47-55.1 Project: Kechi AD S10 4.3 auto

[joedoh]

in keeping with the kansas town names, I picked Kechi, which is just north of me in doo dah.

I really liked the formula I stuck to with wamego, the mantra of "use every part of the buffalo" gave me a really complete and sorted truck that almost every part including the HVAC was available over the counter by asking for a 2003 S10.

I tried to find another 03 donor, it was the last year and they sorted them out by then with MPFI and the LU3 engine. but all I found was a 2002 with the L35. it was as rusted as I have ever seen, but man did it run. this is all there was, no longbeds or shortbeds, literally the only truck with a sub 2k asking price that was above 1998. on another subject, everyone is taking apart s10s, craigslist is glutted with sheetmetal. I needed a good truck at a fair price and this is what $1000 buys.



in the pros column this one has solid front end work and a new rad. no matter how I try I have never been able to reuse a used rad, and only one truck has had suspension I thought was good enough to drive on. so these are two big pluses in my opinion, even if I order drop spindles, not needing to replace the whole front end will be nice.

in the con column, it had a little vibration at highway speed and was 100% the double cardan joint that they used on 2000+ ext cab driveshafts. since I have to replace the driveshaft anyway this isnt a big deal except the ext cab got a flange mount pinion instead of a u joint cap. There are conversion flanges, but some cost as much as a different rear. this is a 3.42 open diff, so I will watch for a nice 4x4 blazer axle right up until I need a rearend. its also an ext cab so it will need shortened, one thing I dont really see as a con per se, because I can give it a 117 wheelbase and not a 118.

and thats it for the con column, it drove WONDERFULLY and quiet, I actually drove it around last week to make sure it was thoroughly shook. shaken? the exhaust was SUPER quiet, like the belt noise was louder, and I had my suspicions, more on that later.

so lets take it apart. first thing was to put on my roller set of wheels, the original wheels were nice and had brand new tires, they lasted a whole 20 minutes on craigslist. if you have done it before, you can unbolt the front fenders and cut the frame horns right behind the core support and have the whole front end off in about 45 minutes. the rad and condenser stay with the engine too!



then the bed



then roll it in because its 22 degrees outside haha.



this is the first truck that the T47 torx on the seat didnt break on removal




then its removal of the interior. my goal here is to get the firewall clean and the HVAC off in one piece.





picture limit! see next post for more.

[joedoh]

you can remove the s10 HVAC without disconnecting the charge. just take the blower box/condenser off the firewall and unbolt the compressor. there is a single wire to the alternator to disconnect and then with a helper the whole thing comes off and is set aside fully charged.





then take the cab off, my friend stopped by at the perfect moment to run the forklift. dont forget the shifter cable that goes through the floor! thats what I was doing while he was lifting, guiding it through.



I didnt need the WHOLE bed, just the floor. choppy choppy.



picture limit! next post!

[joedoh]

like I said, craigslist is full of sheetmetal, so I picked the parts I could sell and threw away the stuff everyone was trying to sell. I didnt keep much.



a little pressure wash then start pulling the motor. this thing was used in a field and it showed, I took about 100 lbs of mud off in my driveway.



remember to pull the dizzy and the oil pressure sender! the chain will fall right on them and break both.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1551567638

found the reason for the quiet exhaust. that is one plugged cat.



its not possible but its even colder the next day, so in 11 degrees I pulled the motor.



picture limit, more to come!

[joedoh]

my garage is pretty full of parts but the good news is that I sold about $300 worth, plus $60 from scrap, plus the $250 for the wheels and tires, means I have about $390 in the donor so far. considering I dont need a $500 front end rebuild, or a $200 rad, I would say I am ahead so far!

ready for shortening.




I followed bartmans tutorial and it went perfectly, separates easily and chopped 6" out.




I would have it welded together but the 2002 frame has a couple threaded holes that kept the frame from sliding back together.



we are expecting snow tonight, I was planning to go see wayne this weekend with his old trailer in tow, but it may need to wait.

more to come!

[mongocanfly]

oh boy ...another build already underway......looking at your pile of scrap truck parts makes me wonder...I didn't know the s-trucks came with a optional washer/dryer....haha

[84blaze]

Damn, you're knocking these out like clockwork now.

[Jesse Z]

Argh, disassembling two trucks to build one looks like a lot of work!

[oldman3]

Russ, your not wasting any time on the next start. I'm along for the ride...Jim

[reaper71]

looks like your off to a good start

[Brads49]

And on with the next one..... I can't wait to see what you do with this one!

[65blackfleetside]

joedoh-

You need to change your name to "Joedoe"- making all of that $$$doe$$ selling these AD restomods. LOL

You are makingthe rest of us look bad completing so many AD trucks per year!

I guess this is a good source of extra $ income since you have streamlined the process now?

I like how resourceful you have become.

[joedoh]

thanks fellas!

jesse, it only took a day and a half to get here. its not as big a hassle with a plan.


65black thats kind of my thing, I always want things to get better and faster. I remember in high school working fast food, closing the grill was a 2 hour job and I whittled it down to 22 minutes and it was better than the 2 hour jobs.


the old project pays for the new one. so really I am just pushing the same stack of dollars around. but rather than sitting around waiting for the perfect time that never comes and the perfect part I can never afford, I am constantly moving and building and having fun. thanks for checking out the trucks!

