My version of the s10 swap

[LEEVON]

BlueJeep, if you think of it next time you're in the shop could you please do me a huge favor? I have the "old" seat in my truck and it's pretty wide, the doors hit the bolsters when closed. Can you tell me if the "new" seat is any narrower and by approximately how much?

Your progress looks great!

[Drifters]

Wow! This is quite an undertaking? Nice job and your right to find old tin in Iowa isn't easy we're from Vinton originally!

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Super nice job on the fender repair. Next part should be a piece of cake for you..Jim

Let's hope so!

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

looks great

Thanks!

Originally Posted by LEEVON

BlueJeep, if you think of it next time you're in the shop could you please do me a huge favor? I have the "old" seat in my truck and it's pretty wide, the doors hit the bolsters when closed. Can you tell me if the "new" seat is any narrower and by approximately how much?

It does look like the new one is 1" narrower than the old. 58" vs. 59".

Your progress looks great!

Originally Posted by Drifters

Wow! This is quite an undertaking? Nice job and your right to find old tin in Iowa isn't easy we're from Vinton originally!

Thanks! I'm on the downhill slope now though. Too many things got in the way from finishing it in a timely fashion. Much better pickings in California huh?

[BlueJeep]

Another detour, but for a good cause. Had to take some time off and build some other cars. Did some improvisation and used metalworking tools to build cars out of wood, but it worked out OK.



These happy guys took home first and third place in their den! They're already talking about design changes for next years cars!

[99 to Life]

very cool, congrats. these trucks will be here when we are dead and gone, but those times with your kids and family are very special. its a tough balance sometimes.

[BlueJeep]

So after the obligations were done, I got back to work. Figured it might be easier to work on these fenders if I made a jig to hold them. Looking around to see what I had to use, I decided to use my new stand I had just built. I think this will work out well, it's at a good height to be able to work on them.





Front of one side:


Other side is better:


This patch was needed to get rid of a bad spot that had been all cracked and deformed. It presented a little bit of a challenge being curved in two planes.



I started by rolling a piece to fit the contour:


Then I spent some time shrinking the end of it. Thus far it is only the rolling and the shrinking:

[BlueJeep]

So with a little hammer and dolly to finish things off, it fit very nicely!




Next up is the back corner of the wheel well. The picture makes it look better than it actually is.


Different approach for this one, as I didn't think I'd be able to control the shrink as well here, and it's got a U-shape to the lip instead of a rounded 90* angle:


Didn't want to do it, but I made a relief cut:


And worked it around:


I knew I'd get a high spot at the "point" of the relief cut, and I did. I still need to work that out, but that'll be another day. Finished off the weekend with a little patch where the rust had swelled between the 2 layers.

[99 to Life]

love the patch work pics. Totally reminds me of a rear fender I have in epoxy. I got 25 hours into hammer and dolly, shrinking, and patches. All metal work no filler. It's alot of work but its fun. Only problem is..... I have so many more to do and no time, that project is getting back burner, burnered, burnt. Here is a pic of the back of the fender, they don't make any patches for this side. This one was a challenge and with no shrinker, I was forced to make relief cuts.

[oldman3]

Super nice repair work, you're doing some great metal work. I still remember helping my little guy build his car for the scouts, he's 43 now...Jim

[chuckmc8]

Very nice work on the truck and I enjoy seeing your guys are Scouts. My son earned his Eagle a few years ago.

[Flatty]

Love this build. I am a rockcrawler as well getting back into hotrods. Seeing your work absoltely amazes me.

Can you tell me why you used the S-10 frame? I know its a common swap, but what are the benefits?

Dima

[lower50's]

I enjoyed reading your build so far. Nice setup for your 9". To bad the build quality of your rad sucked. Going to be a great driver!!! When you put the Lord Fusor seam sealer on did you scuff it first? Thanks
I'm taking my Jeep offroading in 2 weeks.

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by chuckmc8

Very nice work on the truck and I enjoy seeing your guys are Scouts. My son earned his Eagle a few years ago.

Thanks! I'm an Eagle too from back in the day. Some of my best friends today I met through scouts.

Originally Posted by Flatty

Love this build. I am a rockcrawler as well getting back into hotrods. Seeing your work absoltely amazes me.

Can you tell me why you used the S-10 frame? I know its a common swap, but what are the benefits?

Dima

Thanks! I used it because it was free to me, and because of parts availability. It'll be driven a lot when done, and things will wear out or go bad...and I wanted to be able to find what I need and get back on the road. Common parts have huge value to me (I once changed out my wheel bearings on my trailer in the hotel parking lot in Moab Utah...very glad I found parts that day).

Originally Posted by lower50's

I enjoyed reading your build so far. Nice setup for your 9". To bad the build quality of your rad sucked. Going to be a great driver!!! When you put the Lord Fusor seam sealer on did you scuff it first? Thanks
I'm taking my Jeep offroading in 2 weeks.

Yeah, Champion radiator is probably the way I'd go instead. Hindsight is 20/20.

I did not scuff before the Lord Fusor, but I did it just after the epoxy flashed so I didn't really need to.

Have fun with the Jeep, we just pulled mine out of winter storage on Sunday!


Well, it's been quite some time since my last update. I had a non-truck related project to do and then there is just life stuff that's been happening. Lost my father-in-law in February, very glad he got to ride in the truck after I built it the first time but before I tore it down to "fix" some things.

