1949 Chevy with S10 swap. Beginner build with ambition!

[99 to Life]

yeah that will make you sit pretty high up, so just keep that in mind. I'd look for an 88' up chevy silverado front bench seat. sometimes outta subburbans. Worth a look sometimes you can snag one for under 50$, well worth it.

[OutlawDrifter]

Making progress, keep pushing forward. I used the 3rd row seat out of an Astro/Safari minivan.

[joedoh]

nice work, the drudgery is where all the time goes!

on the pedals, see if putting a double layer of carpet under your heel helps, the thickness of the jute and the carpet in a finished truck sometimes make it feel more natural.

on the seat, I agree to 99s suggestion of the 88 up bench, very comfortable and easy to install. mine gave a ton more room, I had the original seat on the 47 and the 88 up on the 49 and I would do the 88 up over the factory bench any day of the week.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

yeah that will make you sit pretty high up

I always wondered why there was so much space under the seat frame of the stock 49 bench seat. Looks like a good place to store things like tools maybe? Without the gas tank behind the seat, however, I don't really need the space underneath.

JD I'd try a new seat, but it doesn't sound like I need one to drive and I am only working on things that let me drive it

Looks like a block of wood under the foot for now

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

JD I'd try a new seat, but it doesn't sound like I need one to drive and I am only working on things that let me drive it

sounds like the right plan!

[gigamanx]

Pretty tickled this evening! First startup of the engine before I start slapping everything else on to cool it off. 20 second run. Idle and timing was spot on. I have to install the radiator, transmission cooler, serpentine belt, throttle cable, and an air cleaner and that's about it before I get to actually put it in gear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPd2GMJpKKg

I can't believe I built that thing with no knowledge of engines. I am already interested in changing the exhaust. Extremely quiet as you can see in the video. I guess that means its working but I want some V8 grunt. I'll tackle that at a later date. Fun fact, about 1 year and 5 days ago the 49 chevy arrived in my driveway. I'll just round that down to a year to take apart two trucks, change the engine, and put it all back together.

[gigamanx]

Beginning to ponder the bed of the truck since I'm getting surprisingly close to actually driving out of the garage. All this time, I've just had the bed sitting on the S10 bed floor I cut out and left attached to the frame. JoeDoh you had suggested welding the 49 bed sides to the S10 base and covering that with wood. One thing I'd like to see is the lifting bed style where you can get to the equipment underneath. Since I'm planning on running air bags and having the cylinders, etc back there.

If I want an area of the bed to lift up, does that negate the use of the S10 floor? It seems much easier to just fabricate new bed rails with 1x2 steel and build a tilting bed on top. Suggestions?

Kind of like this one:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=660405

[gigamanx]

well...that stopped things pretty quickly. Now what?

The radiator lower inlet goes right into the serpentine belt






sooo....has anyone run into this issue with the Speedway 19x22 universal radiator? It almost looks like if the lower inlet were straight, it would barely make it, but since the pipe is angled inward, it goes right where the belt is.

[Black93GT]

Yes sir... had that exact same issue.

There is nothing like hacking up a radiator straight out of the box. I cut off that inlet and then a wedge to angle the hose around the belt.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by Black93GT

Yes sir... had that exact same issue.

There is nothing like hacking up a radiator straight out of the box. I cut off that inlet and then a wedge to angle the hose around the belt.

Thanks for the validation and the tip! I found a radiator shop locally that is going to handle the rejiggering of the inlet pipe. I even showed them your picture. I don't have the equip to weld aluminum at home and the cost of doing so is probably going to be way higher than having someone whip it up for me.

[joedoh]

nope, you cant use the s10 floor with a tilting bed

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by joedoh

nope, you cant use the s10 floor with a tilting bed

Well no going back now...I made the cut to take 8" off the rear of the frame. Body sat down nicely. Now to make some better mounts. I am 1" too low to use the stock mounts haha...so close! Thankfully I've had some practice making mounts so this shouldn't be too hard at all.

[gigamanx]

Definitely getting the hang of fabrication now. I finished mounting the bed so fast I forgot to take pictures. I used the off cuts from the cab mounts and just trimmed it to fit. Builder note: Don't throw away good steel left overs.

Very happy with the mounts. I used some of the universal 1/2" rubber bushings I had purchased for the transmission mount.



Getting better at welding too


Gas nozzle solution for now. Put a 90 degree elbow in place of the stock little rubber piece. I may attach the neck to the bedside.

[99 to Life]

nice use of that stock bed mount on frame. just make sure that rubber hose is fuel rated. not sure if it would really make that much difference but with todays ethanol it may rot the non rated rubber.

[joedoh]

looks good, quick solutions based on experience are usually 95% there!

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

nice use of that stock bed mount on frame. just make sure that rubber hose is fuel rated. not sure if it would really make that much difference but with todays ethanol it may rot the non rated rubber.

Yep, definitely was 2" fuel extension hose. I need to head up to the gas station and get some non-ethanol fuel now that you mention it. There are a couple of places with it around here.

Stock bed mount works for now although I am still perplexed on where and how to mount a 1x1" frame to put bed slats on. Does it mount to the bed sides or to the frame or both? Even a piece of plywood doesn't really have anywhere to be mounted as is. A problem for another day since I'm close to driveable as is and heck, who needs a bed...

ok, maybe I legally need a bed.

