JayinMI

I did an intro, and this is my project. It started as a '86 (later turned out to be an '87) RCSB S-10. Green. Manual EVERYTHING. Someone had cut the top for a convertible (probably back in the 90's) but then took all the convertible hardware off it. It came with a donor '89 S-15 cab (Power brakes/AC). Paid $850 for it delivered to my house...was supposed to come with a replacement windshield, but itfell over and broke in his driveway so he gave me $50 back.

What I got for my $800:

1987 RCSB S-10 with a running Iron Duke 2.5, about 58k miles and perfect floors...very solid body -- except for the cut roof.
2 (supposedly) Toyota Bucket seats in GREAT shape
Tonneau cover faded, but in great shape
clutch kit (for the Isuzu 4 speed)
new front calipers installed
1989 GMC S-15 Donor cab...rusty from the bottom 8" down
Extra set of rust free doors with power windows/locks
Some other misc little parts.







This was going to be the basis for my project...but we'll get to that.
The plan was to remove the roof from the donor cab, and weld it to the green truck. And I made some decent progress on that too...





(and now I'm going to jump around a little)

Near the same time I was getting this, I went looking for an engine (preferred 6.0, but not locked into anything) and found a guy selling the drivetrain out of a rollover '04 Denali AWD for $1700. Went and looked at it, and when I decided I wanted it he told me he needed a deposit. I was cool with that, but he's about 2 and a half hours from my home, so I asked if I could Paypal it to him to save the trip and never heard back.

So I hit Craigslist...and ended up with a running/driving 2003 2500HD 6.0L/4L80E 2WD. I paid $1800 for and drove it home.
I call it the "Big Red B!tch™"

The cluster says 17k miles, but it's been replaced. I got the original in the back seat. Title says 168k, but the guy I bought it from says it was over 200k. Only the driver's door opens from the outside. Neither of the rear doors work. But I didn't care.



It's an extended cab, long bed. Manual everything. Hydroboost had a serious leak and the power steering quit working, but still started and ran!

Jay

JayinMI

So I was taking a leisurely approach to this. I've never pulled an engine out of a car/truck (unless you count aircooled VW's) and the weather was finally getting to be nice enough to work outside...and then my time table got moved up.

Bored one day, and I thought I'd hit CL and see if I could find an uncut S-10 cab so I didn't have to weld the roof back on mine, and strangely enough, I found a roller with no bed/engine/trans for $500...I talked him down to $400 and brought it home.



It was actually in better shape than the green one, but apparently one of my neighbors isn't a car guy and didn't like me having 3 (!) inoperative trucks in my driveway, so...

The cops stopped by and said I had 2 weeks to get all the inop vehicles out of my driveway. So, I busted ***, and got the engine/trans/wiring etc out of the Silverado.







I also measured my Passlock resistance value before I pulled everything out so I can start it later without NEEDING to have someone shut off the "vats/passkey/passlock" system.

Then I pulled the bed/fender and some other small stuff from the green truck and got the green S-10 and The Big Red B!tch towed away. I hid the Red S-10 over at my GF's dad's house for now.

So that's kinda where I'm at right now.

Jay

JayinMI

So, here's the plan:

Round 1:

Get everything in, running and driving. Drive it for a little while and work the bugs out.

Things that will go with round 1:

CPW Engine mounts
Stainless works 1 7/8" long tubes
8.5/8.6 GM rear or 8.8 Explorer rear (both can be had with Disc brakes)
(Will come down to what I get the best deal on, but would prefer the 8.5)
Blazer gas tank that mounts behind the rear axle.
Relocated battery to passenger side of frame.
LS1 front brakes...IIRC 12" discs.
91+ grille swap
raised front leaf mounts/sliders on the rear with Caltracs, OR
3 link rear suspension.
LS6 valley cover
Keeping truck accessories
Thinking of adapting a Stiffler's Mustang trans crossmember
Anyways...this is the basic outline.
Doing my own harness.

Round 2 will be prettying it up, and going through the motor. Cam/intake/trunion upgrade/etc. Basic stuff.

Repaint in GM Luxo Blue with silver C6 Grand Sport Vette wheels or C5 Z06 wheels.

Hoping to finish out with around 400 RWHP.

