53gmc build! With pics!

[53GMC]

Thanks blue jeep! I have been studying a great deal on the work of others on here....hopefully with you being a few steps ahead of me i can refer to you and ask for help when i need it in the future....do you have a thread of your build i can look into? i plan on mine being about that same height off the frame from what you mentioned...so how far back did you have to move your engine?

[BlueJeep]

I haven't started a thread with my build yet, wanted to get mostly done first. My cab is 3.5" off the frame to the bottom of the body brace at the front mount. I'll let you know how far I move the motor back after this weekend, but it'll be about 6.5". The limiting factor is when the passenger side head/valve cover hits the firewall.

[53GMC]

Thanks blue jeep.....lookin forward to talkin to ya in the future!

[Thadious]

I did the same thing... one of the good ideas the I found was to remove all the sheetmetal, cross connect the two heater core water lines together and keep the rad core hooked up until the very end. Then, after you have all the wires worked back out, reconnect them with the sheet metal out of the way and start the truck up... that way you can be assured that you have all the accessories onhand to have atleast a running vehicle and didn't toss anything you needed away.

Cheers and good luck!
Ted.

[53GMC]

Thanks so much Ted.....so stripping off the sheet metal means cab too right? i know i sound pitiful sometimes with my questions, but im used to restoring old tractors and is my first experience with trucks and especially swaps like this...tractors are so much simpler

ive re-wired my old antique tractors and made harnesses myself before, but do you by chance have a schematic for that new model and how it would hook up to the old truck gauges by chance? ive heard computers are the devil to deal with.....is that an exaggeration or are they extremely difficult and ridiculous?....wiring scares me.....just a little... haha

a lot more than body work! haha

but thank you all again!

[BlueJeep]

OK, I moved my motor back 6 7/8". The passenger side head is a little over an inch from the firewall, and since the firewall has the dish in it for the 6cyl, there is loads of room for the distributor. I moved the mounts straight back, and kept it offset to the passenger side 3/8". No clearance issues whatsoever doing it this way. I made a new transmission crossmember out of 1 3/4" .120 wall square tube. Looks like I can bend the power steering pressure line a little and screw it back in. I'll have to section a little out of the fuel lines too.

Here's some pics to show you how I did it:




Sorry about the size, I'm new to posting pics...

[53GMC]

thanks blue jeep......got the S10 home saturday and began a tune up on that motor...not in bad shape just needed a new throttle setting relay to regulate the rpms a little better......so those pics are of the frame stripped off and the front of the horns are what im seeing right? not sure yet because i havent had the pleasure of strippin mine down yet...but i know they will be extremely helpful when i get that done!

thanks again blue Jeep! and keep the pics comin! i need all the help i can get!

53GMC

[53GMC]

Hey everyone.......

i replaced the throttle regulator on the side of the throttle body on my rough running RPM 4.3 Vortec engine......and.....RUNNING GREAT!! More power, sounds better under the hood (doesnt sound like a vacuum leak) and reegulates the RPM's so much better....so all in all i basically stole that truck for what i paid for it!! Looking forward to getting it under the hood of my 53!

[britnjc]

thats great do you have any pics of the s10.

[53GMC]

yeah britnjc haha i thought i put some on here but i guess i forgot about the pics!

guys...my recent excitement this morning is now gone....After continuing a checkup on my truck i found that the issue was only partially fixed with replacing the throttle regulator sensor, but the real problem is the torque converter...the clutch within the converter was not locking it fully into high gear....it runs great until i get to the overdrive gear around 50-55....im told by a local mechanic ive always trusted that it will be fine and not hurt the engine or transmission until the swap is done, then replace it and/or the wiring to it to help it......

here's some pics of the S10/ 53GMC wannabe....the bed has been removed already...
pics of V6 Vortec engine and truck from back and side with hood up

[britnjc]

good looking donor truck.

[nickp51chevy]

It' just a thought, I don't know exactly because I put a SBC in my truck w/ the s10 frame. Leave the engine and trans on the frame and set the cab and front clip on the frame and see if you do need to move the engine. You don't want to make more work if you don't need to. I asked that question once before because I want to build an AD on an s10 4x4 frame. I really don't think that you need to move the engine. One thing that I do know is that the 4x4 frame is a bit wider behind the front wheels. I've seen someone trim the frame down and box it in again. Just get use to getting your cab on and off the frame.

Looks good. Keep it up and take the time to do it right. No need to rush. Safety first, and who likes rework?

Don't toss any part off you GMC until your done building. You never know what you might need.

[53GMC]

thank you nick!

got a couple questions though...

1. whats an SBC? a small block chevy motor?

2. how much wider is the frame on a 4x4 model frame? what provisions might you have heard of other than reboxing the frame or are there any?

thanks again!
53GMC

[Thadious]

Leaving the 4.3 in mine, I found that I wanted to move the engine back about 3 1/2" just simply for the clearance from the front of the engine to the rad. This centered the engine better in the bay and still left me room between the firewall and distributor.

Yes, a SBC is a small block chevy and normally a 350 but also a 305.

After moving the block back and setting up the engine mounts the way I did, I found that I have a fair bit of room for a 350 mount should I want to change it in the future.

Cheers,
Ted.

[53GMC]

Thadious,
So if i believed the clearance between the front of the engine and the radiator to be sufficient would that in fact eliminate the moving of the motor back?

or perhaps could i use an electric fan and instead of the fan already in place to help with clearance?

[nickp51chevy]

I think Thadious covered your questions for me well. And for your question yes. Have you checked out Sgtusmc's build yet. He left all the s10 power train in, and so did britnjc. Check out what they did for engine clearance.

[Thadious]

I just found that keeping the engine in the stock location was just a little too close for comfort and any future work between the front of the block and the rad. I will be going with an electric fan as well, but moving it back that little bit further just made it more "comfortable" to build on.

