51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap

[Atommik]

I just got the engine/trans I bought, dropped off at my work. We had a really heavy duty steel cart laying around the shop so I "borrowed" it temporarily and mounted the engine and tranny to it. Now I can move it around as a single unit. The engine is a 327/ 250 horse from a 68 Chevy truck, Currently has a 4 bbl Edelbrock carb...probably will keep it as is. It's pretty dirty and greasy so I will post a few pics after it's cleaned up a little, hopefully tomorrow. Trans is a TH350.

Also, fit the doors on my cab this weekend. Everything lines up really well. I will need to do a couple of minor tweeks, I'll take care of those when I do the rust repair on the cab corners, and filler neck hole. What are everyone's opinons on welding up the rear cab seam...Worth the effort??

[Atommik]

Still working on cleaning engine and trans. I bought some better degreaser. I will definately need to do some engine painting! I think I will keep it original looking with orange block, intake, vavle covers and black air cleaner. I'll try to find a "327" decal for the air cleaner.

Also ordered and recieved rear cab corners (left, right, inner and outer). One of our shop vendors is a distributer for Goodmark products...paid less than retail and had the parts delivered to my work, next day...NO SHIPPING CHARGE!! However, they did not have front cab corner parts. Probably will order from LMC. I'm hoping to bring the cab into work in a couple of weeks and do the rest of the rust repair.

[one wing angel]

Hey Atommik, that,s a great looking project you,ve got going together. I.ve been folllowing the build thread from the beginning. It,s funny that one of the first items I restored on my 51 truck was the heater assembly too!
i like the way you are headed and plan many of the same mods....
Keep posting the updates!! thanks
John P

[Atommik]

Thanks, one wing angel!! Do you have a build thread started?

[Atommik]

Here's a couple pics. A little painting is needed...

[Atommik]

I made a little progress on the metal finishing...still a long way to go!! It's very time consuming!!

[Atommik]

I got the rest of my cab corner repair parts today. Will start fitting them up this weekend....also hope to finish the metal work on the right front fender this week.

[oldman3]

Moving right along, fender is taking great shape....Jim

[nacho55]

your truck is looking good, keep the pictures coming, I love watching peoples builds come along it sure helped keep me motivated, I know I have learned more here than I have contributed from this site by watching others and seeing how others did things, also that must have been a popular color, it looks the same as my
55-1st

[Atommik]

Thanks Jim, Nacho55,

Nacho I like the look of your truck, I really like the 54-55 1st series, love the grill!! That's what I'd get if I ever get the chance to do another build. Especially if I could find a panel or suburban!

Atommik

[av8tr33337]

Originally Posted by nacho55

your truck is looking good, keep the pictures coming, I love watching peoples builds come along it sure helped keep me motivated, I know I have learned more here than I have contributed from this site by watching others and seeing how others did things, also that must have been a popular color, it looks the same as my
55-1st

I would say it's the second most popular color....... after rust!!!

[Atommik]

I started on the rear cab corners this weekend. Got the inner and outers, left and right mostly cut out and started fitting up the new parts. I was going to start cutting out the front corners, but I wasn't sure if I should since I don't have any cab bracing welded in. I'll finish welding the rears then do the fronts. I also made a few cuts on the cab to even out some door gap issues at the rear of the door.

[Atommik]

a couple more...

[av8tr33337]

Looks good dude keep the pics comming. I am getting close to doing my cab corners so lookng forward to seeing your progress.

[Atommik]

I also started doing a little disassembly on the 327...removed the alternator, PS pump, pulleys and brackets, water pump. I've still got a little more cleaning to do before I can paint it. I bought a new water pump. It's a reman from NAPA, only $24 + $2 core chagre. I'll keep the original, although I think it was replaced along time ago with a new GM pump. It had casting numbers for the date from 4-29-1970. The motor was 2 years old then...I don't know the history of this motor beyond about 7 years ago when the PO had it rebuilt. It does have "camel back" heads and I don't think those came on a truck motor. So someone may have swapped them out at some point.

[Atommik]

I also finished the metal work on the right fender. I forgot to bring my camera to work on Friday so I don't have a pic of the whole fender. Maybe tomorrow. I'm pretty happy how it came out, although there are a few places that will need a little filler...The other front fender should be much less straightening.

[Atommik]

Also...Door gaps. Both doors were tight at the back edge. I took a cut off wheel and made a cut along the edge of the cab just behind the door. I will bend the cab corner edge back to meet the other side of the cut and then weld it up, thereby giving a little more than a 1/16" extra room. I'm planning to do alot of welding next weekend!

[Atommik]

One more thing...do the striker plates in the door jamb have much adjustment? My left door get "dragged" a little too high when its fully latched. If there is some adjustment that would be great! How about in and out adjustment? Eventually I'll be taking these out to paint the jambs, but I'd like to finsh aligning the doors.

[oldman3]

Fender looks great, nice job. I agree on doing cab corners first then the front. When I did all my replacements I had the cab bolted to the frame with new rubbers in front, etc. I felt it made it easier for alignment of panels etc.. Just my 2 cents....Jim

[Atommik]

Hey Jim,

Thanks, Yeah I would have preferred to have the cab mounted to the frame first also, but I'm having a hard time finding a reasonably priced frame. However I do have the cab attatched to a dolly, mounted at the cab mounts, so I should be really close fit wise when I do get a frame. Also, being up in Minnesota, there's a lot more 4WD than 2WD trucks around. I'll find one, it is just taking longer than I thought, and the build must go on!!

[99 to Life]

looking great, yeah those camel hump heads are def well sought after, but it sux they don't have the accessory holes drilled in them, hence the funny alt brackets. I think they prolly used those heads in trucks too, but I'm not sure. either way, they are good stock heads. Love the progress. You could also just do a IFS on that OG frame you got. But it seems like you got a little ways of work to do before you really need your frame. Keep it up.

[Atommik]

Here's another pic of the right fender...

[Atommik]

I mocked up the BMW XENON headlight in the fender I've been repairing, and hooked a battery charger to the lighting unit...I don't have the trim ring on it and the bucket area directly surrounding the light will be painted body color. I was so excited to see this thing light up! It looks better than I thought it would!!

[Atommik]

A couple more...

[Daze57]

your BMW headlight idea is great ! i wonder how hard it would be for us task force guys 55-59 to retro fit the same idea?