'50 5 window.....s10 swap

[rhodog77]

Got some work done today. Not sure if I mentioned this or not but I found a set of cherry bomb glasspacks......in the trash. One of my neighbors was switching out a SBC to a big block with larger diameter exhaust pipe. I got the straight tubes and the packs as well as 6 clamps. Every bit helps when its free. I might clean them up a bit and shoot a coat of paint on them and then again might not. I have no shame doing things to this project that come from others discards. Anyway, got the exhuast buttoned up today and although it might not look pretty it sounds purty!!!!! Im more of a go slow, look good guy than go fast guy. I bent the tubes pretty high over the axle in case I want to drop the rear some more. Its still sits under the frame rails and I should have at least 5 or 6 inches to the bottom of my bed floor, once I put it in. I ran them to the rear and then tucked them up right along the frame. I didnt want to have them visible. Anyway here are a few pix.

[99 to Life]

Just wanted to let you know my two core rad with that fan set up as a puller keeps it around 185 which I am happy with. I think you will be fine. Also is that a stock sender in that s-10 tank? If so, are you running a reducer to the OG gas gauge or you running an aftermarket gas gauge?

[rhodog77]

99,

thanks for the info on the rad/fan. My stock thermostat is set to open at 182degrees, so i figured with the fan on it would stay around 185-190. Glad to know that I will be in the ballpark. As far as the sending unit, that is not stock. It came with the new set of guages I picked up.

brian

[99 to Life]

brian, so that is a 90 ohm sender?

I am curious as to how that mounts in the s-10 opening there. Is that a two piece set up? Whom did you get that from?
also I have never seen the pickups on those tanks like yours, did you customize that?

thanks

[rhodog77]

99,

Yes, I do believe it is 90 ohm. As far as the setup. The stock s10 fuel sending unit and tank hole was about 4 inches in diameter. My new sending unit is about 2 1/2 inches wide. (I dont remember the exact measurements) but basically my new unit was way to small to fit the stock hole. I made a spacer ring the same size as the stock unit and the bolted my new sending unit to it. I made it from stainless so it wouldnt rust into the tank. BTW, and Im sure you know.....stainless steel suuuxxxx to cut. I had to buy some really good hole saws to get the spacer perfect. Had to use a drill press set on a low setting to get a good cut. I bought a new snap lock ring to lock the spacer into place. Since the stock s10 sending unit had the fuel lines running thru it i had to add my own fuel lines directly into the tank. I just drilled out 3 holes (different size lines) added a main, a return and a vent... Not sure if I needed the vent but since the stock sending unit had one I put one it. I got my motor up and running off the tank now and everything is working, so I guess its right. I hope this helps and makes since. BTW I have a few more spacers if you need one, be more than happy to send you one. You might have to adapt it to fit your sending unit but at least its a start. As far as the tank, thats stock?? Here are a few pix.

[99 to Life]

dog,

excellent, this is almost exactly what I wanted to do and am surprised there isn't more of this out there on these s-10 swaps. I had two s-10 tanks, one leaked so I took it out, then the other one,had quite a bit of gas in it, so I didn't want to drain it and drill it etc. I wanted to have a my buddy cnc me a piece that would fit in that 4" diameter but would be recessed for the sending unit and also have the male adapters for the lines. BUT one thing led to another and I just bought a tank from tanksinc and a sending unit from classicparts and am running it as a 30 ohm. Set me back almost 300 bucks but I am really convinced I can get the s-10 tank set up in my next truck.

As for the spacer, if you could part ways with one that would be great, if not no worries at all. I could and would use it, even though I really thought about having some cnc'd out and offering them to people with this very problem. I think for you having the vent is the proper way to do it as well.

thanks for the pics. I think this is an essential part of these builds and I had big plans to do it, but didn't and you did and it looks like it is working out great.

[vintage_car]

If you have another spacer, I would be willing to send you a paypal payment for it. I know I will be needing it, and why re-invent it if you have spares. what gauges did you go with? You said you drilled out the 3 lines beside the sender in that gas tank, it looks like some sort of epoxy put on top of the gas tank, is that what is holding those 3 elbow'd lines into the tank?
PM me your paypal addy and I will send you my info.

[rhodog77]

99 and vintage,

I think that I have 2 more spacers already cut. I will try to dig them out of my garage tomorrow. If I cant find them I can cut a few more. I have a bunch of stainless. My plan was to have mine CNC'ed by a customer of mine, he keep putting me off and putting me off. Got tired off waiting so I went and bought some good hole saws, those suckers were expensive. I was planning on running lines thru the spacer but once I got the sending unit attached, there just was enough room. I didnt want to drop the tank and have new lines soldered in so I JB Welded them in. I know that sounds bad and I hate telling people that I did that but I have done it many times and never had any issues. Alot of the guys I run around with do the same thing. Im sure its not the best way to do but it works and costs about 3 bucks.

Vintage,
PM me your address and I will drop one in the mail to you, once I find one or cut one. My guages are from TPI Tech. Im very happy with them. They were fairly priced and a snap to hook up.

