1949 Chevy with S10 swap. Beginner build with ambition!

[OutlawDrifter]

Lookin' good!

[99 to Life]

congrats. way to show the wife how it is done!!

[joedoh]

nice work, looks great outside.

be sure the bourbon bottle has a vent!

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by joedoh

nice work, looks great outside.

be sure the bourbon bottle has a vent!

nope, no vent. I could just remove the cork and leave the tube sticking in there? Air can escape around the tube that way

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

nope, no vent. I could just remove the cork and leave the tube sticking in there? Air can escape around the tube that way

as long as the bottom of the tube stays submerged. just stick another pipe through the cork. the extra pipe doesnt need to touch the coolant, its just there to let out any overflow.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

congrats. way to show the wife how it is done!!

That's funny. I think I shocked a lot of my family and friends that I'm finished. There are a few awe struck faces. My "car buddies" all seem to agree that I can now blow the truck apart and "do it properly."

[99 to Life]

hahahah I bet your truck will get more attention than your friends that think its not done "right".

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

hahahah I bet your truck will get more attention than your friends that think its not done "right."

I did give my one perfectionist friend a little grief because he's been polishing the paint job on his truck for 3 years while collecting parts. Still doesn't run. The paint job is super nice though!







In his defense, he also restored this Buick Hearse (paid job) in the time it took for me to take apart the 49 and the S10. Dude doesn't sleep. I'll call it productive insomnia.

[gigamanx]

Tossed in a little time this weekend to put the hood on and add some road worthy items to the interior.

Slapping gauges together from the S10. Fuel gauge pod and the three lights above are right and left turn signals with the high beam indicator in the center. Works great, looks awful haha. Ratrodding!

[gigamanx]

Rear bumper went on.

Bracket for the S10 frame:


Installed:




Official engineering test...jumped up and down on the bumper and it didn't break!

I'm trying to get the truck legal so the police, and my wife, will stay off my case. Turns out there are a few issues that are holding me up.

1. The vacuum wiper motor isn't strong enough to move the new wiper blade. Might have to convert to electric afterall.

2. Washer jets are required in Pennsylvania. That's not even something that came stock with these trucks so I'm not sure if I can get away with not having them.

3. I broke the darn hazard switch on my eBay steering column so now I don't have hazard lights. Its attached to a thin plastic bracket internally. Poor design in my opinion since some light pressure the wrong way on the handle broke it off. Hoping I can rig up an external switch to the hazard wire on the column wiring and be done with it.

In good news, got the two craigslist special front wheels installed and didn't need any spacers! Looks so much better, but now I'm ready for drop spindles.

[8man]

I like that bumper bracket. You could post up a sketch with dimensions to help out.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 8man

I like that bumper bracket. You could post up a sketch with dimensions to help out.

I'll see what I can do. I went with the bracket idea after JoeDoh mentioned that the original AD 3100 bracket is spring steel to help take a bit of the force of a hit to the bumper. I wanted to keep that flexibility from the original truck, so just needed to extend the S10 frame down for an attachment point.

[joedoh]

looks really good! nice work on the bumper, they can be tricky to mount on an s10 frame and your solution is pretty good!

[99 to Life]

nice job on bumper, the turnsignal/hazard switches are made so cheap. sux there aren't that many cool options out there. I didn't ever hear of the "washer" for the windshield. Honestly, I'd just find a backyard style station that isn't gonna check little things like that. How can you expect a truck to have that when it never existed, I just don't think that is the case. Your wipers would prolly work better if you had water on the windshield. (not sure if you tried that) but yes, electric wipers are nice.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

nice job on bumper, the turnsignal/hazard switches are made so cheap. sux there aren't that many cool options out there. I didn't ever hear of the "washer" for the windshield. Honestly, I'd just find a backyard style station that isn't gonna check little things like that. How can you expect a truck to have that when it never existed, I just don't think that is the case. Your wipers would prolly work better if you had water on the windshield. (not sure if you tried that) but yes, electric wipers are nice.

Got a little shop nearby that had suggestions like "we'll fill the firewall holes with alumitape so it passes." So I think I've got the right guys haha.

