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.