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Let's try this again...1986 S10

28K views 352 replies 30 participants last post by  JayinMI 
#1 ·
Things didn't go so well with my first project car, a 1967 VW Bug. I ended up scrapping the vast majority and sold the rest of the parts for like 1/5 their value when I cleared out my storage.

I'm going to try this again. With an '86 S10, standard cab, shortbox, manual everything....and an LS swap.

Here it is:



It's a pretty solid truck. The majority of the (very little) rust is from someone bolting a body kit on it. It's also been cut for a convertible conversion...but someone took the conversion parts back off.





And had a bolt on hood scoop...at some point.



Billet grille...



2.5L, 4 speed manual.



Pretty low miles: lol



But it runs decent. I let it run for a few minutes and the lifter tick seemed to go away. It's dripping power steering fluid, which seems odd to me since it is supposed to have manual steering according to the RPO codes...



Anyway, the guy I'm buying it from is supposed to be bringing me the rest of the parts next weekend:

Toyota bucket seats, another windshield, another CAB (with title and full interior including tilt wheel and AC), a NIB clutch (not sure I need it, but he made me a deal) and an extra set of doors (which I already have).

I was about to buy a 6.0LS engine and trans from a rollover '04 Denali, but the guy wants a deposit. I'm cool with that. But it's an hour and a half away so I asked if he'd take the deposit via Paypal, and haven't heard back from him. So I started looking on CL and found out I can buy a whole running, driving truck for like $200 more. I found a 6.0L 2500 2wd truck and 2 5.3 1500's...so I'm leaning that way now.

Jay
 
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#2 ·
I preparation I ordered a new welder, cart , spoons, helmet and epoxy primer from Eastwood. And picked up a small tool box for the house from Sears.

I do car stereo/alarms/etc. for a living, so I plan to make my own harness...and since the truck has power NOTHING, I'm thinking that will help. lol

The overall plan:

5.3 or 6.0 LS, CPW mounts, Shorty headers, Hi_Im_Sean's brake adapter setup for the LS front brakes, hydroboost, 8.8 rear with discs (3.55 or 3.73 posi preferred), A/C (will probably just notch the frame), 4L60E or 4L65E.

I also plan to do the Blazer gas tank swap, mount a battery on each side of the frame under the box. Lowered on Belltech spindles and springs up front, leafs in the rear with Caltracs. I figure that should put more weight over the axle to help with traction.

Also going to do tubular UCA's (likely Spohn's) for header clearance,with tall BJ's. Possibly LCA's, but we'll see.

Zq8 (well...Grand Chrokee 12.7:1) steering box, front and rear sways, jeep steering shaft...

I'm sure there's more, but that's the basic idea.

Jay
 
#5 ·
Tonight I put a deposit on my 6.0 donor. Should get it tomorrow.

Originally, I was looking at a "supposedly" low mile (70k) 6.0 and AWD trans from a rollover '04 Denali. But the guy was making it really difficult to give him money, so I started looking around and found a whole running driving '03 Silverado 2500 Extended cab that I got for $100 more that what he wanted for the engine/trans...and I would have spent nearly that to convert the trans to 2wd.

Not sure on the exact mileage on this one, but he said probably around 170k, since the cluster didn't work when he bought it. He swapped in another cluster since then.

Started right up, ran smooth, didn't leak, no lifter tick or anything.

It also has the Hydroboost that is supposed to be a near bolt in to the S-10.

I plan to get the engine, trans, hydroboost, harness, pcm etc out of it and get rid of the rest.

Pics to come after I pick it up.

Jay
 
#6 ·
Just got it home. Drove it 50 miles with no plates, and like 1/2 mile from home got caught at a light about 20 feet from a cop parked on the side of road. :eek:

But managed to get it home with one small issue...about 2 miles from where I picked it up, I stopped to put gas in it. My girlfriend asked if it was still running, I looked over and discovered the right rear brake was smoking. Alot.
Luckily after it cooled off, it didn't seem to do it anymore the rest of the way home. It didn't do it during the test drive either.

