It finally starts... another S10 swap...

[Thadious]

The sandblaster was an upgrade from a pressure blaster that I borrowed from a friend, got tired of it being too small and built a larger one of my own... worked like a charm! As for the compressor, I ended up renting a tow behind diesel one (90 cfm, I believe) for a couple days... used crushed glass as a media with absolutely NO warpage on anything... just keep moving and don't stay on anyone spot for a period of time... The rust, paint and anything else just washed right off... bare steel and ready to prime (used a flat black epoxy primer)!

The blaster was made from a 30 lb propane tank that was in excellent shape ($10 bucks at a scrap yard), an old dolley (cut down and fit), a hand full of plumbing fittings (all steel, no brass) and a 10' length of rubber brakeline ($1.25/ft), a deadman nozzle w/ceramic tips, compression fittings and viola... worked amazingly well!

Any questions, holler!

Cheers,
Ted.

[steve53]

ooh nice work on the home-made blaster, i'm gona have to get crafty in the garage and do the same.

[Thadious]

Well... been awhile and managed to accomplish some stuff... mostly working on fit n finish... no paint yet... just prime during the mockup stage and getting everything to fit.



Love the way the stance has turned out... just a little forward rake and high enough to not have to crawl over speedbumps!



Nothing in the box yet... looking at picking up a new rear cross sill, tailgate and bed strips shortly!



And... lastly... a custom machined billet adapter for the steering column... fits like a glove!



Well... more to come in the future! Holler if you have any questions!

Cheers,
Ted.

PS Who's making the Portland run in a couple weeks???

[wibas]

Looking good. Got any shots from under the hood? What are you doing for guages? You are farther along than I but I'm working on it. Thanks.

[Thadious]

Was looking at these for a gauge set...

http://stores.newvintageusa-store.co...sic/Detail.bok

and was also looking at the shift indicator setup they sell as well... would solve all my signal light and warning setup issues. Being what the canadian dollar is worth now in the US, definitely possible!

Under the hood is a 4.3 tbi but still working out some battery and heating unit kinks... will post them once I've got them cased.

Cheers,
Ted.

[1950 GMC]

How high is your cab off the frame?

[Thadious]

3 3/4" in the rear, 3 1/2" in the front.

Cheers,
Ted.

[BlueJeep]

Looks good! Looks like you got your hood gaps set pretty well (or as much as I can tell from the pictures). Also looks like you set your box higher for a deeper bed, will you make custom splash guards to fill or filler panels like the EZ swap uses?

How about a closer pic of how you did your front bumper mounts.

[southbounddee]

looking goood, what did that steering column come out of? i like it, have any photos or info on how you connected it to your steering box?

[Thadious]

Box is set about 2" higher than stock... I find it makes it look a little more proportional... always found the AD truck look like they have a really high cab. With that, I pushed the rear fenders down that 2" and yes, I will be making new splash guards (custom) to fill the gaps... I have the originals to start from and we'll see what I can roll up at work (I teach sheet metal for the military and have a ton of tools to play with).

I'll post some bumper mount pics when I get home today... no worries.

The column is out of a mid 70's van with no key in the column... used the van ignition in the dash as well, just had to make a custom bezel to screw it in (still working on it and the wiring). Nice thing about the column is that it plugs directly into the S10 harness for signals and then just have to work out the plug for the high/low beam switch which will be going on the floor.

Steering column from the van has a spline joint connector so can be tricky to find an intermediate shaft and the S10 steering box does as well. I figured that since both Chev and Dodge used saginaw columns and boxes, I might find it out of a mopar product. Well, I did... I ended up pulling it from a Jeep Patriot (I think it was), had to file one spline groove (the original Jeep one had a missing groove) and it slid right in. Nice part was that it used Ujoints, not a rag joint. There is a pin you can knock out on the upper Ujoint to remove the joint from the shaft, cut it shorter if you need, redrill and pin it with a grade 8 bolt if you find you need to. Cutting and welding steering parts always makes me ansy so I wanted something stock that I could just mock in... this was the best setup I could find.

Cheers,
Ted.

[wibas]

I used the S10 column and under dash mount with key in the column. I welded up a6" extension for the slip joint. Looks prety good.

[Thadious]

I opted not to go with the S10 column as I wanted the ignition in the dash and some sort of shift indicator... hence the van column.

Here's the pics of the bumper mounts as requested....









Any questions or thoughts... holler!

Cheers,
Ted.

[BlueJeep]

Thanks for the pics! Did you use the stock 1/2 ton bumper brackets or modified ones? Nice pics of your radiator support too.

For my power steering line (the pressure one), I bought a new one for the s10 and took it to a shop that builds custom tubes and hoses. He cut it, bent a 45* angle down, and did the new flare for the O-ring fitting for $25. That way, it leaves plenty of room for my radiator. I'll post pics of it in my build thread in the next couple of days.

[355bullet]

Thadious, nice build.
can you post some pics where u cut the frame?
kinda curious in case i cant find a s-10 long bed
thanks in advance

[Thadious]

I ended up using one of the two holes in the stock bracket and had to cut off the ends and punch new ones (brackets were too long in the end). I say punch, since I couldn't drill through the steel and we have a hydraulic ironworker at work with a punch set... easy for it.

