48 Chevy Truck/ s10 chassis+ Cummins 4bt + a bunch of other parts

[48ChevBagged]

Figured I would start a build thread on my truck. Its a 48 Chevy truck I bought out of Pulaski, Virginia. This is an original one owner truck that was bought new and used on a farm. The original owner passed away and left it to his grandson who had no interest in doing anything with it. So that is how i got my hands on it.




It had been sitting in this field for over 10 years when I got it. He drove it home to his farm and parked it there and left it. I bought the truck off of ebay and just went by what pictures He had of it and what he had told me over the phone. I bought it and towed it back home to NC and put it in the garage where it sat for a little over a year untouched. Just recently I flew in working on it so now I am about to fast forward to the current state of this project. Upon buying this truck I thought it looked pretty solid but it turns out it needed more metal work than I had planned on doing. Oh well that is just the way it goes sometimes. The last two trucks I have built have been on s10 chassis with air bags and fuel injected engines in them. So for this one I have a different drive train in mind. I am going with a Cummins 4bt from a bread van backed by a 5 speed overdrive trans from a 89 f-150 truck. Here are some more pictures starting with the tear down.

[48ChevBagged]

For some reason the other pics I tried to post didnt go through here is the truck before I got it when it was parked in the field

[48ChevBagged]

This truck needed the majority of the front of the floor replaced along with the cab floor supports and the inner cowl panels and the inner wheel welds and part of the outer cowl. The cab corners also need some attention. We replaced most everything but the cab corners to get the truck solid enough to move around and sit it on the s10 chassis to build all of the cab mounts. and start putting the truck together. Then when I tear it all back down to final weld the chassis and paint everything we will finish that up.



Plans for the truck are to leave as much of the patina as possible and fix most of the rust. I also plan to paint the interior of the truck and have a nice leather seat and door panels along with new gauges etc. Here is a shot of the donar chassis



Here

[48ChevBagged]

Here is the cab going on the chassis and fitting up the front sheetmetal. After getting that done its on to the bed and the running boards

[48ChevBagged]

After we got the bed and running boards in place it was time to hang the rear axle under the truck and start on the triangulated 4 link for it. Then move on to the front bags and drop spindles.










Then it was time for it to come off the jackstands for a look at the stance of it with the bags flat.

[Midgets50]

Cant wait to see you start on the 4bt install be sure to take lots of pictures. this spring im going to start on mine for my 4x4 49. Your truck has an amazing patina on it. should look really good when its done

[48ChevBagged]

Currently this is where I am at on the project. The engine and trans are installed and the motor mounts and trans crossmember are tacked in place. I have the radiator sitting in place with most of my issues worked out on my hoses and clearance. I also fabbed an A/C compressor bracket and pulley that is in behind the fan and have that in place and hooked up. The tunnel is all tacked in as well as the firewall has been modded slightly to clear the exhaust where it comes off the turbo to go down under the truck. I have my air intake worked out as well. I had mounted a power brake booster and master to the firewall before I found out that diesel engines do not make vacuum. That is a new one on me. I ended up reworking the bracket for the Hydroboost and I have it mounted to the firewall and all hooked up too. Most all of the hard stuff is now down and I really am not lacking to much more work to be ready to tear it all down and make the final welds and paint the chassis etc.

[ghettoluxury]

The truck is coming along nicely, should be a fun little torque monster.

[Midgets50]

What was the hardest part of installing the motor? if this was on the stock AD frame do you think you would still have to recess the lower cab

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by Midgets50

What was the hardest part of installing the motor? if this was on the stock AD frame do you think you would still have to recess the lower cab

It really wasn't bad getting it sat in. It really depends. In my situation with the 5 speed trans I had to sit the motor back as far as I could to keep the shifter out from under the dash. It u went with a automatic trans the motor wouldn't need to be quite as far back so you ciuld gain some room for the exhaust.

[Wild Deuce]

looking good, you are able to buy a vacuum p/s combo for the 4bt. im in the process of installing a 4bt in my 50 chevy.
what did you use for your air intake combo.

Thanks Bryan.

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by Wild Deuce

looking good, you are able to buy a vacuum p/s combo for the 4bt. im in the process of installing a 4bt in my 50 chevy.
what did you use for your air intake combo.

Thanks Bryan.

