Bringing her back...

[jklein68]

Re: Bringing her back...

If you're still looking for body panels, check out www.cooltrucks.com. The website kind of sucks, call them if you're looking for something. They've got good prices and service, I've used them quite a bit.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

Was the old bumper and support damaged badly? If it isn't too bad and you want to get rid of it. let me know. I don't mind having to bend one back into shape

The bumper support is trashed. The bumper cover's left corner is pretty much gone. I'm going to hold on to the cover because this is Alaska. The roads suck 5 months out of the year!

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

FYI: I had a 2.5 in my parts rig, so I removed the oil filter adapter to see if it would work. It is too short. I guess I'll be waiting for the new one to show up.

I am playing with the intercooler piping. I think I am going to reconfigure it to clean up the right front corner of the engine bay. Anybody have pictures of their Kenne Bell A2A plumbing set-up? Along with the KB air cleaner housing, this leaves something to be desired.

 

[gstacky]

Re: Bringing her back...

The bumper support is trashed. The bumper cover's left corner is pretty much gone. I'm going to hold on to the cover because this is Alaska. The roads suck 5 months out of the year!

So you don't think it would be fixable?
You should have checked in the ebay section, that bumper you bought was listed in there, and I asked if anyone else was bidding on it, and no one replied, so I was the one bidding against you on it. If I would have known you were bidding on it, I wouldn't have to save you a few dollars.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

I spent a few hours on Sunday and removed the cladding and removed the trim and weatherstrip around the doors. Unfortunately, I found a few spots that needed attention.

Being too lazy to do bodywork if I don't have to, I'll be using the damn near perfect bed off the donor rig.

I did find a way to gain a .01 in the quarter though...

Along with the ABS removal, that's about 40 lbs off the truck.

I had to run to work and grab my door panel puller so that I could remove the driver's door, but didn't get back to work on it yesterday. The driver's mirror glass is broken, I'll call the glass shop and see if they get find me a replacement piece.

Ordered up my PLX boost sensor module (sweet deal on amazon), the DM-5 gauge, 2 gauge lotek pillar, the PLX wiki wifi for my Iphone Rev and Dashmaster OBDII applications and a few more parts. Still need to find an OEM grille though.

 

[alwayscode390]

Re: Bringing her back...

Thats not a stock SY mirror jfyi ---

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

Thats not a stock SY mirror jfyi ---

Yep, the upgrades keep popping up. It's like christmas time.

 

[powercat6]

Re: Bringing her back...

Yep, the upgrades keep popping up. It's like christmas time.

If for some reason you can't get glass for that side mirror you can snag one off of any 91-94 Blazer or Jimmy with power mirrors. Those mirrors are very common in junkyards.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

If for some reason you can't get glass for that side mirror you can snag one off of any 91-94 Blazer or Jimmy with power mirrors. Those mirrors are very common in junkyards.

That's good info. I need to get the wiring harness and install them anyways.

 

[Sportmachines]

Re: Bringing her back...

The bumper support is trashed. The bumper cover's left corner is pretty much gone. I'm going to hold on to the cover because this is Alaska. The roads suck 5 months out of the year!

Can you send me pics of support. Looking for trashed one for project? Might toss you a couple of bucks for it.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

I'll post up some pictures of the bumper. I saved the pieces I used the plasma cutter to get access to the bolts. It will be free to whoever wants it since shipping from Alaska won't be too cheap.

 

[gstacky]

Re: Bringing her back...

Yeah post up some pics of it, I wouldn't mind one needing some work. Let me know. Nice job on the resto so far.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

I'll get the pictures up. My other house that I'm selling had a hidden water leak, with the customary rot. I spent the day removing the custom cedar toilet room and a bunch of wet, rotting wood. :roll:

I did get the 2 gauge pod coming, as well as a PLX boost/vac gauge set-up. I got a sweet amazon deal on the module. I still need to order the WBO2 set-up from them.

Hopefully I can get a few hours in on it tomorrow night. I need to remove the driver's door, fix the hinge (worn bushings) and take off the bed.

