It's my turn, 47 S10 build

[Advanced Design]

I tried the same seat in my 48 truck. It fit, though like you said sitting in the center of the drivers seat puts you to the side of the steering wheel and gauges. Because of that I scrapped the idea and used the original seat.

[Cautrell05]

Yea, I was annoyed at that. At least I don't have much invested in them. I have been looking at a front seat from an Impala or a deville. Early 2000ish. Middle seat with a good down console is nice plus the caddy seat had the shoulder belts mounted to the seat. Local u pull it yard only gets $25 each for seats so I'll be looking for options when the weather gets warmer.

[Cautrell05]

Im in the process of loading this post. computer is being stupid. check back later. there will probably be more

Well so much for getting something accomplished over winter haha. I figured that's how it would go. In the 4 months since I put the cab in the garage, I got the wiring stripped of it, and 1 nut off of the gauges. I could have easily had the gauges out but for some reason I cannot find any of my tools at home. As usual, I have $10,000 worth of tools at work and all I can find it home is 3 Chinese wrenches and a hammer. Not a big deal. On the plus side, the gauges look noticeably newer than the rest of the dash when looking from the back side. There is no rust at all on them or the mounting nuts. Which is good to know because the thought of twisting one of those studs off does not sound fun.





Any idea why the metal around the ignition switch is different?



I did manage to start rounding Parts up. I picked up an 88 T Bird rack at the U Pull It a while back for 25 bucks. I figured either way I was going to have that invested in it. If I buy a new one it has a $20 core anyway. This way I can use this time to experiment on and for the Fab work and not worry about tearing the boots on the new one. First thing I did when I got it was open it up and see what I was working with.

In stock condition it is 2 1/3 turns lock to lock 5 1/4" travel. The white washers are there to limit travel and provide a cushion when it reaches the end of its travel.

[Cautrell05]

Going to finish updating tomorrow. For some reason the edit button is missing and my laptop doesn't want to play nice tonight

[joedoh]

man... to hell with those nuts. I had the right tool and there were only two nuts per gauge and I think my forearm has just now healed from reaching through the radio opening.

cant wait to see what you do with the rack!

[elektro21]

I'll be curious to see if that TBird rack fits...I've been looking at various power rack and pinions to see if i can find one that might work. I don't have any in my hands yet..sounds like finding one from a pick and pull might be a good project this summer! Good luck with the Power rack mock up!

[Cautrell05]

Ok. Time to try again.

I'm going to run an 88 t-bird rack. On a standard S10 frame I don't think it will work very well. First off the inner tie rods are a lot farther apart than the stock S10 center link. You would end up with very short tie rods and would probably have a lot of bump steer. But then again the stock S10 already has a lot of bump steer. The bigger issue is I need to notch the crossmember for the input shaft of the rack. My chassis has an extra 4 inches in the middle and initial mock up looks like the steering shaft will just miss the frame rail.

In stock condition the rack is 2 1/3 turns lock to lock 5 1/4" travel. The white washers are there to limit travel and provide a cushion when it reaches the end of its travel.



I can't leave anything alone so I experimented to see how much travel I could get. With the washers removed the travel goes up to 5 1/2".



With the tie rods removed total travel is 2 3/4 turns with 6 1/8" travel.

I put Couple washers between the end of the rack and the tie rods to space them out a little bit.



That puts it at 2 5/8 turns and 5 7/8"travel. The next step is to get it mounted and see how much I really need. If I end up needing max travel I will shave the end off the inner tierod instead of using washers.

[Cautrell05]

Right now only half of the threads are being used to hold the inner tie rod on. That's good enough for mock up, but not road worthy.

Made another run to the you pull it in Sioux city today. Sunroof got broken on my son's accord. Sucks I have to change it but it was a good excuse to see what all I could find.

I picked up a transmission cooler from a suburban for $13 that I noticed when I got home is the same as what's on my 99 K2500. Should help keep temps down. I don't have the budget for the 4L80 right away do I need to help the 700r4 as much as I can.



The master cylinder is from an 02 Silverado. I chose that one for a couple reasons. First off, it fits the S10 brake booster, and second it has a huge reservoir and a low level sensor. Both of those are good because it will be under the floor and not the easiest to check.

I also picked up a set of Dart iron heads for the 400. I have a set of camelbacks I was going to run for the classic look. Down side is they need a full rebuild. Best estimate I got was about 600 bucks plus valves and springs. Was cruising Facebook and found a set of complete 180cc iron eagles for 475 shipped. Ran one season on a modified. For the money I couldn't pass them up. Plus it would have taken a lot of porting to get the camelbacks to flow as good.

Also scored some wheels.

[Cautrell05]

4 15x8s for $100. Not the exact style I was looking for but they are in great shape and the price was good.