[99 to Life]

here is what I did, make mounts off frame for a 1x1 frame to bolt to, it will come out. i also made tabs off that so I could bolt the bedsides to it. The bed itself was mounted to frame, but the stock strip that runs along the bedsides that connected to bedwood sits so low it had nothing to support it. I don't like welding much to the bed itself so it worked out well having the steel tubing frame inside the bed and the bed actually bolted to it and made the middle of the bedsides have support. if those bed isn't supported there it will wobble at high speeds. I have that problem on my 51' and I'm fixing it. Looking back even on this build I would have plumbed all my lines much better.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

here is what I did, make mounts off frame for a 1x1 frame to bolt to, it will come out. i also made tabs off that so I could bolt the bedsides to it. The bed itself was mounted to frame, but the stock strip that runs along the bedsides that connected to bedwood sits so low it had nothing to support it. I don't like welding much to the bed itself so it worked out well having the steel tubing frame inside the bed and the bed actually bolted to it and made the middle of the bedsides have support. if those bed isn't supported there it will wobble at high speeds. I have that problem on my 51' and I'm fixing it. Looking back even on this build I would have plumbed all my lines much better.

Genius! Actually this is how I envisioned the mount also; particularly that center cross brace because it's the highest point on the frame I have to contend with. I didn't think of just making tabs and bolting the bed sides. Part of me doesn't want to weld the frame to the bedsides just because they are designed to be blown apart if you ever need to replace once side of the sheet metal, front, or rear. I guess I'll draw up some plans soon so I can figure it all out.

I also see no C-notch and what looks like Firestone 9000 bags. That's pretty much exactly the setup I'm going for. Really helpful picture to see it all together. Who's 4 link kit did you use? Hopefully not thor bros. I keep reading bad things about their ability to deliver in a reasonable timeframe.

EDIT: Read your build and did some googling. Looks like a ridetech 3 link.

Did you do spacers on those wheels? I just realized I cut into my sides and didn't even think I needed to space out the wheels to cover some of the gap in the fender. Doh!

[99 to Life]

yeah ride tech kit only because I got it for dirt cheap and didn't have electric in my garage at the point of the build. I'v based a link setup Im doing on my 51' very similar to this kit. Its pretty good ride IMO. Yeah my 1x1 frame will slide out of bed, I don't like welding anything to bedsides if I don't need to. I also make the bedwood slide out on its own too. Makes for easy access when needing to work under truck and trust me you WILL be working on something back there. I had to replace a sending unit on air tank and put new leader hoses on my compressors in the short time I had truck. Yes I ran 1" spacers in rear I think, and its a 4x4 blazer axle. I cut bed sides only to clear the calipers and the bed is mounted about 3-4" off frame, if you look closely you can see the tubing I welded to frame and the bed xmember bolts to that tubing.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

yeah ride tech kit only because I got it for dirt cheap and didn't have electric in my garage at the point of the build. I'v based a link setup Im doing on my 51' very similar to this kit. Its pretty good ride IMO. Yeah my 1x1 frame will slide out of bed, I don't like welding anything to bedsides if I don't need to. I also make the bedwood slide out on its own too. Makes for easy access when needing to work under truck and trust me you WILL be working on something back there. I had to replace a sending unit on air tank and put new leader hoses on my compressors in the short time I had truck. Yes I ran 1" spacers in rear I think, and its a 4x4 blazer axle. I cut bed sides only to clear the calipers and the bed is mounted about 3-4" off frame, if you look closely you can see the tubing I welded to frame and the bed xmember bolts to that tubing.

I just rolled home with my new wheels (craigslist buy)...18" 5.5 backspacing. Guess who needs 3" spacers

Playing with stance...still need 3" spacers...looks bada$$ though

[gigamanx]

Not much to update. Spending all my time buttoning up small projects while I wait for the radiator. Put fluids back in for transmission and power steering. No leaks Hooked up a temp gauge since I haven't decided on what I'm going to do officially for the gauges yet. I'm basically ready to go for a drive around the neighborhood before parking it again for the winter and doing the running boards and front bumper fabrication.

[gigamanx]

Fun this evening, the radiator arrived!! Got it hooked up after a couple of parts store runs for different lengths of radiator hose. Ended up just getting a universal for the top to get it hooked up. Beginner problems I found.

1. Fill the engine with coolant before putting the thermostat and top hose in. Then fill the radiator and run the engine for a few minutes.

2. Filling an empty power steering pump requires "bleeding" the power steering. I am yet to figure out how to do this so it makes an awful whining noise. I'm assuming I have air in it

3. 2 qts of trans fluid isn't enough to fill the trans. I'm hoping that's why I don't have reverse or any low gears. Drive works

4. 1 gal of coolant + 1 gal of water is not enough to fill the radiator

laugh away...

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

2. Filling an empty power steering pump requires "bleeding" the power steering. I am yet to figure out how to do this so it makes an awful whining noise. I'm assuming I have air in it

while its running turn it lock to lock a few times and check the level. it bleeds itself.

make sure your universal hoses have springs or are reinforced, suction can collapse a hose and you will chase overheating


not sure whats laughable in your post, and this is coming from the guy who put his sway bar on upside down and wondered why TWO PAIR of shocks were bottoming out. all I see is great progress

[gigamanx]

I'm laughing cause I imagine all the "car guys" just know this stuff. I was called a car guy the other day actually and started thinking... Hmm maybe I am. That doesn't mean I want to fix my wife's Honda pilot or whatever you just did your spark plugs in lol

[joedoh]

most guys dont have intimate knowledge from prior experience, most learn as they go because they arent afraid to try. thats you.

the old saying is: "He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea." make mistakes, laugh about them, even big ones. experience isnt doing it perfect, experience is learning from not doing it perfect.