I also downloaded datamaster and have been getting familiar with it. I need to get this running so that I can start playing with all my cool new toys!

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

I have both truck beds ready to be removed. The donor to go on sawhorses and the old Sy bed onto the donor truck. Ironically, I am using the bed, both doors, both fenders, hood, front valance, latch and light assemblies from the donor. That leaves the tailgate (Chevy or I would have swapped as it's perfectly straight) and the cab as original. A new radiator support was purchased and I'm still looking for a grille. I have the WBO2 now and pod, and all the tuning components. I am going to attend EFI101 and Advanced at the beginning of May, so I hope to have this painted and back together before I leave so that I can start playing with the tune when I get back. I also ordered a flat back window to get rid of the bulky double slider that is on the truck now and front glass. I have the new radiator, fan shrouds, fan and fan clutch, waterpump and misc pieces up front as well. Just waiting on the oil filter adapter and some time to fab up the metal brakelines for the ABS delete.

The donor truck has non-AC and I was toying with the idea of changing out mine (A/C compressor, hoses condensor are gone or damaged in the accident), but I'll probably start tracking down those components so that I can have air on the week of warm weather we are destined to get this year.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

Today I was able to remove the old bed and placed it on the donor truck. I also took the new bed and placed it in the garage. Upon removing the old bed I noticed that the battery relocation was an ill-conceived idea. The battery fumes and acid made their way to where the battery plate is bolted to the fender. I forgot to take the picture, but much of the lower lip was rotted away. I will be relocating the relocation to either the left front or possibly rebuilding this with a battery box and proper vent to prevent future damage.

The bed changeover was delayed by a visitor.

While we were waiting for the baby (and more importantly his mother around the corner) to walk away, we built a temporary paint booth so that I can spray primer and jamb the truck before I run it to the paint booth for color.

:tup:

The top beams are designed to let allow the smaller 2x2's to be removed in the event I wish to replace the plastic. We also designed it so that the tubes on the bottom of the plastic can be rolled upwards and hung so that I have complete access to my "stuff".

Tomorrow I'll load the bed and the truck and will have them pressure washed on Monday. Then I can begin the bodywork!

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

Last night after the girls went to sleep I put in 5 hours in the garage. I was able to bend and install the ABS delete hardlines. I mocked up the front fenders and wheel wells to ensure they were same since I wasn't sure if the A/C version used a different inner fender for evaporator case clearance. I also cleaned up the underside of the truck bed. There is one a spot of rust on the bed floor, so I'll be cutting off the rear brace and making a patch panel to fix that. Then to POR15 the bottom.

The KB cold air intake install sucked, so I am welding up the openings on the right inner fender and enlarging the opening where the box sits. I'll also have to drill a couple of mounting holes to retain it, since that was never done as well. I need to clearance the RF inner wheel well to provide clearance for the A2A ducting.

My underhood insulation came in. $97 bucks through the dealer (no freight), who bought it from vintage parts. Definitely OE and not the generic stuff out there. It even came in a wooden crate to protect it. Now if they would get me my oil filter adapter that has been ordered and dropped twice, I'll have all my body parts (sans grille) sourced. Still need to come up with a 3bar MAP sensor as well.

Once my wife gets back from the grocery store, I'm going to put in another long day. I sure would like to get the inner fenders, wheel wells and radiator support prepped and ready for paint, plus get a proper battery box installed. It might have to be mounted in the LF engine compartment, since I don't think I can fit a plastic/metal battery box in the remote battery location in the right rear, and I refuse to have this rear quarter get corroded from the battery acid and fumes that erroded the old one. I also bought new rear brake shoes, cylinders, axle and pinion seals and need to get those installed and the brakes drums machined.

 

[bezerk]

Re: Bringing her back...

nice work man!!
you got goals. i like it!

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...

I spent some time and modified the wheel well around the A2A piping. A previous owner simply used a sawzall to hack off a good chunk of the wheel well. I couldn't quite determine the final fit, so I had to go back and add the left curve after getting it all fitted. I just need to sand it and the other wheel well down and shoot it semigloss (or less?) black. I was even thinking of using POR15 on these as well, but I won't run that stuff through my paintgun and when I brush it, I can't keep from having brush strokes show up. I also modified the radiator support slightly to clear the piping.

