41 chevy 1/2 ton project Fenix

tagged up!



I ordered mounts but they havent come. I did as much as I could without them. I found some dimensions online and the mounts I am using (70 camaro) should be as tall as the s10 mounts, so I did mock up with a couple S10 bushings.

my kingdom for another inch! I decided to lower the cab another inch, my reasoning is that s10 front suspension does some weird stuff at full droop, the wheels pull back in the wheelarches and the toe goes all wonky, I like setting the truck up to lay on the running boards (well, very close to it) while the frame is still a little off the ground and that keeps the suspension from needing expensive mods like tube arms and tie rod notches. I trimmed out the frame carefully, and the piece I cut out will flip over and weld back in. this lets the part of the rocker that hit the frame go by slightly.




this is as low as I can go without cutting the back of the cab.


you can see where the running board will be, it is about 6 1/4 tall, leaving 7 3/4 ground clearance before I install the 3" lowering springs.


I bolted the s10 body mount in to make templates for mounts.




front mounts made!


more tomorrow. I realized that the tag office put the wrong VIN on the paperwork, I will run in the morning and correct it. All the front end components came in yesterday, I bought the problem solver MOOG stuff for everything. If I can get the rear mounts built and everything tacked in when the camaro mounts show up, I can pull the cab to do the frame cleanup and engine move. on locating the cab, I set the centerline of the front wheels at 31 inches to the door edge. I will tack everything in and put the front clip on to make certain the wheels are centered. This was the measurement I took off the parts 41, so I think it is right, but I will still double check.

The bushings came, I guess they were on the truck friday and the delivery guy thought whatever was in there was broken because of all the clinking and thumping. nope, just the bubble pack came open.


here is the part number, for anyone interested, its 6 bushings so I will be able to mount the core support as well.


got the front mounts in, need a little trim on one side


loooove my plasma cutter. love it. from design to cut in about 10 minutes.


cleaned up and tacked. I like my little switch mags too, handy here.



I need to clean the old body mount bracket off the outside of the frame though before welding these on, thinking of jacking the cab up to cut them off since I cant finagle these brackets up on top of the frame without doing that anyway. Then I will pull the cab and start the frame cleanup.

I didnt work on it again until today, caught that bug going around. on tuesday though I did see another suitable donor on craigslist, picked up the next donor, 95 s10 4.3 5 spd. the other 41? (might be a 46) I have down south yet will fit nicely.



41 title came back to me friday, pretty fast! its nice doing all the work up front and then its very fast for the state. had the right VIN on it too, in fact monday I got a new reg slip with the right VIN on it so they must have noticed the error at the capitol. What a load off.

still feeling a little milquetoast saturday and most of today, but I did get out there for a couple hours. anyone remember that jack black movie where they invent the spray that just poofs dog poop? I wish someone had the technology to do that for the cab/bed combo mount on s10s because that bad boy is never any fun to take off and I always seem to have a hard time with it. but I got them off, mostly, well the part I needed off haha. I will take the rest off when I grind the frame and paint it.


at first glance it looks right to me


there she be, sitting all on her own mounts. mostly level too. its not perfect yet, I think one of the front mounts is slightly higher than the other. I will need to get it square on the frame again, bolt it temp and put on the front clip to see how my measurements work out. looks pretty good though, the floor is level with the frame, so far.


look at that perfect alignment, off the gas tank just barely, fits in nice


looking down though the bolt holes only a little fine tuning needed.


tomorrow I will get it square and tack the rears, then pull the cab off the frame for deep cleaning of both the cab and the frame. I am going to take the seats to the shop tomorrow and pick up a needle descaler from cardboard freight, the rear frame of this truck is pretty scaly. stay tuned!

my daughter is in california for work training and sent me this, I almost fainted



turns out she was tired of the endless advances by other men in her training session and at the hotel and out on the streets so she "married" herself. I figure its legal for someone to marry a potato these days so she should be endlessly happy with herself.


tacked the mounts on and rolled outside



used my cherry picker rig to pull the cab, broke the tacks on the rear passenger side mount but since I know the correct height and location of the hole should be an easy fix. I will clean up and box in the backs of the mounts, they look a little sketchy right now but hey, development is tough.


tried to get the seats out before the upholstery shop closed and failed miserably. They were installed with bolts through the floorboards and I only have access from one side, so makes it tough. but here they are as a "before". I may try and find maroon or black side pieces instead of painting them but if I dont I have used the SEM paint before with good results.


maybe I will get some frame welding done tonight too.