He would have liked to have ridden in it with the V8. He liked going fast.

RIP Pappa Kimmer!



I talked to the guy that's doing my body and paint work last weekend. Sounds like the cab will be ready for primer and blocking within the week, and paint after that. Sorry about the poor quality pics, they were texted to me.

[lower50's]

Thanks for the info. Cab is lookin good. Sorry for your loss.

[gusman]

Reading through this gave me the motivation to take a half day and yank mine out of the shed and put in some work today. I'm going a similar route but on a dakota chassis, I'm a little behind you in progress but had the same experiences (especially the rot in the windshield channel after media blasting).. I also love to coat everything I can in POR... That 5 window conversion has me thinking. Awesome work man definitely following this to the end.

[BlueJeep]

Once again no updates on the truck, but I have been very busy. We decided that we were going to attend the Hot Rod Power Tour with my dad's car and my buddies 54 Ford with a cummins. I got the car about 4 weeks ahead of the departure date to do some prep work that my dad did not make time to do over the winter. I had a lot on the list....some small things, some larger things, and some things that didn't go as planned. First up was brakes, the car since he put it together has never had good brakes. After some research I learned that it needed around 18" of vacuum to run power brakes, so I bought a gauge and tested it. The car had 10". I decided the way to fix this was to replace the power brakes with a manual master cylinder after watching them do exactly this on Hot Rod Garage. At the same time I removed the drum brakes and installed discs off a 1995 Camaro on the rear axle (thank you GM for not changing the housing ends). This whole process took way longer than it should have, and it's still not completely done...but it was better than what it had. After 6-7 calls to the Wilwood tech help line, we think we have the remaining problem attributed to the DOT5 brake fluid that dad used in the car. That'll get flushed out and replaced with DOT3 as soon as I feel like working on brakes again....so that might be a little while. DOT5 compresses, whereas DOT3 does not, leaving you with a squishy brake pedal which does nothing for your confidence that your car will actually stop in a panic situation.

On to the pics...
Out with the old:


In with the new, much cleaner:


Rear discs:


Horns in case I couldn't stop:


Driving 3000 miles, better not chance it without a spare. Decided why not use a space-saver spare from a 2002 Camaro, this was checking the fitment:


And there has been a banging sound in the front for a little while now that we hadn't been able to chase down. I found it, ball joint was loose in the control arm. This should hold it until he gets some new control arms!


Some new fan shroud mounts:


And radiator overflow/recovery tank:


And lastly installed the tailpipes:


This was completed about 7pm Friday night. 8am the next morning was departure time for Madison, WI.

[BlueJeep]

So plans changed. My father's uncle passed the week before the trip, so he had to drive my grandparents to the funeral in Montana (no power tour for him) so my buddy and I would be taking my twins with just the Chevelle. Better pack some extra tools, as there was no backup vehicle now!

The trip was great, exceeded expectations! We logged 2951.5 miles on my dad's Chevelle and averaged between 15 and 21 mpg. Kids made it a week with no TV, no iPad, no Wii, and loved it. They got to meet Finnegan and Frieburger from Roadkill, and chat with them several times. Only real troubles on the road were a leaky wheel seal the first day that had us jacking up the car and checking/adding gear lube every 400 miles. Definitely something I'll do again, hopefully in my finished truck!

Ooh, that'll keep us busy....but won't keep us from racking up the miles:




Champaign:


St Louis:


Smile, I'm sending this picture to momma!






Gulf of Mexico. Uh dad, your car has a lot of sand in it now!


Long Hauler ceremony is over, gear oil filled, car checked out, ready for 1000 mile trip home!


Yep, good trip:

[oldman3]

Sounds like you had a great time, and the time with the boys will be something they will remember the rest of their life, good times....Jim

[Indian113]

Wow! Looks like you made some memories that will last a Long Time. Really enjoyed your pictures

[84blaze]

Wicked attention to detail. I just finished reading through the entire thread and I am throughly impressed. It will be an excellent resource throughout my build.

I believe I'll use your idea of reusing the stock S10 bed floor.

I just got started on my 49 5 window. I hope to have the body stripped off the frame by the weekend. Check it out!

[47owner]

Great information, what year S10 did you use for the steering column?

[BlueJeep]

Steering column was out of an 89 s10.

[lower50's]

So cool!! Finnegan and Frieburger are awesome. My GF and wait for roadkill every month. Power tour is on my list to take my truck.

[47owner]

Thanks Blue Jeep, again greatly appreciate the information. Do you know if the rear end suspension off a 4x4 blazer could be adapted directly to the frame off a 47 chevy p/up?
I am trying to find an inexpensive alternative to a frame S10 frame change. I have a 1947 (3600) If I could adapt the rear end, maybe I could do the same for the front. What do you think?

[BlueJeep]

Originally Posted by 47owner

Thanks Blue Jeep, again greatly appreciate the information. Do you know if the rear end suspension off a 4x4 blazer could be adapted directly to the frame off a 47 chevy p/up?
I am trying to find an inexpensive alternative to a frame S10 frame change. I have a 1947 (3600) If I could adapt the rear end, maybe I could do the same for the front. What do you think?

I think you need to clearly know what your goals are before you start and what your abilities are. If you're looking to swap an s10 front clip and rear suspension, that's a fair amount of work. Once you know that then the rest of the direction can be planned.

If you're just looking for info on using an s10 rear, check out this build:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=554051