[vintage_car]

Did u make those 3 additional lines into the tank or cut them off something else? Do you have pics of te gauges?
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[rhodog77]

vintage,

got your PM. i made the fuel lines. I matched up the 2 lines from my fuel pump, main and return and the last one was the vent. I bent them up and cut them to length. The only one that was a pain was the main line. Getting the length right took some time, so it would pickup at the lowest point of the tank. here is a quick pic of the gauges. There arent bolted in, just slid into the dash. I had to buy the spacer/adapter for the AD trucks to make them fit. TPI Tech sells them as well but they are way over priced. They want 105 for the spacers alone. I got mine a goodguys Columbus last year for 50.00 and I think I paid 220 for the gauges.

[rhodog77]

Thank God for long weekends. I decided to tackle the radiator mounts today. I got them welded and boxed in. Im going to try to hang the front end back on tomorrow when I can get some help. I have a power steering pump leak that I need to tackle while the front end is off. I have a bad seal that needs replaced. Anyway here is a pix of the radiator mount. They aren't the prettiest but they are strong as hell!!

[vintage_car]

can you point out which is main, vent and return on your gas tank pic?

[rhodog77]

Vintage,

all 3 lines are different sizes. the largest, 3/8 line is for the main fuel supply. The middle line is 5/16 and is for the return and the smallest is 1/4 for the vent. The important thing is that the lines should match up to your fuel pump. Now, some of the guys that I run around with only use a main line and plug the return up at the fuel pump. It works for them but I figured that if my s10 had 3 stock lines, that is what I was going to do as well. Mine is running very smooth with good pedal response. I got your PM, glad to know you got the spacer.....I hope it works for you. My gauges did not come with a fuel pump, just the sender.

[vintage_car]

so are you using an in tank pump, or electric pump?

[rhodog77]

i went with a stock mechanical pump for my SBC350. I didnt want to mess with a electric setup and have to worry about pressure and a regulator. The stock mechanical pump is designed with the required cfm for the carb. The only adjusting you have to do is on the carburetor. Here is pic of the fuel pump and the stock s10 lines (at the front of the frame.) They are a little hard to see cuz of the power steering lines. I ran new fuel lines from the stock location over to the fuel pump and attached them to the top of the skid plate to keep them from moving around and out of the way of the steering setup. Let me know if you need any other pix or help.

brian

[vintage_car]

thanks man! I'm going to have to run electric pump though, mechanical will not fit without notching, and I just don't want to do that. wonder if I will need return or vent since I'm just gonna do electric?

[99 to Life]

If you run electric, not from experience but I am pretty sure you will need a return and I can't imagine any tank not having a vent. I would research the electric pumps before installing. You will want to wire it a particular way, for safety reasons, also there is a lot of yeah and neah on running a filter before the pump etc. At any rate I am sure it isn't hard to do, I might be doing the same on my next truck to see if I like it. Also make sure you get the right psi pump and I am not sure if you need a regulator or not. I haven't researched them that much.

[vintage_car]

I'll need a vent...not sure what I was thinking on that. Return line, I don't think I will. I have an old bimmer with an electric pump and it has just the main and vent. worked fine for years. I have the fuel filter right before the carb and psi regulator. Finding the right psi for mine will just take some research. As for the electric pump the one I have now is for domestic 6 and 8 cyl. I have a toggle switch and relay wired up to it now. I'll give it a go this way and see what happens. Push comes to shove, I'll just go over and take dog's setup...

[rhodog77]

I got lucky with my pump and the clearance to the frame. i knew I needed to set my motor up a bit but never even gave the fuel pump a second thought. Thats about the only thing I got lucky with on this project. Good luck with the electric setup. Im sure it will work out nicely.

[rhodog77]

Got my mirrors put on today. I really really wanted to go with peep mirrors but it sounds like they arent very functional, just for looks. I picked up these california style mirrors installed in minutes. They come with rubber spacer/wedges to fit any mounting postion. I really like the look of them. Might look a little silly to some....ratty lookin truck with smooth sport mirrors but I still like'em.

[vintage_car]

can you post a pic of the gas pedal from the passenger side and how it is hooked up to the throttle linkage.

[rhodog77]

Vintage,

Here is a pic of the gas pedal from the pax side. It was a pain in the butt cutting the hole for the linkage to come thru the firewall. On my linkage setup, the mounting tab was square. I had to drill a hole and then square off the edges with file. It was not fun. A ton of filing and checking the fit. The mounting tab had ears on the end that snapped back once it clears the firewall. They keep the linkage in place. Im sure that there are a ton of different mounting tabs/setups but this worked for me. If your wanting an easier setup, check out the linkage on late model Ford Thunderbirds. They actually bolt to the firewall, a snap to install. I went with the stock linkage cuz I already had it. I did have to heat the lower arm of the pedal and bend it up a bit so that I would have enough pedal to fully extend the linkage cable before the pedal bottomed out against the floor. Let me know if you need another pic or anything else. Hope this helps!!

[vintage_car]

Sweet! that is a perfect shot of what I was looking for. Thanks for that!

[OrrieG]

Take a look at 73+ Chevy truck throttle linkage, mounts to firewall with cable pull operation. Simple hole in firewall.

[rhodog77]

Thanks for the awesome info Orrie. I will keep that in mind for the next build. I dont ever want to send that much time with a file agian....ever!