49 3600, s10 swap, project boogie

[joedoh]

I want to cut it down, so you probably will too, but its not uncomfortable. its lower than the stock seat but I feel like I am all upstairs.

went and got some gas. the filler was overflowing when I put the first gallon in and the internet said the evap valve was plugged. I pulled it loose and blew through it and viola, fixed. I went for a very dark cruise haha.



notice that it is facing the opposite way, this is the first time I didnt have to grunt my fat ass to push spin the truck around in the driveway. quite a moment. I let it get warm and gave it the beans, it runs like a swiss watch. I must have been quite a sight, no door, no bed, no lights except runners, wild eyed.

when I got back I had enough euphoria left to flip the carcoal canister. funny story, since I swapped frames from an 03 to an 84, obviously it didnt have the mounting holes for the charcoal canister, so I held it where the lines looked right and drilled holes. then I looked at putting the bed on and realized it stuck up way to far and the bed would need a brace cut and some more work on lowering the canister as much as I could. well, when I was looking at the cleaning instructions for the evap valve, I noticed I put the thing on upside down. so I drilled a couple new holes, wow look at all the room now


must be something in the water, get out your fishing rods and spoon lures, I am a doom bass.

might get the bed on tomorrow, and the drivers door, although I like having the door off to do all the trim and wiring so maybe not yet. I looked pretty seriously at wiring the headlights while the wheels were off, but I need the three prong harnesses.

[99 to Life]

[lower50's]

Nice now when you move it around you don't have to worry about it hitting stuff because it won't stop. I ran into my trailer twice before I got brakes.

[HUSSEY]

Nice work, that first drive has to be satisfying!!!

[Palf70Step]

Good to here she is mobile!

[joedoh]

it wasnt a fluke, I backed it out of the garage today!

I am getting pretty good at muscling the bed on by myself.


the goal of today was running boards. but before running boards I had to mount the fenders, before mounting fenders there was repairing the front edge of the fenders where the running board mounts up, before repairing the fenders there was mounting the bed, before mounting the bed though I had to mount the gas filler.

working backwards, I changed the angle on the filler neck.


cut the hole


mounted!


repaired fender fronts, this one was really bad, torn out and lots of damage


fenders on, starting to mount.


maybe tomorrow I will get the running boards mounted. haha

[MIKESAD50]

nice progress and it is looking good.

[joedoh]

thanks, I forgot to mention, I plan to run more than 3 lug nuts per wheel haha



I have spacers for the rear wheels too, but the extended thread lug nuts didnt show up yet. I am still deciding between artillery or smoothie wheels but I need to get them ordered.

[iowaboynca]

+1 artillery (even though i have smoothies...)

[Zoomin]

Great project! Took me a while to read through, but worth every minute - lots of how-to stuff that will come in handy.

[99 to Life]

gettin there. isn't every new build lacking lug nuts!!! we took my friends 54' belair for the first test run and he's like "do you hear something" yeah wheel was coming off!

[joedoh]

yeah lug nuts are so cheap I dont understand why no one buys them. these chrome ones were 11 bucks and the ET nuts for the spacers were 10.

had to pull in today, storms tonight and I didnt want to be rushed. I used a c clamp to hold the running board up in the front, it worked so well I considered welding it in there and calling it good just kidding.

I was tight in the front to the workbench without the bed so I rearranged to move the workbench to the left side of the garage and get the truck on stands (see you cant even see the c clamp)



"ima precisional instrument of speed and aromatics"


for real mounted now, I cheated and used the factory mounts cut down, I had a pair that were torched off that almost fit perfectly, and you know me by now, waste not want not.



I'll do the passenger side after dinner then start installing light bulbs. my goal is to drive it to lunch thursday, maybe a couple shakedowns tomorrow and wednesday.

[iowaboynca]

Originally Posted by joedoh

I used a c clamp to hold the running board up in the front, it worked so well I considered welding it in there and calling it good just kidding.

True story. I found some vice grips holding the brace to one of my rear fenders when I took the truck apart.

Looking good!

