Bartmans AD-S10 Chassis Swap

[snipes]

Thanks for the all hard work documenting this stuff, it is helping me tremendously!!

[Tikal48]

Bartman,

I understand about the time, determination and money issues. But I hope that your determination comes back around. You inspired me on my '48 / S10 build, and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas and pictures of your build.

Good thing there is no set timeline on these builds. My truck was sitting since '80, but I've been only working on it seriously for the past two years. Weekend warrior, because no time during the week. I hope to see you posting again soon and thanks again for the inspiration!

[iowaboynca]

Bartman:
Been seein' you post lately. Welcome back!

[Clay54]

Looking through your build and videos again, I saw at the beginning where you painted your frame and other parts but there is no evidence of any painting other than the finished product. Would you/could you tell me where you were able to paint; was it outside, over tarps, did you have some type booth etc?

Good to see where you have posted on occasion so we know you are still here. Thanks for your help, Clay

[av8tr33337]

Ok I'm finally back but making slow progress. Trying to get a serpentine set up sorted out for my 86 Camaro 305 Power plant so I can move on to other stuff. The issue that Im having is that my passenger side head only has one hole for the serpentine brackets to mount to.

Yesterday I plundered a wrecked 96 chevy astro van with a 4.3. It was a stab in the dark, but the guy gave me the whole front of the engine for 20 bucks. When I got it home it didn't really fit my needs as well as I had hoped so this morning I did some more investigating and then went to "LKQ pick your part" and got something that should work nice. It was off of a 91 GMC Jimmy with a 4.3.

I'll attach some pics. As you can see in the pics both aluminum brackets pick up the two lower holes and the drivers side picks up all 3 holes in the head. The passenger bracket only uses two, even on the Jimmy it came off of. It uses the outboard most upper hole (which I have) and one on the inboard edge of the head. That one I could probably drill and tap but Im not looking forward to it.

The two other pics are not very good but show two different types of braces I found on an 89 S10 at LKQ that attach to the back of the driver's side(A/C Compressor side) bracket. pic 2 shows a brace running form the a/c bracket to the intake. pic 3 shows a brace running for the a/c bracket to the water pump for lateral stability.

The lower area on the on the passenger side bracket is for the smog pump which I will not use, I will probably modify that section by trimming some off making sure not to take away from the overall strength.

I picked up a water pump for 29.00 at AutoZone. Yes it's the reverse rotation for use with the serpentine setup.

I picked up the P/S pump from the Jimmy as well, and I will go back for the A/C compressor. I was thinking about just running an A/C delete pulley but they are about 30.00 and I can get the compressor for about 20.00 more at LKQ and I plan to have A/C Sometime in the near future.

The A/C compressor I picked up yesterday was a bust because it wasn't a pancake design. The Power steering pump would have worked, but it had a remote fill tube since it was down low in the engine bay of the wrecked Astro Van. However the pulley was in better shape than the one I got today so I will use that. The Alternator off the astro van fit perfect. I also got the A/C condenser off the van which is considerably narrower that the Camaro unit I've been hanging on to. I guess I really didn't throw my 20 bucks away.

I am amazed at how slow this is coming together for me right now but hopefully when I get the engine put to bed I can make better time.

[Tikal48]

Bartman, great to see you back at it! Good luck with the engine! It'll be done before you know it.

[av8tr33337]

Originally Posted by Clay54

Looking through your build and videos again, I saw at the beginning where you painted your frame and other parts but there is no evidence of any painting other than the finished product. Would you/could you tell me where you were able to paint; was it outside, over tarps, did you have some type booth etc?

Good to see where you have posted on occasion so we know you are still here. Thanks for your help, Clay

Clay Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I just did a down a dirty paint job in my garage. It still turned out pretty good even though I didn't prep my shop I.E extensive cleaning and/or tenting off an area. Didn't even throw down tarps. I had it up on saw horses a little higher than waist high so if there was any over spray it didn't seem to stick. Possibly because the residual dust gave it nothing to adhere to. (((((((Hangs head sheepishly)))))

This is just going to be a daily driver so its nothing fancy. I got it down to bear metal (Except for areas around cross members and inside the back half. Just couldn't get in every nook and cranny) by spending many hours with knotted wire cups on a grinder and spraying it down with WD40 at night and hitting it again the next day. If I wasn't do cheap I would have had it media blasted.

I did wipe it all down with lacquer thinner 2 or 3 times before I painted to make sure I got all the oily residue off. I think I used a spray bottle generously and then wiped it off.

I used 2 coats of metal etching gray primer. Don't know the part number. Then 2 or 3 coats of ready to spay chassis black from either O'reilly's or Autozone, don't remember which. It seems to be extremely hard and durable. I used the infamous purple HVLP paint gun from Harbor freight.

I will try to be a little more particular when I paint the sheet metal.

[99 to Life]

glad you are back at it

[av8tr33337]

Well, Im kinda bummed today.

I'm going to have to come up with a different radiator set up. I jumped the gun a couple years ago and bought a 65 Mustang radiator. Mocked it all up and it was going to work ok for me.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I decided to go with a serpentine setup so I've invested a few hours, some cash and some sleepless nights the last couple of weeks running down parts. Sleepless nights because when I get an idea in my head I have to workout the details and until then it haunts me. I'm sure a lot of you can relate. I didn't take any pics of the clearance issue, but trust me when I tell you it was FUBAR. I had worked all day getting everything together. Very frustrating and I just wanted to tear the rad out and sit down and stare are my dilema.