Thanks, yea I ended up making the hydroboost work so I think it will be ok. My breadvan already had a combo of elbows for the huge paper air filter it had on it so I made those work with this smaller K&N style filter that I have on there now.

[Midgets50]

just to clarify because from my searching some require it and some dont but do you have to run an intercooler? what are you running for a power steering gear box on this

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by Midgets50

just to clarify because from my searching some require it and some dont but do you have to run an intercooler? what are you running for a power steering gear box on this

This is a non intercooled version of the 4bt. There are some that are intercooled from the factory. The version I have is not. Mine is around 105hp and 270ft lbs of torque. The intercooled version is around 130hp and 300+ ft lbs I believe. I could still add a intercooler if I wanted but doubt that I will and really dont think I have the room either. I have the factory s10 power steering box. The Lines from the hydroboost on my bread van hooked right to it. I had to tweek on them some but the fitting size was the same.

[54worker]

Cool build man. I wanna do a 4bt motor for my '54 when I get around to it. How will the s10 frame hold up to the extra weight of the cummins?

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by 54worker

Cool build man. I wanna do a 4bt motor for my '54 when I get around to it. How will the s10 frame hold up to the extra weight of the cummins?

Thanks. Well that I'm not sure of but I feel like it will be fine. Plenty of people have stuffed Big Blocks down in s10 chassis over the years and this engine weighs roughly 100 lbs more so I think it will be fine. I went with 7" bags under the front to and they are rated for 2600 lbs each plus I have shocks as well. Guess time will tell though.

[Midgets50]

Sorry for all the questions but im trying to find out as much info as i can before i start working on mine. is it possible to make the stock AD gauges work with the 4bt?

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by Midgets50

Sorry for all the questions but im trying to find out as much info as i can before i start working on mine. is it possible to make the stock AD gauges work with the 4bt?

I would say yes you could make them work. You may have to convert them to work with 12v though. You also would have to use the sending units that go with them too in order for them to read properly I would say.

[DieselRat]

Cool project, I would think your brakes should work fine with the factory vacuum pump. I used a stock S10 booster/master with my diesel project, Haven't driven it yet to confirm how well it works, but everything plumbed up easy enough.

What do your engine mounts look like?

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by DieselRat

Cool project, I would think your brakes should work fine with the factory vacuum pump. I used a stock S10 booster/master with my diesel project, Haven't driven it yet to confirm how well it works, but everything plumbed up easy enough.

What do your engine mounts look like?

I dont have a close up shot of the mounts. We built them ourselves and they are just tacked in place right now. I used the factory mounts with the rubber bushings from the bread truck then built a mount to that. I will try and get a close up pic and post it soon.

[Dieselwrencher]

Great truck you're building here and I love it's getting a 4bt! I spied a 54 COE in the first set of pictures didn't I? What are your plans for it?

[48ChevBagged]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Great truck you're building here and I love it's getting a 4bt! I spied a 54 COE in the first set of pictures didn't I? What are your plans for it?

Thanks I appreciate it. I have kinda let this thread die for a while because I took on a customer build swapping a 53 chevy 5 window onto a s10 chassis with air bags. I almost have it complete and plan to hammer down on this project again. As far as the COE goes if I can ever get to it I plan to swap it onto a 1 ton dually chassis with a flat bed that dove tails and air bags with a cummins in it too. I have big dreams but finding the time and the $ to make it all happen is my biggest trouble.

[Dieselwrencher]

I hear ya on all that! My brother and I are working on buying a 54 COE already fitted on a P-30 chassis that has a 454 behind the cab. Our plans are to ditch the 454 and put a 24v 5.9 in it with maybe an Allison 1000 series in it. We have to get it home first.

[48ChevBagged]

Yes I would love to build mine the way I want it but for now I guess its on the back burner for a while. Maybe one day I can get on it. I love the COE trucks I wish I would have looked around a while longer and found a 47-53. I like the grill in those better and the two piece windshield but they are kinda hard to find around here unless you wanna drive or have one shipped halfway across the US. Sounds like you guys have a good plan for the truck. I personally hate seeing a gas burner in the big COE trucks like that. I think in one of those a diesel is the only way to go for sure.

[Dieselwrencher]

I heard you can put a split windshield in the 54 cabs. Is that true? That is my plan with a visor as well. How it will go, IDK. Too early to tell. Haha