As far as cutting the frame, to shorten it, basically right under the doors on the S10 there's a slip joint where it works perfectly. You really have to set up for the alignment of the frame and have a flat surface to work on if you are going to. I did a write up on the bottom of page one of this build thread on how to do it and what to watch for. As far as how far to cut back the front horns, basically there's a couple of 1/2" holes on the underside near the front and it's just infront of those... I can get pics if you need them later.

Cheers,
Ted.

[Mogal]

Hello guys! First post here!
I'm a RL friend of Teds, and have been with him since the start of his build.

Since April '09, Ted has been working his butt off working on his 1947 Stepside truck. I've had the honour of being by his side for some of it. Assisting him with various stages of the build. either by manual labour, the odd costum part, or just there to throw idea's off of.

Getting the trucks for him last year has became our first annual guys Road Trip!
This year we ended up going to the Portland 46th annual swap meet. We had a blast, met up with some good on-line friends, and got some more truck parts for him! These parts completed the major body parts for the truck, but needs many more parts to go! I've been bugging him to update his pics on-line here, as he's sloughed off on them since what?! uhm, MARCH! LOL

During our Oregon road trip, I got the idea to build him a model replica of his build. So my search began. I found myself a mid '90s Chevy S10, and a 1950 Stepside truck(same model year) and I started my build, replicating his build!

[Mogal]

He used an extended frame S10, well, models didn't offer that option, so I had to extend the frame...
He (at the time) desided he wanted the 4.3l Vortect engine.
The S10 model I got had the 4.3l in it!
He also wanted the blanked firewall... ok, done ;o)

[Mogal]

Mounted the battery tray on the passenger side wheelwell... ok.
You can't see in the picks, but its the same steering colomn he's used.
He's painting the truck black, so, a nice black shiny paint.
Bucket seats insted of the origional bench...
Red aluminated guage cluster....

- A test fit of the body on the frame, adjusting it for the hight ride he's looking for. Oh, those are his tires too!

[Mogal]

Getting the side steps ready for the install.
He's used chains to keep the tailgate secured.

Then I mounted the truck to a nice display case with lights to really show the truck!

[Mogal]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!

[bjcaldwe]

Pretty cool. I have wanted to find a 52 sedan model to build for my dad.

[a5Ben]

Looking great, gives me lots of ideas for my upcoming S10 swap.

Thanks!
Ben

[av8tr33337]

Enjoying following this build. Any chance on getting a peek at the sandblaster, how you modified the propane tank etc. Just a link to photobucket or something would be cool.

[Thadious]

Funny thing is... I didn't take many pictures during the blaster build... wasn't quite my focus.

However, basically what I did was to purchase a 30 lb propane tank from my local metal recycling yard ($10), vent and purge it with a compressor and allow it to sit for a couple of days, purging it every so often (about 5 times I believe in total). I stripped off all of the paint (no rust on the outside to start with) so it was easier to cut. Flipped the tank upside down and cut open a 2" diameter hole in the bottom to make a sand filling tube, and welded a 2" pipe nipple over the holed, and fitted a cap.
The original valve fitting (now on the bottom) was fitted with 1/2" pipe nipple, a ball valve and another 1/2" nipple fitted to a "T"
The tank was then welded to a moving dolly cart with the bottom section cut off (the dolly that is) and a 3rd leg welded to the front. A 1/2" air tube was welded to the side of the 2" nipple on the top (don't forget to drill the nipple to let the air through) and another ball valve fitted to it.
The plumbing for this is relatively easy, and all 1/2" fitting were used. You start with an air inlet line, to a dryer, reduce and safety valve (very important). The line then t's off, one line to the ball valve at the top of the tank (this is your head pressure line) and the other to another ball valve and down to the T at the bottom of your tank. This controls your air pressure to the blast hose. From the other end of the T on the underside of the tank, I attached a 15' length of flexible brakeline hose (rope core and highly resistant to abrasion) then finally to a deadman nozzle. (recommended to the heavy ceramic tip).
After this, it's only a balance between your head pressure to the top of the tank, the amount of sand you allow out the bottom through the ball valve there and the amount of air pressure you send to the underside to pick up that sand.

Due to the size of the fittings, you will need atleast 25 cfm from a compressor to maintain full pressure while blasting and it's absolutely critical that you have CLEAN DRY air! I rented a 90 cfm tow behind diesel compressor for the weekend (2 day rate) and did my entire truck's sheetmetal in 3 - 8 hr days with absolutely NO warpage. For grit, I used crushed glass, medium. They say you can only recycle it a couple of times... I did mine quite a bit more than that and by the time I was done, it was basically the consistency of talcum powder, but tore off rust and paint like it was nothing... more like pressure washing dirt off a painted surface than 60 yr old rust and crud.

Keep in mind that I have been welding for the better part of 20 years and know my weld's capabilities. If you are hesitant at all about yours, I'd highly recommend finding or paying someone to do it for you! 125 psi in a 30 lb propane tank isn't something I'd want to let go! All of the blaster tanks of this size, around here, ran in the neighborhood of about $500, so this was a deal, but I've seen in the US that they can be had for about $125. If you can find one at this price... I'd recommend that route. Let the manufacturer worry about that liability!

Any questions, feel free to holler!

Cheers,
Ted.

[av8tr33337]

Thanks for the run down on the sand blaster. I'm not sure I am going to tackle bulding one but I'll hang on to the info just in case.