Jay

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Hittn the ground running, i like it. By page 3 in this thread, you ll be aiming for 600hp,lol

JayinMI

Nah, I have pretty realistic goals. 400hp should make it pretty quick. Haven't run the numbers but if I could get into high to mid 12's, I'd be pretty happy. Everyone thinks they have a 12 sec car until the come up against one. lol

But I might try to leave room in the engine bay for a turbo, just in case. lol

The budget is what will slow me down.

Jay

JayinMI

The S-10 I had in the mid 90's had a 2.5/auto and an absolute top speed of 85. Down hill. With a tail wind.



Kinda wish I would have bought my ex's Extreme when the lease was up and put a V8 in that.



Jay

JayinMI

No real update. I've been working on getting my seats in, making brackets to weld to the seats and bolt to the stock S-10 sliders.

My $150 rebate from Motorola came in, and my $525 rebate from Kia (for their MPG snafu) should be here soon. Just had a birthday, and my dad probably has some money for me, so when I get everything together, I plan to order my motor mounts, oil pan, and Stainless Works 1 7/8 headers.

I also have a bunch of parts I kept from the "Big Red B!tch™" and some extra parts from the various S-10's I've had recently. I need to put them up on eBay cause I don't want to deal with CL. lol

One of my friends' brother-in-law is building an LS 85 S10, and gave me a link to a radiator shop about an hour from me that has an LS Swap radiator/fan setup for $500...about half the price of the Current Performance one. It's a little shorter than stock, so it can be recessed into the core support giving me more room with the truck accessories. It has a place to attach the steam port as well.

I also found a Blazer with an 8.5 10 bolt posi in the junk yard, so hopefully it's still there when I go back for it. I prefer the 8.5 because a) it's a bolt in, and b) it has the same bolt pattern as the fronts.

Jay

Steven32

Looking forward to watching your progress on this truck! It will be a fun one for sure!

RnD Fabrication Radiators

We are a site sponsor and build custom radiators for LS conversions. We have wanted to make them for the S10's for some time, and retail price would be around $450 ($425 with forum discount). If you are interested in sending me your original and doing some test fitting, I can cut you a deal on the price in exchange for helping prototype it?

Here is a link to our vendor post on this forum:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/sponsor-s...l#post19355190

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

I love first gens! Where are you located, that your trucks aren't all rusted to hell? If you found a 2wd Blazer 8.5, you better ****** it. They are really rare. I do have a 8.5 for sale, but it's a drum brake rear, and I really don't want to ship, but I have in the past. The Blazer 8.5's are almost always G80 posi, 3:42 gear disc brakes, but I have had 1 that did not have the posi option. I have sold, I think 8-9 of them.

BTW, I think you stole that big red truck, that was a hell of a deal IMO.

JayinMI

I'm in Southeast Michigan. Usually our trucks ARE all rusted to hell. That was why I picked the green truck I started with, because (even with the cut roof) it was super solid (I even had it running once).

When I came across the red S10 I figured it was worth.

The Big Red B!tch™ was an OK deal. I paid a little more for it because it had a 6.0L/4L80e. I could have gotten a 5.3/4L60e for $1500 or less. Body issues didn't concern me, since I just wanted the engine/trans/wiring/PCM/BCM.

Jay

JayinMI

Made a trip to the JY to grab the 8.5 10bolt I found on a 2 Door 1999 Blazer. I couldn't get the bolts to break loose, it was sitting in a puddle, and then I noticed there's about 1/8"(up and down, not in and out) play on one of the axle shafts, so I wanted to look more into it so I wouldn't get stuck with a useless housing. Decided to skip it.

All of the 1st gen trans crossmembers were really rusty, so I skipped that too.

Got a parking brake and shift cable from a Trailblazer (to go with the shifter I got last time) and some door weatherstripping for the truck since it didn't come with any.

On my way out, I stuck my head in a 97 standard cab and found an MTX Thunderform with a 10" Thunder 6000 in it. Couldn't test it, but grabbed it anyway. Hopefully I can sell it and help fund some more parts for my build.

Jay

JayinMI

I ordered my LS Swap mounts and GM Musclecar oil pan kit from Current Performance, and my stainless headers from Racing Innovations and Supply. I also ordered BRP's Oil Pump Pickup Tube Girdle. Will hopefully order a transmission crossmember soon. Contemplating a Stifflers Mustang Cobra crossmember, but waiting for measurements from them.
Soon the engine and trans should be able to get out of the bed of my truck! lol

JayinMI

Parts are finally coming in before the long weekend!

