49 3600, s10 swap, project boogie

[Clay54]

Appreciate the info you provided. Got to get my ruler out and see what I can do. Also am anxious to see how you deal with the gauges. My donor S10 is a '89 and the radiator mount may be different but I think it will be workable. Thanks again, Clay

[joedoh]

did the harnesses today, hooking up lights and whatnot. would have done key relearn and driven it but the BCM was not where we were. so tomorrow. should be fun on a bun.




found a nice spot for the door pins, dome lights will work!

had to strip the ABS and hook it up temporarily, finding the correct adapters in town to put in a tee for the fronts is as fun as a pineapple in the rectum.

stole the steering wheel off the 91 for the truck


I mentioned it in my other project thread, my wifes dad passed and he was a mechanical tinkerer also, so my mother in law thought I would like his truck. its a 01 2500HD 4x4 with an aluminum flatbed, no power anything.

the steering wheel had one of those parts store covers, I had parted an 03 s10 and put leather wrapped wheel on the HD, fits perfect.

[CodyHicks]

Keep it up.

[lower50's]

Lookin good. "Fun on a bun" LOL

[joedoh]

O FAIL NOT THY HUBRIS! so got the BCM and turned the key, nothing. did you know you can install the steering column plug upside down? my fault. turned it over and did column relearn.
people mistakenly call it KEY relearn but its not. S10s have a regular steel key, no transponder. the transponder/security is actually a two part system on the ignition cylinder that requires the key be turned correctly and then the BCM reads the column code. the process after changing steering columns is to turn the ignition on and attempt to start, the security light will flash like above. when it stops flashing, turn it off then back on and try to start, flashing, repeat 2 more times and the security light will go out, the column is learned.
first attempt, no fuel pump noise means check the grounds

second attempt after grounding fuel pump.

driving, the big rear tires are rubbing on the inner fender brace, one tail light park wire was loose but those LED lights from bowtiebits sure are worth the money

nice thing about a bussed electrical system is that eveything works when installed correctly, like the key-in door bonger haha.

need to finish the gauges and figure out the grill mounting. looks like a mean mother hammer. rethinking hubcaps, I am thinking gloss black on the wheels and chrome lug nuts and call it done.

[HUSSEY]

Man, you do not mess around, you had yours rolling under it's own power quick!

[lower50's]

Sweet job. Driving it down the street must have been great!!

[joedoh]

thanks! I didnt drive it, I let kylie have the fun. really this is a ship of theseus paradox for me, because the truck is still just a 1999 sonoma, and I drove that truck a LOT in the last two years.

working on the gauges. want to put the stepper motors in the speedo and quad gauges. The original GMC set has oil pressure, amps, fuel and coolant. the 99 sonoma gauges have the same, except the electrical gauge is voltage, which is better because amperage doesnt tell you much useful these days. It was nice in the old days when using the truck as a mobile power plant to power lights and whatnot out in the fields, and needing to know when you were approaching the point of current draw where the brushes would start to eat themselves. but nowadays, the alternator has easily over 120amps and monitoring voltage is a better way to look at the health of your charging system.

started by tracing out the size needed and marking to make perpendicular lines at the center.




cut on the lines and fold in half to make the quad gauge pattern


line up the fold with the center of the gauge, then use your finger to make sure the fold is also centered on the needle hole by pressing down and looking at the impression.



this is why you want it centered, on the back side is the stepper mount


some overlap, thats ok, just make sure you cut so the stepper mount stays intact.



I cut with a jig saw because I spent a lot of time in a car stereo install garage and developed those skills haha, you can cut with anything you have handy, an xacto knife, a scythe, an angry wolverine, etc. anything that will trim 1/4" plastic. I did mine in the kitchen because the 2 year old wasnt wanting to play in the garage and I let the shavings fall on the floor because my wife is not the boss of me.

after sweeping up (married men knew that was coming) I laid them out and taped them together. an exact fit is not needed, I will be using the original overlay over the speedo and the quad gauge, this is just to make sure the stepper mounts are in the right positions.



I will carve out the odo/PRNDL section on the original overlay.



I couldnt find the quad gauge to show the overlay but its around here somewhere.



stay tuned!

[Cautrell05]

Looking forward to seeing how the gauges turn out

[IWanna49]

Ditto!

[lower50's]

That's looking exciting.

[joedoh]

FINALLY found the quad gauge at maybe 11pm last night and started dismantling, the original overlays will go over the s10 plastics once I drill a small hole for the needles (yes I know the oil and temp are backwards. then its just some wiring and lights.



kylie sent this picture this morning. the steering wheel is a nut smoosher™ and the bumper is a roadkill skinner™.


should finish the gauges saturday or sunday, depending on when I find the needles.


edit: went by to drop off a few parts and got some more pictures

welding on the rear bumper

[jholt]

Looking great! Can't wait to see this thing in person

[rusty76]

So cool. I really enjoy the tech and commentary. Your wife is not the boss of you. Ha. Yeah I'd got the broom out as well.

[joedoh]

thanks fellas! jerm come on by!

picked up the door cards and headliner from bowtie bits.



my wife was so excited about the plastic sawdust and pile of gauges on the kitchen table that I decided to take it up to my friends install shop to work on it instead, you know, to keep her palpable excitement from causing any shooting pains in my back.

the gauge faces popped off with a flathead



they each had a couple little bumps that would keep them from sitting flat so I ironed them out with the bench grinder.


I trimmed the gauges, so as to hide the needle button as best I could, then glued them together.




adjusted the spacing of the lens, the backlight needs to creep around the edges.


steppers installed, ready for wiring.


they were closing up shop so I will go back and carve the speedo hole in the morning, build the backing plates, and wire it all up.

[99 to Life]

nice job, very tedious stuff.

[Palf70Step]

DooDah, Doodah....Can't believe I missed this one until now. Well, I am here to watch this one too.

[Cautrell05]

I noticed there are 4 terminals on each motor. What do they go to? Power, ground and signal I assume but what's the fourth?

[joedoh]

they are steppers so probably + - signal and brake/reverse, only the speedo uses all 4, the other gauges are slow acting enough not to need the brake/reverse.

laid out the PNRDL hole, secured the face

used a drill bit to open up some starting points. used a roto zip, definitely not the right tool. if done again I would use a small cutoff wheel.

after a lot of filing, it fits.

carved out the back of the quad to let the motors fit through

looking good

I drilled through the stepper lens to make mounting screws and got everything put together

started wiring, to the circuit board it is as simple as barrel connectors


to the stepper it is as simple as grinding the end off the barrel connector and slipping it on
titus break


I didnt get the gauges installed, but I did get an overflow tank mounted.

[DeanTX]

The stance looks great. Are you going to keep it that low?

[joedoh]

no, the bumper is low enough to hit the center on crowned roads. I am going to raise it an inch, maybe an inch and a half. it looks really good low like this but it needs a little height to be usable haha

[Clay54]

What a clever way of extending the posts on the stepper motors. Where are you going to mount the circuit board and will you at some point cut up the circuit board to make it smaller? Clay

[Advanced Design]

Wow, I've been missing out. Tagging along now!

[BlueJeep]

Looks great, love the gauges!

I was wondering too what would happen if you blow a front tire, would it plant the bumper? Did you end up doing drop coils in the front with a spindle?

[joedoh]

yes, drop coils and a spindle is what it had. I put stock springs in it today so its about 1.5 inches higher now. rode very nice with the drop, just that bumper liked to kiss the pavement in a hard turn. now its less of a roadkill skinner.

it would probably plant the bumper and probably the running boards too if the tire came off the rim, and it would probably be close with a flat.