But anyway, here it is:

03 Silverado 2500HD 2wd. 6.0L/4L80E combo.



I'll get some pics this weekend when it's light out. lol



Jay
 
#8 ·
Me too. The S-10 was supposed to come with a bunch of extra stuff (including an extra cab) that was *supposed* to be delivered last weekend...but he was going to use his buddy's tilt trailer, and he was using it for the holiday weekend. I need the extra cab to I can chop the roof off of it to fix this one...then I need to pull the engine from the Silverado so I can scrap it....currently looking for a good deal on an engine hoist.

Jay
 
#10 ·
You're probably right, and that was the original plan...but the cab he's bringing me is rusty on the bottom, not sure the condition of the floors, either....that one still has carpet in it. lol

Plus he loaded it onto and will probably be be dropping it off of the trailer by dragging it, so the bottom of the cab is in much worse shape. I was also thinking it would be better to keep the more solid cab so I don't run into VIN problems later....

I'll take a closer look when it gets here. I know it needed cab corners, and might need rockers.

Jay
 
#13 ·
My first car was a '70 sunroof. No floors, had to put an engine/trans in it while I owned it, used to nearly asphyxiate myself driving to college. Fun times. I always wanted a '67 because I liked the mix of early (-67) and late (6:cool: styling, as well as all the one-year-only parts.

I won this on eBay back in like 2000 for $792. The lady selling it was handling her aunt's estate and lived in Virginia, while the car (as well as another earlier bug) was in Kentucky.

She told me it was her uncle's car and that he was a mechanic so it was always well maintained. She told me it had never been in an accident and still had original paint and that the lawyer who she was using would meet me there with the title and keys. Seemed like a good deal.

So, I sent her a deposit, rented a truck, bought a trailer hitch to put on the rented F150, borrowed a trailer and headed off to go get it.

Hit hard front and back and fixed BADLY. 1962 single port 1200cc engine (instead of the 1500cc it should have had), it had been repainted, but noone had prepped the original paint underneath so you could scrape it off with your fingernail. Early (wrong) decklid. Lawyer didn't have the title, just the key.

I should have left it there and got my money back, but at that point I figured it wasn't worth it since I was already there and had gone through all the trouble.

The seller took forever to get me the title, because it had never been transferred to her aunt after her uncle had died some 10 years before. It was a small town and everyone knew who the cars belonged to so it wasn't a big deal to them. But she did eventually get it to me.

I collected parts and started working on it in a 1 car garage with bad wiring....


eventually I decided the body was too far gone to bother fixing and someone gave me a fiberglass dune buggy body, so I gave the body to a guy who was building a chop top bug, shortened the floorpan 14.5" to fit the buggy body and bolted the all new suspension to it. new fuel lines, etc.

Then I lost my house, moved in with the GF and stored it for 2 years @ 100 mo. I finally just dumped everything to stop paying for storage.

I'll eventually get my '67, but I'll start with a better base than this one....maybe after the S10 is done.

BTW, here's what my '70 looked like:



Here's my '91 S10 (from 94-97):



And my GF's S10 Extreme stepside (2000 or 2001):



Jay
 
#15 ·
Yep, I'll never buy a car on eBay again...unless it's local.

I'd like an oval or split someday, too...but '67s are my favorite.

Someday, I'd really like to be in a position to build my dad a '57 Chevy Bel Air, 2 door. It was his first car, and he's done a lot for me over the years.

Jay
 
#16 ·
OK, after "things" happening, I finally went down and got the remainder of my parts that were supposed to come with the truck.

I got the original spare, tailgate, 5 more door panels (1 from the donor cab -- 1 was still in it, 2 for the green truck and 2 for the extra doors), clutch, pressure plate, brake parts, headlight surrounds and retainer rings, minty Toyota Celica seats, rollbar and an 88 S-15 cab (with title).

The cab is an Auto/2wd/with A/C and power brakes. Dash is in a little better shape than the green truck, but they're both kinda meh.