Ordered my Oil Pump pickup tube support from BRP on Friday, got it today.



Ordered my Racing Innovtion headers on Friday, they came today as well.



My Oil pan (GM Musclecar oil pan kit) and Current performance urethane motor mounts should be here tomorrow.
My trans crossmember should be here thursday and I picked up an Energy Suspension 3-1108G urethane trans mount because Advanced had it on sale.

I ordered a 96-98 Mustang crossmember from LMR. Hoping I can make it work. As long as it isn't too wide, I think I'll be good. I'll just have to make my own mounts. Thought I'd give it a shot, since it was very reasonably priced at $138 shipped, should have nice clearance for my exhaust. A much cheaper option (and frankly, better looking) than the G-Force crossmember, which goes for around $265. Hopefully I can find a place to buy some plate (or maybe c-channel) that is close to work. I'd like to get it this weekend. Thinking 1/8" should be plenty thick....opinions?

Jay

JayinMI

Now, for anyone who is interested in using the Racing Innovations headers, I thought I'd post some more pics.
For the price, I think they're hard to beat. They actually have a 3/8" flange, the welds look decent, and they're stainless. $229.

The only thing I think could be better (and lets face it, it's a minor issue) is the inside of the collector where the tubes come together
could be a little nicer. But for the price I can't complain.



You can see some of the tubes protrude out past the welds unevenly.

The other side was better.



And the only other minor issue was the head-side gaskets arrived with a bend in them. I'll probably get new ones to be on the safe side.



(See the left side right by the bolt hole?)

Anyway, pretty happy with them for the money.

Jay

mytmouz

iTrader: (2)

Hi.Jay...

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

I am interested in seeing the crossmember when you do it. I picked up a T400 crossmember for a S10 locally for $30 on craigslist. I figured I couldn't go wrong for that. No idea if it will work, but I also figured a 4l80 is basically a T400 with OD. Hopefully your idea works well, just in case mine doesn't, I can go that route.

JayinMI

OK. I picked up a 91+ Chrome Blazer grille at the junk yard last weekend for $25. Not sure I'll keep it, but I can use it for mock up anyway.



Then I started off by trying to get the exhaust manifolds off the 6.0...and got 6 of 8. A couple of them I had to hammer smaller sockets on and they still didn't want to come off. I picked up a couple of 1/2 nuts that I'll probably weld on to the 2 remaining bolts and take them off that way. Fingers crossed.

Then I went to unbolt the existing motor mounts and discovered something. The bolts just spun. Surprised they weren't captive nuts. I had to cut the bolts. Looks like I have to pull the front springs to go in through the bottom to bolt them in again. Yay.

I pulled the front clip (by myself) and removed the engine compartment harness. I also pulled the heater box (engine compartment side) so I can clean some stuff up.



More to come tomorrow...

JayinMI

RPTurbo...I got the Stiffler's Trans Crossmember on Thursday. It's only about 25" wide. Will easily fit between the frame rails. Since I have to pull the front springs to put nuts on the motor mount bolts, I won't be able to figure out placement this weekend, I don't think, but looks totally doable.

JayinMI

OK, wanted to get the engine mounts in. So I cleaned up the motor mount pads with a flap disc and sprayed it with Krylon Maxx black satin. I let it dry so the area under the mounts would be protected. I'll clean and paint the rest of the frame later, but I had some things I needed to get done before that.










After cutting the old motor mount bolts, I figured out the nuts weren't captive and I'd have to figure something out.
I found a couple of old threads (1 on S10forum) that basically said to drop the lower control arm and go in from underneath.
That idea was more than I wanted to do....so this is how I did it (in about 45 minutes).

I picked up some m10-1.25 Serrated Flange head bolts, M10 washers and M10-1.25 Flange nuts from Home Depot. (Grade 10.9) as well as a piece of 1/8" steel rod.

I taped one of the bolts to the rod...actually more above the rod. I wrapped the tape around the head (but not so it went over the flange lip) and taped the crap out of it.



And then fed it up from underneath. The top bolt hole on the passenger side went up through the spring pocket, but the rest had to go in from under the frame.









Now I need to go weld some nuts on to the remaining exhaust manifold bolts and get them out. Once I get those off I need to clean the engine up some (its crusty as hell) before I start playing with getting it in place. I also want to test fit my headers to see if (where) I need to trim the trans ears for clearance.

Not as much progress as I wanted. But Nothing ever goes as planned....

Jay