I have been down with a headache for a couple days, not sure whats going on. wayne isnt answering his phone either. I may take a drive to see whats up.


edit: feeling better today, got the frame trimmed so it would slide back together. it was almost too easy, I kept measuring to see if I had it straight and square but it lined up just right. I welded the top side, I have lots more welding to do on the cab and engine mounts so I will wait till I have that ready to finish the insides and bottom, just in case I run into a gotcha

[Old57]

Off to a running start again, looking good!

[Matt_50]

Another build! Do you specifically look for 98 and newer s10s?

[8man]

You make it look too easy.

[Nut Case]

Joe

Wow wow wow, no grass growing beneath your feet. The important fact is that you enjoy what you are doing and it's FUN !!!!!!! Tell daddy take the T-bird.......

Strong work dude.

Sorry to see "rattle can red" go off into the sunset, thought you might-a hung on to this one a little longer. Oh well as long as the $ meter is working for ya your in good shape.

Keep on keepin on

Nutts

[OutlawDrifter]

Off to a running start again I see. I've got my '49 on the back burner for now. Going to "finish" the Z28 and then "finish" the '49.

[OL SKOOL]

I'm going to follow along I like the way your heading. I always wanted to do a s10 ad truck but I have to finish my c10 first. I have been a s10 guy forever 3 in the drive and just scrapped 2 blazers.The last time I checked you had to have a longbox frame but I see you used the xtended. I'm glad to know that my parts truck is an xtended. My zr2 is xtended but it has a one piece aluminum driveshaft in it.

[28TudorAZ]

My goal is to finish my truck before you finish this one.

[joedoh]

gabe and nut, thanks!

matt, yes I love the distributed electrical architecture of the 98+ s10, older trucks were point to point wiring. so when I can use a 98+, I will. which is nice too because almost no one else wants them as donors, I know guys that waited a whole year to find a 1987-1990 s10 with the 4.3/700R4 just for the trans.

Marc I get so bored, so quickly. have to keep moving. Good to hear your plan!

Ol skool you can find how to's on shortening the ext cab and stretching the reg cab! the zr2 had a one piece because it was factory lifted, a one piece on a 2wd would rub the cab when loaded.

28tudor, go man go!


did the motor mounts today. kept the offset to the passenger side and used my jigs from the last truck to set the mounts up 16.5" apart at the same height as stock (with the same down angle) and 8.75 inches back.





http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1552439320


picture limit, more in a minute!

[joedoh]

finally tracked down wayne, he is all right and just had a knee replaced. I bought FOUR more trucks from him, well, cabs and a couple front ends.

we pulled kechi from his resting place and loaded him for the trip home.





he was 1/2 full of kansas farmland, and it was tough to get in the nooks and crannies so I just turned him on his nose in the grass.




it was raining today, good day to run the pressure washer.




funny story. when I was down at waynes with wamego, his barn cat followed us all over the farm looking for attention. when we were in the shop it came up and bit/scratched the ever living crap out of my hand, and when wayne said "whats the matter with you?" it bit/scratched him!

so when I didnt hear from wayne for a while and had that intense headache, I thought for sure the cat was rabid and had killed us both. its funny to laugh at now, but I was in a panic one night and got zero sleep.

best thing, when I picked up kechi, the cat was there crying for attention again and this time I ignored it. well that little b-tard snuck up behind me and attacked my leg! then when I was leaving and opening closing the gate, he was on the flatbed staring at me menacingly. I am a cat person but I almost kicked a field goal.

[joedoh]

last update. I got a cab and front end, I have doors, I had a bed and running boards, but I needed rear fenders and aprons. the swap meet was saturday and I came up with aprons and a front bumper, he ALSO had a GMC core support and a 41-46 lower apron so I picked those up for future use.






then I heard from a local friend who had some rear fenders, he is building a couple 41-46 so I partially traded the apron for the fenders.




tomorrow rain permitting I will pop the motor back in after cleaning the front clip.

[joedoh]

I decided to do the trans crossmember with the engine out again. still working out the fastest way, I think this works best so far.

first I marked the current location square on the frame then measured 8.75" back. the frame gets narrower so I needed to section out a couple inches from both sides.


second, lets take a look at the passenger side offset that I have talked about before. pretty easy to see with the long straightedge.



GM did this to give room for the steering shaft. you can see I respected it when I built the mounts, they are ~1/2" offset and if you blur your eyes you can see the hole in the trans crossmember and the carrier bearing mount all line up with the engine mounts.

Next, I caught a picture of a 2.2 98+ frame on craigslist and noticed the trans crossmember went waaaay back on the passenger side



I did some measuring and sure enough, it was just right for the 8.75 inch move. I sectioned it and built a plate for welding the narrower crossmember to. on the drivers side I cut a piece of 11ga 1.75" wide and bent the ends in a vise, much easier than the three piece setup I normally use.




while my welds were cooling I popped out the side plates of the cab mounts.




when everything cooled down I power washed it again, wire brushed some of the harder to reach areas of the frame and suspension, and put on some satin black (rustoleum rust reformer)

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1552536923


guess what? kechi is BLUE. I think I have remmuluns (how an old boss said remnants) of a blue front clip and definitely have a blue bed, so maybe maybe maybe my first non green truck (wamego was red at the end but green from the plant)

[reaper71]

Looking good

[8man]

Very nice fab. Fits like The engineers planned it.