[joedoh]

haha on one hand its sketchy but on the other, free tools!

passenger side done



you can see here how that torn up fender came out pretty good, most of the damage is hidden


the left front fender had a big dent at the bottom and a big gap to the running board, I almost thought the running board was mounted to far back. my big c clamp took care of the dent though


I need to put some straps on the rear of the fenders, they are wiggly. also, I didnt use a third mount at the back but I can see I need to. I think I will design a brace that picks up the three fender to running board bolts because the spring hanger is in the way.

I started taking the wheels off to do lights and decided enough for today. more tomorrow

[Zoomin]

Everything on mine is sketchy! Thanks for the tips on shoring things up.

[lower50's]

Congrats It's amazing how fast it all goes together when you get to a certain point and are super motivated. I had to move my garage around twice as my truck got more parts added. Funny my rear fender had the same smashed spot. Enjoy your little test drives door or no door lol, just don't get the donuts loving smokes after you.

[oldman3]

Joedoh, in your 5:18 pm post, the third pic, is that your new hood scoop. Just kidding, truck is coming together and looking good...Jim

[joedoh]

holy moly, what a great eye, that old steel dustpan would make a perfect hood scoop!

[lower50's]

Do it!! You could just use some dabs of silicone to hold it on there LOL

[joedoh]

I wont even pull the handle off!


I might put the door on in the morning just so I can pull it out in the afternoon for a little photoshoot. The cottonwood on the corner is turning bright yellow so I may go down with my 9 ft ladder and get some fall shots.

although....

I may pull the seat tomorrow and cut it down two inches. In fact, yes, I think I am pulling the seat tomorrow.

[Cjcolbyjack]

Nice build! Perfect patina. I love how you costumized the s10 gauges into the old ones. Very creative and won't break the bank!

[Advanced Design]

Wow, rolling along fast! You are sure motivated...cut the seat down, dust pan hood scoop, go test drive...good stuff.

[joedoh]

I didnt make it to lunch thursday, I pulled all the wheels planning to get everything inside the fenders buttoned up so that when I put the wheels back on, they never needed to come off again. I started by replacing the motor mount bolts. I went to two box stores and neither stocked 7/16 fine nuts, which is what the original motor mount bolts were, the nuts misplaced when dismantling. at the second store I wised up, the towers were capable of holding a 1/2" bolt so I just ponied up for new 1/2" hardware, which was nice too because the original bolts were 2-3" longer than the mounts.


I wired the drivers headlight, I am using an H4 (low beam only) for the low beam and an H3 fog as the high beam. the 98+ s10 has separate high and low bulbs and because of the variable ground situation that made me spend 5 hours rewiring the 47 last year, this allowed me to keep 4 discrete wires instead of kludging for the 3 prong headlight. this lights also have a "city" bulb, which I wired to the marker bulb, and it will flash alternately with the turn signals.


I repeated the process for the passenger side and...


notice that the passenger bulb is not on. great. more headlight troubleshooting. I wasnt excited about it, so I worked on the bed instead. I took apart that flatbed I bought for parts and started laying out boards.





should work sweet. when I put the angle at the front they should line right up.



not bad for $30 and a couple zips with the grinder. beat the rain too.



That was friday, I got back on it today. the headlight + (high and low) wires float at 12v when the engine is on, so first step was to verify the power. nice 12v at each bulb, no ground when the lights are turned on though. according to the schematic the grounds have a junction at the underhood distribution. oh geeze. I took apart two trucks in the same time period, is it possible I mixed up the underhood distribution? I did some bar code scanning and some GM parts lookup and all I know is my gut says "maybe".


but then I realized I was being stupid, and trying to throw parts at a problem. I knew for certain I had sequestered the two distribution blocks and had installed the correct one. I instead focused on the wiring and realized that the low beams share a common ground wire. obviously it didnt matter where my problem was in the harness or the distribution, all I needed was to jump one to the other. so I did


then I installed the drivers taillight and plate holder


I did some other stuff like zip tying all the loose harnesses, and protecting the tranny lines from abrasion, they run next to the new motor mount. I got some gasket material to protect the back of the headlights from stones, but I ran out of screws. more soon

[Zoomin]

Sounds like a lot of hassle, but if you're like me you enjoy the problem solving and overcoming. Nice work!

[joedoh]

man I LOVE figuring stuff out. sometimes its like a game, where I challenge myself to work with what I have.