Kodiaks 53 / S10 Build

[Kodiaks53]

Well Dad had his pacemaker replaced this past Wed. which was a big deal to him at 86. All went very well and he is doing good recovering well at home. As a result I have had a little more time to sneak over to the shop to work on the truck. I got the floor finished and now have the cab hanging from the overhead hoist and ready to sit on the chassis. I just need to tighten a couple of things and wire up the fuel pump before I sit the cab down. Lot better to do it now than crawl under the truck later. Hope to have the cab down on the chassis by Saturday, keep your fingers crossed

[Kodiaks53]

I finally got the cab on the frame yesterday evening Now on to getting the steering hooked up wiring done, doors and front sheet metal in place, WOW lots to do but just gotta take it a step at a time.
Swap meet tomorrow at the drag strip so it's time to make a little cash to fund my new vent windows.

[Advanced Design]

Glad things went well for your Dad. Enjoy the truck progress and especially the swap meet!

[chuckmc8]

lots of good info here

[Kodiaks53]

Thanks for the comments and info, the swap meet went well and now I can order my vent windows!
Here is a picture of the cab back on the frame and one of my helper ! She is already claimimg the truck or at least wants to take her driving test in it!! ( she's 12) Thats a few years off so I think I have time to finish it up!
Working now to get the steering and brake petal assy and booster in place. Any ideas , pointers or suggestions? I have a chevy van column and petal assy which I would like to try and use. THANKS

[T-P Auto]

Hello;

Kodiak 53;

If you will look thur my build(Frankenstine) I used the column n brake pedal assy out of a Chevy Van. (1990-93)
I had to make the skip shaft to fit the gear box. Used two slip columns to make one slip column.
I think the brake pedal is just a little high in my truck ! !
Have not gotten to the inside work yet.

T-P Auto
Tim

[T-P Auto]

Hello;

Nice looking project;

T-P Auto
Tim

[Kodiaks53]

Thanks Tim, I'll check it out tonight while at work when things slow a bit. I'm really interested in pictures of how the pedal assy was mounted as well as the steering wheel.

[Kodiaks53]

Tim, Your pictures helped me out and I got the brake pedal assy and booster mounted this afternoon ! Started to work on the steering wheel but ran out of time. Got some of the stuff cleaned up on the dash as well as behind it. Tomorrow is another day! Pictures to come.....

[T-P Auto]

Hello;

Glad that I was able to help you.
I know that I have gotten a lot of help from others on here.
Looking forward to more pic as you go.

T-P Auto
Tim

[Kodiaks53]

Hope to get in the shop today sometime and work on the steering set-up. Ordered some parts tonight when I had a couple of minutes of slow time. Got me a Lokar shift cable on the way as well as my vent window assemblies, my old ones are rusted away in a couple of places and just totally useless. Some rubber parts, headlights and a 12 volt heater motor so I can rebuild my heater.

[Kodiaks53]

Productive day today in the shop..... first I filled in the bottom of the dash where the old steering column used to be.....

Then I finished mounting the master cylinder, break pedal assy as well as the steering wheel.....

Still have to get the gas prdal in place, but it's ready. A little more clean up to do in here too.
The Big Brown truck showed up today too and left my shift cable set-up.

Worked on my steering shaft too but didn't finish. Began to get dark and decided to call it a night.

[Kodiaks53]

Got the steering shaft in and brake lines in place just need to hook up. Went to a swap meet Saturday morning and scored a 22 ckt wiring harness at a deal! Also picked up a few more misc. items too. All in all not a bad weekend

[Kodiaks53]

Steering shaft installed, brake lines hooked up. Cleaned up some of the dash trim as well as the door trim. Vent windows arrived ! Hope to get some more done this weekend.

[Advanced Design]

Parts and progress, nice work!

[Kodiaks53]

Thanks AD. With all that's going on personally I guess I'm lucky to make any progress at all, then again it is a stress reliever to get to the shop and work on the truck.

[Kodiaks53]

It was a productive weekend in the shop. I got the special pullers to fix the wobble in my GM Van steering column, so I tore it apart , got the wobble fixed and now I have almost got it all back together. Also go the radiator frame in place , cut down to hold the radiator and mounting pads in place. Cut off the S-10 frame horns to mount the radiator bracket. I laid out my wiring harness and began to get some ideas as to how to get that all started. Thanks for all the input and ideas on how to go about it in a orderly fashion.

[Kodiaks53]

Got the steering column back together this afternoon as well as getting the radiator mounting all figured out. Now to fabricate some mounting bolts and get them welded in place.
I do have one question for someone reading this about the horn..... The wire that attaches to the steering wheel center is missing. anyone have a easy fix to make one?

[Kodiaks53]

Just been slow go here lately, but I did get the power steering hoses hooked up. I don't really like how the pressure hoes looks so I will probably get one made. Managed to get the radiator support all worked out just need to fab some kind of arrangement to hold the radiator in place. Don't want to get to fancy just a good secure radiator hold down.

[Advanced Design]

Slow progress is better than no progress. Too bad about the hose.

[Kodiaks53]

I had a productive Friday & Saturday ! I got the power steering all hooked up (had a new hose made) put the radiator housing and radiator on and off several times but finally got it all mounted and hooked up. Will need to route the tranny lined once the inner fender is in place but at this point I'll wait till I can fire up the engine before putting anymore sheet metal in place. Almost ready to fire her up! I can turn the engine over with the starter but haven't put gas in the pony tank just yet or power to the coil. Probably hook up a oil pressure guage to make sure I have good oil pressure.

You can see the pony tank on the firewall, it's a Honda lawnmore tank I got from a tractor buddy to use when working on a Farmall Cub. I hope the gravity feed will work?

Ron

[Kodiaks53]

A couple more .......





Got to get me some right angle adapters for those transmission lines where they attach to the radiator !

[Kodiaks53]

A BIG afternoon today..... I fired up the engine and she sounds Great!!! It's a real moviator to finally get to hear her run. I did a video but it turned out pretty bad , I'll try and get it posted as soon as I figure out how.
I used a little starting fluid to fire her up. I'll hook up the gas and coolant to run her more that a few seconds. I'll get a better video in the next couple of days and post it.

[Advanced Design]

Engine looks good and congratulations on the engine start! Always a good feeling.

[Kodiaks53]

Thanks AD, It sure was good to hear her run. It will be nice to take her out for a spin too ! It would be nice to be able to move her in and out of the shop under her own power. If I get to that point soon my older son wants to put his 65 Mustang in the shop to work on it. He had a engine fire in it last summer and has really been discouraged about starting on it again, but hearing my truck run got him all fired up too! It was a good day for everyone!