After getting the front sheetmetal fitted, I turned my attention to the rear bed. The bed had 5 little areas of rust on the floor. I cut the offending pieces out and will patch in some sheetmetal in the morning. While I was at it, I cleaned out the areas between the sheetmetal and preped it with POR15 Metal wash and will POR15 the complete underneath of the bed.

My buddy Paul came by and lent a hand. He helped me install the donor door. It was with great relief that the door fit perfectly, as the old door was pushed out about 3 inches in the front. The hinge area looked okay, but I was worried none-the-less. The door has been stripped of hardware and is ready for prep. Paul also stripped the other door after we determined that the original right door was an easy fix.

I shot a picture of my ABS delete hardlines. I picked up the lines at the local parts store, but they didn't have 1/4 tubing with the proper fittings on both ends. Since one was correct, I hacked the old line for the fitting. I feel a little guilty now, but at midnight it was the thing to do. I have saved all the other pieces, so I can quickly bend another piece if ever I want ABS back in my life. I had wanted to make a few curls in the line to absorb any cab deflection, but I didn't see a good way to make a smooth curl that didn't also put kinks in the line (I ruined my back-up piece giving it a try). I compromised by adding a little extra material and providing a couple of angles that could "straighten" out if ever the body moves that much.

I also took the plasma to the right inner fender to open up the sheetmetal to match the KB cold air inlet. The KB kit isn't too impressive. How hard would it have been to add a couple of mounting tabs (such as the unused coolant bottle bolts and nuts that this thing displaces)? I also couldn't stand the butchered look of the two pieces of aluminum that did only a marginal job of blocking engine heat back into the inlet. I cut a few pieces of metal to weld into the openings that are on both sides of the KB inlet. It should pick up some decent air from the bottom of the front fender, and I am going to fab up a scoop that will force the air up to the inlet at road speed. Before I do too much, is there a better cold air kit that I should be looking at?

 

[s_blazin]

Re: Bringing her back...

depending on the year of door you put on you may have to trim the area where the power window switch will go, found that out myself on my s10 i converted. normally the 82-90 s10 fenders have holes for emblems near the door right under the body line, so if your does not then it was once replaced before, no big deal.

you may still be able to pick up a grille from the dealer but if not i'm sure someone on here has a nice one. as for the intercooler piping and intake, i'll have to post up some ideas i've had for mine. i also have a KB a/a but i was quite displeased with the quality and routing on them so i'm reconfiguring mine.
I to was not willing to lose inner fenders for the just in case times that you might get stuck in bad weather. mine is to be a sunny day only cruiser but still it makes things look much nicer with inner fenders. but thats just my opinion. sorry for the long comment but thought i'd let ya in on some s10 knowledge that might help you out. i'm quite surprised how cheap you got a new core support since they want 275 a piece for new fenders, atleast when i checked a few months back thats what they were, and were still available.

 

[The_Bronze]

Re: Bringing her back...


I got a little more work done tonight:

Grabbed the toys and cut up some patch panels for the bed floor.

I sanded down the inner fenders. A couple of small dings that will be straightened out and they will be ready for paint.

I replaced the pinion seal since it was so easy from the top side. The two loose caps had good grease and they were all free so I didn't replace the joint.

I took the rear wheels off so I could get to the brakes and rear axle seals, but the drums wouldn't come off. Normally, there is an adjuster screw you back off, which may be the big nut on the top of the backing plate. I'm not familiar with this style and the nuts wouldn't turn either direction with moderate force, so I'll be doing a little research to see how to loosen the adjusters. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the seals, wheel cylinders, shoes and hardware replaced and then put the drums back on Wednesday after having them machined.

Tomorrow I should be able to get the radiator support sanded down as well as the patch panels welded in. That will leave the two inner fenders, including the cold air modifications and the battery box being mounted on the left side so that I can put in the radiator and fire this baby up. Somebody mentioned in another thread that some S10s came with a left side mounted battery? I need to look into that!