I knew the overall length of the motor with the serpentine setup was about the same, because it uses the same style water pump although it rotates in the opposite direction.

I did not account for how high the A/C compressor is mounted. The upper neck on the radiator is smack dab in the center of the Compressor.

I've thought about placing the mustang radiator in front of the core support but I think the hose routing will still be iffy. The stock thermostat housing points to the drivers side. I planned to get a swivel neck and point it to the passenger side to use the mustang radiator. That would have worked with the V-Belt setup.

I saw that 99 to Life used a vertical rad with center neck which is a good option if I could get it in a 19 X 22 version and it wasn't too pricey.

Long story short. Have your ducks in a row in the beginning and stick to the plan. I have way too much time and energy and cash involved now to go back to the V-Belt system.

I've spent the last couple hours pouring over build threads and the crossflow 19X22 radiator looks like what I need.

Another issue is that my radiator support is going to have to be replaced, as It was heavily modded to accept the Mustang Rad. Another added expense.

So I guess Im on the hunt for a radiator core support and a radiator. Any input would be appreciated.

[tlorber]

Originally Posted by av8tr33337

Well, Im kinda bummed today.

I'm going to have to come up with a different radiator set up. I jumped the gun a couple years ago and bought a 65 Mustang radiator. Mocked it all up and it was going to work ok for me.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I decided to go with a serpentine setup so I've invested a few hours, some cash and some sleepless nights the last couple of weeks running down parts. Sleepless nights because when I get an idea in my head I have to workout the details and until then it haunts me. I'm sure a lot of you can relate. I didn't take any pics of the clearance issue, but trust me when I tell you it was FUBAR. I had worked all day getting everything together. Very frustrating and I just wanted to tear the rad out and sit down and stare are my dilema.

I knew the overall length of the motor with the serpentine setup was about the same, because it uses the same style water pump although it rotates in the opposite direction.

I did not account for how high the A/C compressor is mounted. The upper neck on the radiator is smack dab in the center of the Compressor.

I've thought about placing the mustang radiator in front of the core support but I think the hose routing will still be iffy. The stock thermostat housing points to the drivers side. I planned to get a swivel neck and point it to the passenger side to use the mustang radiator. That would have worked with the V-Belt setup.

I saw that 99 to Life used a vertical rad with center neck which is a good option if I could get it in a 19 X 22 version and it wasn't too pricey.

Long story short. Have your ducks in a row in the beginning and stick to the plan. I have way too much time and energy and cash involved now to go back to the V-Belt system.

I've spent the last couple hours pouring over build threads and the crossflow 19X22 radiator looks like what I need.

Another issue is that my radiator support is going to have to be replaced, as It was heavily modded to accept the Mustang Rad. Another added expense.

So I guess Im on the hunt for a radiator core support and a radiator. Any input would be appreciated.

Would relocating the spigot in the radiator solve your problem? A radiator shop can do that.
Posted via Mobile Device

[av8tr33337]

Originally Posted by tlorber

Would relocating the spigot in the radiator solve your problem? A radiator shop can do that.
Posted via Mobile Device

Absolutely they could. I worked in a radiator shop myself 30 years ago. The only thing I dislike about the idea, unless they do a better job these days than we did back then, is that simply sticking the neck in a new hole that you've cut and soldering it in, there isn't much surface area, or mating surface, between the tank and the outlet.

When the tank is originally stamped out there is about a 1/4 inch flanged recess in the tank that the outlet is slipped into which provides ample mating surface for the outlet to adhere to when soldered.

But I think I will look into that this week. Thanks for the suggestion.

[oldman3]

Hey Bartman, this what your looking for http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedw...PIIaAtfR8P8HAQ ...Jim

[av8tr33337]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Hey Bartman, this what your looking for http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedw...PIIaAtfR8P8HAQ ...Jim

Yep thats what Im thinking also. JoeDoh from this forum lives near me and he has one of those for a project hes working on. Hes going to swing by with it tomorrow and we are going to see if that will work.

Im also going to check on getting the neck moved on the one I have. Thanks for the info.

FYI Here is what I have nowhttps://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...FQqDfgodqG4Kvg

[jkeating1]

Originally Posted by av8tr33337

....I've invested a few hours, some cash and some sleepless nights the last couple of weeks running down parts. Sleepless nights because when I get an idea in my head I have to workout the details and until then it haunts me. I'm sure a lot of you can relate....

I had to smile when I read that. I can relate. Conversely, when I can't sleep because of non-truck issues, I conjure up driveline, sheetmetal, or fabrication images to get my mind off of it.

[Rockabilly1984]

Hello Ted I have a question, so when u mean shim ,what are we shimming off???
I'm sorry I'm a first timer to this so I'm taking down notes!👍

[iowaboynca]

Patience grasshopper...bartman hasn't posted in 1.5 years (Hope things are well bartman, feel free to drop in from time to time if able)

If your looking to do a S10 swap, read this thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=632686

and lastly welcome! Feel free to ask questions in the s10 swap thread.

[lgh1157]

Originally Posted by av8tr33337

Last weekend I did a little more on my radiator support. I bought a 65 mustang radiator (I think a 67 may have been a better choice as it is a couple of inches wider) I'm going to have to kick it out at the bottom a couple inches so I still need to make some brackets. I was out of gas for the welder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmpXA...cOuIBA2qfxremg

Hey

Thanks for this video !

Question : If the radiator support is 4" from the pass side rail - this means the support is not perfectly centered correct ?, . . mine is shifted to left with a quick mock up with the fenders and the hood

Seems like there is a bigger gap on the driver side than the pass