Quote:
Originally Posted by dwcsr
One of the prime reasons build budgets get out of hand is starting with no plan or not sticking to the plan.
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exactly.
a driveable truck never gets torn back down, so I wouldnt focus on that. if your plan is an s10 swap then my advice is:
find a complete donor and take it apart yourself. just the action of taking things apart yourself is invaluable when you start putting things back together.
leave the brakes connected and sealed, it is a working system already and all you will need to do is mount the pedal and booster.
leave the fuel lines and gas tank installed, although draining the tank and blowing out the lines is a good idea before welding.
save the harnesses and label the connections. if you are using an 82-93 donor the harness doesnt have a lot of extraneous connections and is already set up to be a single headlight with turn signals and combination taillight. its already set up to work with your column. I will never understand the need to install a new harness and fusebox when you threw away an almost duplicate system that is already terminated.
consider getting the s10 engine and trans going first, then swapping in your motor of choice. the worst thing to do is install a bunch of new parts that will rely on each other (fuel system, electrical system, engine harness, engine and trans) to work. with a running and driving donor, you know it already works and have only made the geographical changes of fitting the new body (engine relocated, booster relocated, wiring pass through relocated etc)
I bought a complete truck for the last one and the frame was bent, so I switched everything over to a new frame. I will never make that mistake again. just the action of cracking the brake lines to move them over cost me
days of work. Nickel and dime parts that I either didnt save from the first donor or misplaced between disassembly and reassembly equaled hundreds of dollars in part and travel/shipping costs.
picture driving the finished truck, then picture the last thing you would do before driving the finished truck, even if its hanging an air freshener. then the thing before that. work backward until the truck is how you have it now.
good luck!