Hey, no one knows here better than herself [ddd

Fun to watch this one. Thanks for showing us how it is done Joe.

thanks, I sure like to have fun with these old trucks

oh how I wish the number written on these seats would instead be perhaps an accurate accounting of the number of aboriginal men living in mud huts on some tiny island, but its not. its a price. they better look astounding. I picked all the upgrades.



I ordered matching carpet and some jute underlayment too. I went with the burgundy color I used on the 47 GMC wheels, I reeeeallly like that color.

washed the cab. its partly blue. who knew?


no more cow poop


then I started boxing the frame back in.





I sanded the frame a little too, I tried to pick up a needle descaler but they were on sale at cardboard frieght and sold out. I picked up a bunch of 40 grit flap discs instead, they are working well. maybe tomorrow I can get the motor loose and moved back.

started finish welding the frame, I am being really timid on the drivers side, dont want to poke a wire through and hit a fuel line. I still have to trim the bottom edge on both sides..



you can see I took the passenger front mount loose from its tacks, it IS 1/4 low like I thought. I tried to use a spacer and it looked like **** so I scrapped it and started to cut a new one, but its the babys bedtime. I did get the rear mount repaired and reinstalled before quitting though.

the circle guides work much better with the drag tip than the fine cut tip with a standoff. easier to make a real circle too.


redid the passenger front mount and wasnt happy with the look of the drivers mount (eagle eyed viewers of earlier pictures will notice I put the front piece in the rear and vice versa) so I took it apart and redid it as well.



just tacked on until I can set the front fenders and make sure the wheels are centered. \ I am deciding whether or not to rebuild the front suspension before mounting the clip, or after. I am thinking before, so moving the motor back is next and then rebuild the suspension and maybe this weekend drag the front clip to the garage for setup

this %^&*# thing. every nut and bolt is fighting with every single thread to stay put. I have worn out two 6" grinding discs cutting heads off bolts. The fuel filter line is stuck, not sure what I will do about that yet.

I went to the interior shop to pick colors, I left a can of what I would be using on the dash (rustoleum burgundy) but they still didnt want to make a decision without my input. good thing. they picked the bottom color, I picked the top.


originally they had a streaky burgundy that looked like old furniture. I realigned them with the concept of my truck, I like the outside to look old but I like when things are modern, that means late model color and fabrics. I ordered a steering wheel this weekend, same thing, three spoke design with leather wrap. the top half looks like a repair but its actually made that way from the factory. my dad had one on his cavalier in the 80s, so when I saw it I had to have it


got the motor loose, not to soapbox on what a pain this thing is but the engine mounts were 5/8" on one side and 17mm on the other, nothing else fit. I chopped the trans mount lifted it with a couple jacks and moved it back



not quite enough. The power steering lines were my limiter so I gave them a little bend





thats better. I know I said 8.5 was my sweet spot but I am going closer to 10 because this trucks not the boss of me and I do what I want


I called the PO of the S10 and asked him if I owed any property tax on the amount of land he gave me with this truck


this may cause a problem, the motor mount needs to go right where this brake line is.


and found the coolant leak. when I picked it up it was empty on coolant and when I drove the truck home it lost what I put in. This I guess is common on the TBI, one more thing to do though. looking online the repair sounds fun.



more tomrorow! I have an idea for setting the motor mounts correctly and will try it.

