "flush" without hitting any metal. The striker will be adjusted so it doesn't go in this far, but this way I shouldn't chip off any paint.

[BlueJeep]

I was able to get most of the way through the passenger side. I have to do a little more finishing of the welds and then I'm going to plate the back side for reinforcement, but I do like how it's turned out.







The door closes good, latches smoothly, and doesn't hit the jamb anywhere! Now to do the same for the driver's side...second one is always easier and quicker. Not to mention that side fit better to begin with.

[BlueJeep]

Last night I worked a little bit on getting ready for gauges. I started with a new fuel pickup/sending unit for an s10. This has the 0-90 ohm sending unit. I couldn't get the New Vintage gauges with this same setup, so I had to use their sending unit. I wanted to keep it all packaged together, like the factory did it so I had to do some modifying.

Here's the gauge:


Here's the donor parts:


First I did a little research to see how close the "swing" was on the old vs. the new sending units...turns out they were pretty close:


My adapter plate I had to make because the bolt pattern and footprint of both sending units were very different. I mounted it so the pivot point was in the exact same place as the old one was, and used the s10 float and arm on the New Vintage sending unit. I had to slightly modify it to work.


And here it is all done...almost. I have to pick up some longer 5/32" rivets to permanently mount it and need to solder the wire.

[BlueJeep]

Now I'm looking into the other sending units. For the water temp I bought the Autometer 2277 adapter. This isn't really a viable option unless you're using the short Autometer sending unit. Since I'm using the New Vintage sending unit, I couldn't drill out the hole in the center of the 2277 adapter large enough to work. The minimum outside diameter on the adapter is .388. The smallest fractional drill bit that would allow the temp sending unit to fit is 5/16, or .3125. That would leave a wall thickness of half that difference, or .038". Seeing how this fitting would have to be tightened enough for the copper washer to seal it, I didn't think that would work.

Plan 2: drill and tap the head larger for a different fitting to adapt to the 1/8" NPT sending unit. I dug though my parts and found a 1/4" x 1/8" NPT bushing, perfect! The OD of this fitting is .053" larger than the 12mm original fitting, so less chips = less chance of filings in the water passages. I'll grease up a drill bit and drill out the head, then grease up a tap and tap it out to 1/4" NPT and screw the fittings into it.

Top - original plug in head, Left - 1/4 x 1/8" bushing, center right - Autometer 2277 adapter, bottom - New Vintage sending unit.

[BlueJeep]

Quick picture of the completed assembly, complete with the correct fuel pump for the 5.3 and the line adapters that will adapt to my nylon fuel lines. No $$$ AN fittings for me, I think I'll end up with a combination of nylon and hard lines to feed the engine.

[BlueJeep]

I took a break from progress this weekend so that I could get some additional education. I'd very much recommend Ron Covell's workshops to anyone wanting to learn more about metalshaping. This is the 2nd one I've attended, and I definitely learned some tips that I will use on my projects.

Ron making a wire buck:


Hammerform, this one I for sure will use:


Testing out the prototype MetalAce rigid frame wheel:


And fine tuning a part:

[oldman3]

I wish I could attend a few of his classes...Jim

[99 to Life]

thats cool, these classes seem to be coming more and more popular. which is cool, everybody wins and it helps keeps the art alive. Gotta spread the seeds. I'd like to attend a class by gene winfield just cause he's a legend in action. I'v met him and watched him chop at autorama. that Ewheel looks awesome, can't wait to get one along with some other essentials I'm missing!

[BlueJeep]

I've been chipping away at things a little at a time. I finished up the driver's side latch. I basically did the same as I did on the passenger side.




I got the seat mounted and drilled the holes for the 88 chevy seatbelts. When I pop the cab back off I'll make reinforcements under the floor to spread the load.

Also in trying to finish up things in the cab that are needed before paint I mounted my fuse panel and started to figure out a parking brake pedal. I thought it would be cool to use a 40 ford style handle for the parking brake, but after getting seriously outbid on eBay I decided to take a different route. I ended up with a Jeep YJ parking brake pedal for $25 + S/H, brand new. I chose this because the "lever arm" is longer than many and this would put the ugly body of it further up under the dash. It also had the built in release which I liked.






I have to modify how it mounts because it goes in the same vicinity as the hood spring mounts, but that's no big deal. Hopefully I'll get that done this weekend and then on to cleaning up a bunch of things from the back end. Got the bushings out of the springs and the frame, that wasn't fun. I'll put the new ones in and clean and paint a bunch of small pieces, and then see what I have to do to my 9" rear to get it ready to go.

[99 to Life]

nice work, really diggin that ebrake. Might have to look into that.

[FarmerSid]

Good tidbit on the ebrake setup. Nice work on the door latches. Question, why does everybody use bear claw type latches as opposed to using ones out of a newer vehicle? I played with a truck the other day that had bear claw type latches and found they were loud compared to the ones in my donor 1995 Buick Roadmaster. The Roadmaster latches are smoother and close nicer. A builder I know feels the same. He uses mid 90's civic latches in all of his builds.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by FarmerSid

Good tidbit on the ebrake setup. Nice work on the door latches. Question, why does everybody use bear claw type latches as opposed to using ones out of a newer vehicle? I played with a truck the other day that had bear claw type latches and found they were loud compared to the ones in my donor 1995 Buick Roadmaster. The Roadmaster latches are smoother and close nicer. A builder I know feels the same. He uses mid 90's civic latches in all of his builds.

I used the Altman latches because I wasted hours and hours messing with standard bear claw latches and trying to maintain the original turn down outside handles...and I just wanted to be done with that. If you were using pushbutton handles or shaved handles I'd see no issue in trying to use some stock latches off something. The other issue that may be present with these trucks is that the window track is really close to the door jamb, so the replacement latch would have to be very slim or you'd have do more surgery to get it to work.

[Atommik]

I used the Altman latches for the same reason, keeping the OE door handles. I also had similar fit problems in the jam. I just finished the driver's side. I'll start the pass. side soon.

Unfortunately I decided to go with the Altman's after everything was painted so I had to try to modify things with out having to repaint. I basically had to move the door side of the jam in to get clearance for it to close. A little trimming, a little hammering. It's all good.

I like how you fixed your jam. I would have done the same if I had thought of these latches sooner.

[BlueJeep]

A little cutting, a few holes drilled, some tabs done and the parking brake is mounted. I like it.

[99 to Life]

looks great, might have to cop that same pedal!!!