Basically what I did was replate the original bolt holes on the frame with 1/4" steel plate, locate the new holes 3 1/2" back, weld the nuts to the backside of the plate then weld the plate in place. After that I skirted all around the mounting plate in 1/8" to close it all in and add rigidity, then just cleaned it up, mounted the new mounts to the block, and lowered it in place.

Then moved the trans crossmember back 2 1/2" and cut 1" out of the centre mounting bracket for the trans, rewelded it back up and bolted the 700r4 back into place... it all aligned right up.

I ended up taking about 8 3/4" out of the front half of the driveshaft (machined out the welds, cut the section out, reweld, remachined and balanced) since I started with an extended cab version.

Holler if you have any other questions.

Cheers,
Ted.

[c10addict]

I too am building a 54 GMC with the S10 chassis and 4.3... Subscribed!!

[53GMC]

C10 addict -
Well i will do my best with details to help you know how i go about my swap! it has been a relatively slow process for the past few months....college and working too...so time becomes an issue...and its all taking away from my hobby!

but now that i have gotten most of the inside of the S10 cab taken apart, i can go ahead and get that cab off and the old cab on!!

here is a pic of the inside of the S10 with dash removed and wiring being DISCONNECTED not CUT!!! it has made this process a little more tedious, but well worth it in the put-back-together phase!

The old 53 Cab is sitting on a little red yard wagon i made when i was about 10 with solid rubber wheels....it finally came in handy because it was the perfect size of the underside of the cab!

Nothing really helpful about the pics but just an update....better info and pics will come when i start mounting the other body and what not within the next few weeks

53GMC

[c10addict]

Yep thats how my cab looked... I spent all the time yanking the harness and started cutting out all the stuff I didn't need but then I ended up just buying a new stand alone engine and trans harness from fuel injection specialities... It is so much cleaner... I finished my frame late last week and am ready to start swapping tin myself... I agree time is the biggest problem with this project..

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by 53GMC

The old 53 Cab is sitting on a little red yard wagon i made when i was about 10 with solid rubber wheels....it finally came in handy because it was the perfect size of the underside of the cab!
53GMC

When my kids were young I got them a Red Radio Flyer wagon. They used it for a long time then I started using it for hauling around trannys, engine blocks, rear ends, etc. Between the kids and me we wore it out. After a couple of rebuilds to repair torn metal at connection point we finally retired it with full gear head honors.

[53GMC]

HAHAHAHA that sounds about right with me too OrrieG!

the things that little red wagon went through made you love it that much more!!! Everyone talks about using their engine jack stands with lifter arms and what not....but really all ya need is a little help from a little red wagon!
53GMC

[53GMC]

today i got a ton done in my project....got the gas and brake pedals out, steering section disassembled, heater core out, flushed the cooling system, de-wired the S10 and marked wires for reconnecting purposes, and removed the cab mounts...now it is ready to be lifted up, up and away!

About my integral brake pedal....i ended up taking out the entire dash on the inside of the S10, and everything off the firewall on the inside...it is down to bare metal all inside the cab so i got a good look at the brake pedal on the integral mount...i removed the brake booster and pedal and suprisingly it was a LOT easier than i thought it would be...just had to break out my he-man strength some haha...a friend of mine is going to help me fab up a mounting bracket so that I can use that one instead of having to get another assembly for braking out of another S10...might even cut away the mount in mine and fab it up a little....

but got my S10 all taken apart, everything out and off from outside and inside ..now just need a strong back to help me lift the cab off!


Any volunteers?

53 GMC

[53GMC]

53GMC is on the move!

today - got the cab off the frame and took a few pics to show it all... i did not have a cherry picker but i used some country boy smarts and got the cab off without ANY damage....

DO NOT CRINGE!! the picture of the cab on its side is it sitting on a foam pad.....not a scratch on her......

took a few funny pics of the old fender just hangin on the side of the truck before i actually get anything done haha.....

Gettin really excited....on the home stretch now...no turning back!

[53GMC]

Hey everyone.....

So i took sgtusmc's advice and got to work!! Thanks for the inspiration man!

On to other things.......

Today I got my grandad (a tough old man for 76) and he helped me get my cab up and on the S10 frame.....I did not have an engine lift so that made things take much longer but now i can still easily pick the truck up and down with another lift....it was just the getting it on there that was difficult....

First - (BED) I took the bed apart one side from the other and laid the side on the tire to mark where the front of my long bed came to on the frame from the correct placement. Then i spaced 3" and that was where I wanted to place my cab.

Second - (CAB) To make this story short, I got the cab up onto the frame and placed 4x4 wood blocks along the frame to make the spacing placement i wanted. So when you see the pictures of the long 2x8's across the frame, those were not the latest pics.....

Third - (TRANNY TUNNEL) I slid the cab into place but first cut out a transmission tunnel for safety of not damaging or scraping the transmission too bad....it's just a boxed cut-out right now, but that is where I am going to build my tunnel and mount my in-floor shifter... (that's a pic of a 2x8 running across the bottom of the tunnel in case you were wondering) Cab not slid up all the way to final placement where I left it...thats just a pic after i cut it out...

Suprisingly, I mocked up the bed, cab, and front end, and did not see where I would need to move my motor backwards to protect the radiator or cover the huge gap between firewall and motor....

With the tunnel cut out, I found that I could slide the cab forward around 5 1/2 to 6" inches i could not have before....However, im still in mock-up stage, so a few changes may come about before it's all said and done...... Not the prettiest floor, but i intend on laying down new sheet metal so don't worry

BUT - anyone tell me if there is something right in front of me that i may be forgetting....

Any and all advice welcome

Enough words...more pics...just the first half of the day's pictures