The coolant fitting is 1/2 NPT. I used to use a small air saw to cut the old threaded part in 2 pieces and then knock it loose with a punch (it will break esily as it is a cast piece). Clean the threads up with a tap and insert either a replacement quick connect or just a standard hose nipple. Good progress overall. [P

thanks for the tip! I was told oreillys had a big "easy out" for these for how common it was, but I will try an air saw


I decided to pull the motor to try my mount idea, my $50 picker pulled its 7th motor!


one of the mounts was wasted and you can see the pan was rubbing the crossmember, not that it would be a problem when I moved it back but interesting to see anyway


started pulling the suspension, more of the same haha. cut the shock, cut the sway bar end link, fight the balljoints that spin instead of loosen.


I didnt work a lot today, only a couple hours. my steelers lost but I still love that team and love that town.

the best way to handle rusty fasteners is to just get rid of them ALL of them


sanded and painted and started reassembly with all new moog problem solver parts. my side room looks like a moog showroom but I love the quality. even though I wont benefit from it? huh I guess maybe I shoulda cheaped out. anyway:




I would have finished up the front end tonight but the paint was a little tacky and I havent painted the sway bar yet so time for a break.

picked up my motor mount stuff today. on the last one I carefully balanced the motor on the picker while holding it at what I thought was the right angle while trying to keep it square in the frame. it was a mf'r and took me almost 2 days. I wanted to try what I thought would be an easier way. and cheaper, because the universal weld in mounts were 60 bucks and shipping.

I drove all over looking for a piece of 1/2" ID 11 ga tube, but only found a new 20ft stick. seeing as I only needed about 5 inches, I passed on that. decided that black pipe would work, but it didnt come as 1/2" ID, more like 7/16" ID. I picked it up and kicked myself all the way home till I realized the through hole in the existing mounts was the same bolt size, 1/2" wouldnt have fit. score.


I got 7/16" all thread and nuts too.


now the existing mounts are at about a 4 degree down angle, so if I just moved the mounts straight back, they would be about 1/2" lower. so I cut the all thread and stacked it, giving me back that (almost) 1/2 inch.


I cut my black pipe, one with a tubing cutter, one with a zip disc. if you cant tell them apart, good, because using the tubing cutter required patience.


amount of move. I made sure to keep the pipes slightly over 16.5" apart (thats the distance for the mounts I am using, 67 chevelle 327 mounts)


overall shot of my jig in position


plasma some mounts. mirror image except the passenger side is 1/2 shorter (motor is offset 1/2" from factory)


bobs your uncle.


total time including shopping: 3.5 hours.

looks good

Looking good so far!

thanks guys!

snopro I cant count how many times I squinted at your truck and tried to see how you set up your frame and mounts. haha.

I have been wearing a detroit tigers ballcap for about 20 years, I have no affiliation with detroit nor an affinity for the tigers (I actually stopped watching MLB in 1994 when the overpaid babies had a fit), it is actually that my last name starts with a D and that old english script D is great. anyway I tripped across a maroon one the other day, it looks purple in the pic but its maroon.


put the steering together, this is old hat to me now.


hammer coated the sway bar after de-crudding.


the rotors are brand new, but crusty, so I cleaned them up too.


together, for now. belltech springs, everything is new except the rotors and spindles. I have new calipers and hoses. I will pull it all apart again one more time. this is my mock up phase where I try out spring heights, etc.


She rollin', rollin', rollin', though the streams are swollen, keep them doggies rollin', rawhide


changing the motor mounts, this was a nice surprise


will it fit?


yep



tomorrow I will get the trans mount squared away and pop the cab on to check if my ambitious motor move works. more to come!

You must drink Rock Star Energy drinks as well great progress. [P[P

The GM Reman tag can be a blessing and a curse depending on when it was installed. GM had a few years where the Reman engines were complete garbage. They were built by outside vendors and tagged as GM items back in the 90's and early 00's. But if it is still running good now then you got a good one. [P

Good job [cl
I traded for a 68 Impala wagon that had a GM Target motor in it. I used to think that was good.
I know this didn't have anything to do with where it was made but, it had a couple of lobes down on the cam so I pulled it and cast on top of the heads it said Made In Mexico.
Needless to say, it made me think a little different about where rebuilt parts are coming from.