53 gmc/chevy on s10 frame

[joker65]

Hi guys,
I had my build in the wrong thread so I'm gonna copy & paste a condensed version in this build thread!! I heard about this site and how nice and helpful everyone was.I have restored various old vehicles in the past 37 ford pickup, 34 chev chopped sedan, 36 chev pickup & now i am trying something a little more non traditional with my 9 year old son at my side. it's a 53 gmc on 87 s10 frame & keeping the 2.5 5 speed (you probably hate me already!) We have the s10 down to the bare frame and now just cleaning off all the old mounts and checking everything over. The 53 gmc will get the chevy grille cuz I like the look much better. I have the chev hood, grille & top support just need to find a inner splash apron.

My son & I removed the front fenders, inner fenders, grille off of the 53. I cut the other old body mounts off of s10 frame & removed shocks, gas line, brake lines, etc. Now grind rest of mounts off & got a welding needlepoint from work to descale the rust off of my wisconsin frame! After watching another build like this using the 2.5L I decided to move the engine back about 3.25" to make adequate clearance for the radiator. I think it will prevent alot of headaches down the road, we'll see.

Been busy prepping and painting por 15 on the frame. Cut the frame horns off 1/2" aft of the steering gear box. Soon I will be dismantling rest of the '53. It was my first time using por 15 & my buddy warned me about getting it on my hands. It's true my fingers are black and it appears they will be that way til it wears off! Nothing takes it off!

removed all the sheetmetal from the '53. Removed cab and set it on the s10 frame on top of pcs of 4x4. I bolted the front fenders on to see what the height and wheel placement looked like. Brought home my cab mounts from work tonite. definitely seeing some progress now!

 

[joker65]

more pics

 

[joker65]

more pics of the build

 

[Psycho Kustoms]

AWESOME start!!

 

[joker65]

I heard you guys like lots of pics!!!

 

[joker65]

Now to the present, I am currently hanging the front sheet metal on it. checking alignment, wheel position, cab height & positioning my cab mounts where I think they need to be. I made mounts for the front & rear but I was watching a thread where one guy used the orig. shackle mts on the rear of the cab. It really does line up very good so I was thinking of going that route. If it worked on the '53 it should work now right?? I'm trying to get the lower height without suspension mods. I'm pretty happy with the stance so far. It should also look better when I get the 14's off of it! were definitely not reinventing the wheel, everything i have done is ideas i got from guys like you on these sites & i really appreciate it.

 

[hotrod preacher]

that looks like a fun project ya got there- keep up the good work.....

 

[joker65]

Thanks psycho were getting there! I've been kicking around radiator ideas like using the orig. one and kicking out the bottom to clear the steering gear or one i'm kinda leaning towards is shortening the rad. support high enough to clear the steering gear and using a 19 x 22 radiator from summit. He said it made the sheet metal alot easier to bolt up. any input would be great! we are also using the s10 shortbox frame bcuz i saw one done this way with the shortened bed and i really liked it. this is our first s10 frame swap and my boy & I have really been having a blast, plus some quality time together with wrenches in our hands is hard to beat!:

 

[joker65]

thanks hotrod preacher! I met you in the intro page where i was posting all my stuff!! finally with the help of chipper i moved everything over here in the builds. nice to see you again!

 

[POOKIE BROS.]

more pics of the build

awesome looks like your helper is havein fun

 

[Psycho Kustoms]

Thanks psycho were getting there! I've been kicking around radiator ideas like using the orig. one and kicking out the bottom to clear the steering gear or one i'm kinda leaning towards is shortening the rad. support high enough to clear the steering gear and using a 19 x 22 radiator from summit. He said it made the sheet metal alot easier to bolt up. any input would be great! we are also using the s10 shortbox frame bcuz i saw one done this way with the shortened bed and i really liked it. this is our first s10 frame swap and my boy & I have really been having a blast, plus some quality time together with wrenches in our hands is hard to beat!:

Amen to quality time brother!! i try to get my boys involved in my projects too! you guys are doing a great job together!!

 

[62ChevyII]

Thanks psycho were getting there! I've been kicking around radiator ideas like using the orig. one and kicking out the bottom to clear the steering gear or one i'm kinda leaning towards is shortening the rad. support high enough to clear the steering gear and using a 19 x 22 radiator from summit. He said it made the sheet metal alot easier to bolt up. any input would be great! we are also using the s10 shortbox frame bcuz i saw one done this way with the shortened bed and i really liked it. this is our first s10 frame swap and my boy & I have really been having a blast, plus some quality time together with wrenches in our hands is hard to beat!:

Looks like a great start Joker! Good to see the kid helping too. I am building a 48 on an S10 frame and the small aluminum radiator is how I did mine too, I think it should work out well. I am about 75% done with mine but have been stalled lately due to house projects. Hoping to get it running this winter. Here's my build thread: http://www.killbillet.com/showthread.php?t=16296

 

[joker65]

Thanks 62chevyII! I'm glad to hear from you, I was really inspired by your thread. I have been watching it for quite a while. you were the one that i got the radiator idea from! I will need some advise on how much to cut down my rad support & how you mounted your rad, etc. thanks

 

[62ChevyII]

Thanks 62chevyII! I'm glad to hear from you, I was really inspired by your thread. I have been watching it for quite a while. you were the one that i got the radiator idea from! I will need some advise on how much to cut down my rad support & how you mounted your rad, etc. thanks

LOL! Well actually I haven't finished the radiator mounting yet, I have it cut out where I can fit it in there and a piece tacked in to sit it on but haven't finished mounting it. That's on my "to do" list. Glad my thread was helpful, I would probably do some things different the 2nd time around but it kinda shows what a guy is up against when doing this swap.

It depends how high you mount your cab but the way I figured out how much to cut off was set the original radiator support in place (so it just missed steering box) with the front sheet metal installed then measured down from the ears on the radiator support to where they need to bolt to the front sheet metal. like this:

I ended up having to notch mine to clear the steering box because I later changed to power steering and it sticks up more.

 

[joker65]

Sounds good, I will be fitting the inner fenners this weekend so after that I will drop in the support and measure it. Your thread was very helpful, I used alot of your ideas. And I thought about you alot everytime I grabbed my sawzall and was getting beat up, how nice life must have been with that fancy plasma cutter!!!

 

[joker65]

Had a good weekend, I fit the inner fenders, made the radiator support out of the existing one and an extra one i got when i bought the truck. I cut it down just above steering gear box, straightened out the lip on all of them and rebent the lip to make the channel wider to accept the new radiator. then made a support from frame to under rad support. After all that i spent some time fitting the hood and making sure everything is aligned good before welding my front cab mounts.

 

[BigShem]

looks tottally kool....

so far , glad to hear u get your kids involved ,, i just let mine run the grinder for his first time.....gives ya a good feeling inside when there having as much fun as you...

 

[joker65]

thanks bigshem! My boy has really helped alot so far on the project, he had friends over this weekend so football and video games came first but you have to let them be a kid too i guess!

 

[BigShem]

yep

yes i know what you meen.... about play time.... they still havent figured out how to hide moms towels......lol

 

[Shea Laking]

HEY! That's one COOL truck, Joker! Thanks for sharing your build and pics. I LOVE pics!

Regards,
Shea