Mostizzle, the bottom of this cab is pretty rusty in spots (floor below pedals and cab corners for sure.) Probably just going to use the roof to fix the Green truck roof (and parts from the green truck to shave the cargo light.

I plan to keep all the accessories (shift linkage, A/C, ductwork, vents, dash, power brake booster, A/C parts, etc.) and part of the trans hump to fill in the hole where the shifter is on the green truck.

I was supposed to get a windshield too, but he left it leaning against a garbage can and it fell over and broke. He's going to get me another one.
It was used anyway.

Here's the cab:



It looks like someone picked it up bu the cowl panel.

Anyway...I'll get some more pics when it's daylight and I have a few minutes.

Jay
 
#17 ·
Oh, and the other day I picked up a new engine hoist. No one I knew had one convenient to me (a Canadian friend of mine did, but it doesn't fold and I don't have a passport, lol) so I hit up Harbor Freight. They had the 1 Ton for $139, and the 2 Ton for $179 with coupon until the end of this month, so I went for the 2 Ton.

Jay
 
#19 ·
The green cab has a show bar in it, (the top is removable) but there is a brace that runs from door jam to door jam. I'm leaving it in until I get the top on. I think I'll be OK. I have a pretty good idea how I want to proceed. I just need to pull the windshields out of both and take a ton of measurements.

Jay
 
#20 ·
OK...made some progress gutting the donor.

Windshield is out, which was a bitch. I broke my cold knife and ended up using a razor knife on most of it, then folded it out and cut some more. I hate pulling windshields.

The slider came out now problem.





Pulled the A/C parts from the outside (condensor/heater core/heater box and blower motor), and pulled the dash.



Planning to use the A/C parts in the green truck, I am considering building my own dash.

Anyway...some progress is being made.

Jay
 
#23 ·
Mostizzle, here's why I'm swapping the roof, and not fixing this cab, lol.



The floors, cab corners and a couple of firewall brackets are very rusty, but a lot of the truck is actually in really solid condition...like the rockers, back wall and back part of the floor, etc.

Got it all tripped out (except for the passenger door panel and the seatbelts that are stuck in place.)



There is a dent right behind the driver's side rear wall.



Plan to mark off and separate the roof today. I'm going to make a jig using a 7/16" dowel (which fits perfectly in the body line) and a piece of 1/4" mdf to mark the body for cutting. I plan to document it as I get going.

Jay
 
#24 ·
OK, got the jig made and marked off my cut lines, but then the mosquitoes found the garage so I decided to cut it off for the night.









and I drilled out the spot welds of the rear under-window piece.



On the other cab, they cut right through this piece, so this way I can drill out the spot welds and not have a seam under the back window on the inside.

Making slow progress, but it's going.

Jay
 
#25 ·
OK...finally got more than like an hour to work on this.

Triple checked my measurements, and realized I marked it wrong. Had I cut it where I marked the new roof would have been about 7/16" short around the bottom. So, I RE-marked everything off and marked the pillars on the Green cab.



Cut the pillars on the green cab...and left some of the inner structure in place to help line things up.









Removed the back support that the original owner cut through when they did the top.

Drilled all the spot welds out with a Harbor Freight spot weld cutter and it worked very well.

The back side was very rusty, so I'm thinking it leaked a little.





Ground the spot welds flat.



I'll hit the area with a flap disc before I weld it in place to get rid of the rust.

Here's a shot of the same area on the donor cab.

No rust at all!





A little trimming to do to get things to line up, and then I can start welding. I just stuck it in place for now since it was getting dark.
I'll probably get everything in position and use some self tapping screws to hold it in place until/while I weld it.



Hopefully I get a little more interest now. Seems like you either have to cut something or weld something, LOL.

Jay
 
#26 ·
it would be a good idea to put the doors you plan to use on the truck along with new pins and bushings before welding the roof solid. align them to the lower half of the cab and then you can use them to check the fitment of the roof.
 
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