51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap

[oldman3]

Moving right along, and looking real good....Jim

[Daze57]

high 70's here - into the 80s by weekend ! sorry folks no snow 'cept in the mountains.
atommik - lookin good !

[Atommik]

I wanted to get the firewall smoothing done, then realized I would need to weld in some bracing for the brake pedal assembly first. I didn't even have a pedal set-up yet. Work buddies to the rescue. Tuesday AM one of the guys brought in 2 that he had in the trunk of his project car when he bought it. I picked the one that looked like it would work with the least modifications, made an offer to buy it and he said , "just take it, I don't need it." A few hours later, brake pedal and GM tilt column mocked up!! Pictures tomorrow!!

[Daze57]

its good to have aquaintences

[focusedontheprize]

Originally Posted by Daze57

its good to have aquaintences

Always is right?

Seems like the truck community is all about it too.

[99 to Life]

looking great

[Atommik]

Well good news and bad news. The bad: Since winter was almost non- exsisitant here this year, we have been really slow at the shop. We get paid "commision" on the number of labor hours produced, so needless to say, the paychecks have been kind of small lately.

The good: The bodyshop manager lets me work on my truck parts when there is down time. There has been quite a bit of down time lately. He could send me home, but he lets me stay punched in and I'm more than willing to drop what I'm doing if a customer job comes in. He's an "old car" guy and loves watching my project take shape.

Here's some pics of the brake pedal/ steering column set-up.

[Atommik]

The brake pedal assembly looks to be from a older chevy, maybe a truck or van. I welded 2 cross braces that the brake booster will bolt thru into the pedal bracket. Its also bolted into the bottom edge of the dash. I then welded a couple of brackets from the lower dash to the brace that goes from the dash to the upper firewall. (Previous pics.)

The column was abount an inch short of perfect, so I recessed a small area in the firewall where the column comes out so it in effect,moves the column into the cab a little bit and lines up the factory mount holes with the mount holes for the brake assembly, which is now nicely braced and very solid.

[Daze57]

still looks good

[oldman3]

Nice work.....Jim

[xpickup]

Atommik, looking good.

Shannon

[Atommik]

No new pics, still doing bodywork on the cab. Firewall smoothing is done, back of cab below window is done and the roof is almost done.(Probably will finish it in the morning.

I'm trying to decide if, since I have the cab at work and the bodywork on it will be done soon, should I paint the cab and the doors and haul it home or just get it ready for paint, jamb the doors and paint the dash and inside of the cab and paint the outside of the cab when it's mounted on the frame (which I don't have yet!)

Since the dolly it is resting on, is bolted to the cab mounts, I don't think I will have any door alignment problems later, so maybe I should paint it. It would be awesome to see it painted and get "ahead" of my timeline I've got in my head!!

What are your opinions??

[99 to Life]

great progress. IMHO, I'd paint the inside and jams and then paint it when you get it moched up on your frame. Reason is, there will be transporting and moching up and always something to add in later. So if you had a nice painted up cab that you might have to keep moving around, bolting fenders on and off etc, it could get a little dinged up. Plus I like to have everything like pedals and engine hooked up and you can drive it with just the cab, then from there, all you have to do is bolt stuff back on. Fenders and bed, I'd paint separate and that way you can get pumped on your paint scheme. Atleast that is what I'll be doing. Keep searching on CL and honestly you might have to make a drive to get an s-10 frame and or maybe you'll find someone that has clipped an original frame and is selling it.

[Atommik]

I've been going in early and staying late at work, to work on the truck. Probably got 15 hours in working on the cab this week. Tomorrow I'll go in and finsh a couple of areas then prime!! It will be exciting to see the cab all one color (even if it is primer). Also planning to spray the underside of cab with sprayable seam sealer. Pics tomorrow night...

[oldman3]

Looks great.....Jim

[52 Rat]

Looks good! I hope mine looks the same in a few weeks but in black primer.

[Atommik]

First round of blocking and priming done on the cab. I hope to go in early Monday and reprime. Maybe ready for jamming the cab next weekend.

Did a little more clean up/ painting on my 327. Still need to clean up and paint the valve covers.

[99 to Life]

looks amazing, wish I had access to a spray booth like that.

[Atommik]

Yeah, I am very fortunate that my work lets me do some things there. It's hard not to take advantage of their generosity. I wish I could keep the whole truck there, but that would be too much to ask!!

I got the final priming done on the cab, and I'm hoping to jam it this week.

[Daze57]

man those look great !!!!!!!!! keep up the great work !

[drivea55]

Everything is looking great!!!

Cant wait to see the cab in color!

Brian
Posted via Mobile Device

[xpickup]

Atommik, looks great. It is always nice to see everything one color in primer. Wheels look good and I like the color too. It is coming along great.

Shannon

[Atommik]

Daze57, drive55, xpickup,
Thanks for your kind words. It is exciting to see progress!!
I was going to paint my truck red but my kids said that was boring...so ORANGE it will be!!! They love the color I picked!

I started masking off the cab to jam, and paint the firewall and inside of the cab. That should get done this week.

[maskale]

what is jamming

[Atommik]

Painting the door jams (door openings on cab) and the back side of the doors. Basically jamming is painting the areas not directly visible, when the vehicle is assembled. (Inside edges of fenders etc...