51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap

[xpickup]

Atommik, everything look great. I like the headlights. They should be bright as H!@#! I always hate when those lights are coming at you because the blind you. Or at least me because the glare up my glasses. But I am sure they are great to drive with because they make everything seem so clear. Keep up the great work.

Shannon

[ChuckDriver]

Lights look great! What model are they from?

[Atommik]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

ChuckDriver, the lights are from a 2003 (I think, but within a year or so of then) BMW 3 series, probably a 330.

[Atommik]

Daze57,
It would most likely work with a TF truck, but Probably not the "4 eyed" models. As long as there is enough room behind the headlight in the inner fender. The modified headlight canister is about 7-8" deep, so check for tire clearance, especially if the truck will be lowered to the ground.

[Daze57]

Atommik

thanks for the headlite info - you are doin a great job and thanks for the picts .

[Atommik]

I hauled my cab into work Friday, and Saturday I worked on it for 12 hours!! Of course I forgot the camera...I'll post a few after pics when I get the chance. I installed the rear cab corners, left and right inner and outer. Also got the right front installed.Sand blasted the back of the cab and sealed the body seam with panel bonding adhesive. Also blasted the door jambs and hinges. Then I decided to filled in a few more holes on the firewall. I will be using the fresh air intake on the cowl but the drain basically comes out on top of the distributor, so I will reroute that and have it drain out of sight, lower on the firewall. That was one long day! I can remember the days of working that hard and long and not being wiped out at the end of the day!! I geuss that was 20 years ago...HaHa!!

Up next: left front cab corner and inner, sand blast roof (carefully), do the body work around patched in areas, fix a few dents here and there, finish smoothing the firewall, sandblast and straighten dash panel. I'm sure I'm forgetting some more items that need attention too!!

[Atommik]

Here's some pics of Saturday's progress. I had to put some etch primer on all the bare steel right away. It was really humid here and 80 degrees. About 30 deg above normal!!

[Atommik]

Here's the new cab corners, with Dura glass filler on the welds.

[Atommik]

more...

[oldman3]

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

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Atommik

It was really humid here and 80 degrees. About 30 deg above normal!!

same here. 80f here, 2ft of fresh snow in flagstaff.
strange weather, good for us

[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.

[Atommik]

So...today I worked on getting the bodywork done on the cab. I'm finishing up getting the door gaps right, and filling the areas around the rust patches. Also started fixing dents on the back of the cab. Apparently the farmer who owned this truck once upon a time, didn't know his own strength. It looks like when he threw something in the bed of the truck, it bounced off the back of the cab first, including above the rear window!! Maybe that's why the rear window was gone when I got it!!

[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...