Sometimes I think I should go get my certification as a vehicle inspection mechanic. I've read over the rule book so many times already, how hard can it be?

[99 to Life]

yah I'v put tape on rust holes on my daily drivers and they pass it. You can get your license but you can't inspect your own stuff unless you work at a shop or have your own shop. My friend waited months to get his license after he passed his test. I think they may even come and inspect the garage and make sure its somewhat legal to have cars in there.

[gigamanx]

Throwing in an update. The mechanic was pleased with the work and had some items to remedy.

1. The vacuum wiper has just about given out, so the suggestion was to switch to electric. Picked one of those up to install from ClassicParts.com

2. Reroute the fuel line away from heat. I have it running in a U shape from the carb across the intake manifold then down the drivers side frame rail. The concern was that I might boil the gas in the aluminum fuel line and "hydrolock."

3. Vibration is your worst enemy. Anything that moves will rub and cause problems. That includes all of my wiring harness that I just ran wires everywhere without casing around them. I also ran the battery ground wires without enough attachment points to the frame. Fixed all those issues and used this kit. Great product and I'd suggest it to anyone getting a 3rd party wiring harness like my JEGS one.


https://www.cjponyparts.com/painless...braid/p/WHC19/

[99 to Life]

electric wipers are the best investment IMO.

I get hotstarts often in my 51'. I have a phenolic carb spacer and all wrapped fuel lines with return, still happens on hot days. I plan to swap heads with some vortecs and use a high rise intake. I ran that on my 49' and I never got a hotstart, plus it ran awesome.

you can get tube or split loom just like that painless, on ebay or amazon for dirt cheap. like 12 bucks for a 100 ft roll. but its not heat resistant. But only so many wires really need to be heat covered. So just a thought for the future.

[gigamanx]

The spacer was another suggestion from the mechanic. I hadn't heard of it before, but he did suggest putting that in for the Edelbrock 1406 because the carb has a habit of getting heat soak from the manifold.

Edelbrock 8724 if anyone was curious.

[99 to Life]

yeah the phenolic spacer helped alot, but still didn't solve all my issues. the airgap intake really helps. I don't think I'll ever not run one again. nothing more embarrassing than everyone looking at you at the gas station, and you turn the key and just know its not gonna start!!!! I've done it all too often and am sick of it. its on my list for sure. Colder weather is zero issue. My truck will start right up on the coldest day and idle fine.

[joedoh]

i have forgotten what fun PA inspection is.

I had an 82 blazer with a warmed over 350 and a phenolic spacer fixed its hot starting.

[rkn463]

I just finished reading over your build and I love it!

I enjoy watching the super high end builds and really appreciate what they come out with, but in the end builds like this are the ones that you get to drive and not have to worry about every second that it is in a parking lot when you are in a store.

Kudos to you for jumping in and figuring out how to do things. When the zombie apocalypse comes you'll survive

Your truck has fun written all over it, thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

-Richard

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by rkn463

I just finished reading over your build and I love it!

I enjoy watching the super high end builds and really appreciate what they come out with, but in the end builds like this are the ones that you get to drive and not have to worry about every second that it is in a parking lot when you are in a store.

Kudos to you for jumping in and figuring out how to do things. When the zombie apocalypse comes you'll survive

Your truck has fun written all over it, thanks for sharing your adventure with us!

-Richard

Thanks Richard. I hope the build reflects what I've told my own kids. When you've stopped making excuses for why you can't do something, anything is possible.

[gigamanx]

I finally named my truck...it came to me when I was cussing over the door internals not working....

"Where there's a will, there is a way"

That statement sums up this entire build since I had not much more than sheer will power to see the project through. So, the truck is henceforth dubbed "Will"

Turns out, its a boy not a girl

[8man]

Good name, it fits.

When I get bogged down, can't get motivated because I'm a little apprehensive I say "what one man can do, so can another". Then I jump in. I did that on a steering column for the 79 Cherokee I rebuilt. The sixth time it was right. The other 5 were learning experiences.