This past week I finally got started on cab mounts. Because my frame is wider I have to make them up as I go. I used a piece of wood drilled to match the cab floor.




As much as I trust my measuring, I felt better this way.



Right new this is how it's sitting.



Right now it's 5 inches to the top of the mount. From doing a lot of reading that seems like a good height to start at. I have a stack of 1/8"plate to box the sides and inside in with if I ever get back to it. Going to be a busy week. Baby number 4 is due any day. I will be home from work for a week or so after the baby gets here. A lot of that time will be spent helping my wife but I should be able to get some time in on the 47.

[Cautrell05]

Ok, after a short break to welcome my new daughter I was able to put a little time in on the 47. Had a pretty productive weekend. With the chassis mocked up at ride height and leveled I was finally able to get started. The blocks and shims put the lower arm level. Plus if I go any lower the engine hoist won't fit under the control arms.



I didn't get a good picture but I took the rear tires off and set the rear end on the ground. I also blocked up the rear of the frame so it started at the same height with the weight of the cab.

[Cautrell05]

The next step was to verify my reference points. These are the points I used.



Not my frame, just a Google search pic. There are two more holes like them where the rear section raises up. Front to back measurements and diagonal measure ments were within 1/8 inch. Close though for me.

I cut out the first piece from 1/8x3 and checked to see if it was close.



Cut out 3 more and then clamped them together to even them out with a flap wheel.





Then welded them together. Maybe not show quality, but functional.

[Cautrell05]

A little fine tuning and a lot of cross measuring and they were tacked in place.



On the old frame was 30 1/2" from the center of the front axle to the center of the cab mount so that's what I went off of. Lined up real close to the 4 inch measurement that is usually used.

After that I drilled the 2 Inch hole for the mounts and set the cab on the frame. The frame is currently sitting level front to back and the rear of the cab is on a Jack stand. I wanted to make sure the height was what I wanted before I made the rear ones. It looked kinda tall at this point.



I needed the front clip on to really get an idea for the height and it was easier to put the motor in first. As it sits currently the oil pan is 1 1/2 inches from the crossmember and with the carb level that puts the transmission pan flush with the bottom of the frame.



I'm not building a prerunner, but the roads my house get pretty rough sometimes.

This is where the 4 inches added to the front crossmember paid off.

[Cautrell05]

It doesn't show up in the pictures but the rear control arm bolt has about 1 1/2" of shims on them due to the spindles I used. I though initially that I would have to run shorter arms for exhaust clearance but I think I'm sitting really good even if I jump up to the big corvette manifolds.

With the front clip on things look pretty good. The bottom of the fender is 8 1/2 inches to the ground. My goal was about 8 to the bottom of the running board (same as my 2000 Impala).



Firewall clearance is good. I'll clearance it a little more when I build motor mounts.

[Cautrell05]

Front cab mount installed. 6 1/2" to the cab floor support.

.

My next step is to get the rear cab mounts built, finish trimming so the front clip isn't hitting the frame, decide how I'm mounting the front end, build motor mounts and start mounting the rack. Going camping the next two weekends so I'm not sure when that will happen.

[joedoh]

I will always geek out over a solid development process! nice work!

[elektro21]

Glad you're back on the build...Glad all went well with the new member of your family!

Getting ready to put my S-10 frame under the knife....and add 4"

I'll be mocking up my LS engine, cab and front end...also making the same mounts...Hopefully mid summer!

~Nate

[Cautrell05]

My daughter a few weeks back

[elektro21]

I remember those days well!!!

[lower50's]

Congrats on your daughter!! Progress looks good. How close to the outside of the front fenders do your tires end up with the 4"?

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Congrats on your daughter!! Progress looks good. How close to the outside of the front fenders do your tires end up with the 4"?

Ok, It stopped raining and I have some measurements for those wondering with the 4 inch frame mod.

First pic, 215/60/15 on a 15x7, 4 inch backspace. The level is 2 1/4 inches wide.



Bare 15x8, also 4 inch backspace



Last one is a 15x8, 4 inch wheel with a 10" wide IMCA tire

[Cautrell05]

Compressed I can just get by hand between the tire and fender.



control arm compressed to the bumpstops.



And turned to the steering lock.



A couple things worth mentioning. First, That IMCA tire is huge. IF that will clear I should be just fine with a 235/60/15. Also the Impala spindles I'm running widen the track over the stock S10 spindles. I think around 1/2 inch per side.

[Cautrell05]

I did not get measurements the other day, but it look to be a couple inches. That is with the seven inch front rims on. I will get some exact measurements for the tape measure tonight. If I have time I'll throw a couple 8 inch rims on and see how things look.

[rusty76]

Cool stuff

[lower50's]

Nice thanks for the info. Looks good.

[ghettoluxury]

Did you ever get your center link figured out?