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Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 2:02 p.m.

Welcome to my first build thread! Please feel free to chime in with anything I'm doing wrong (writing or building wise) or any tips and tricks as this is my first S10 so I know nothing about owning them, I've been a Caddy guy for most of my life.

I had planned to write a thread up for the hearse and I keep procrastinating because my only home internet is my phone and I tend to write paragraphs. I don't tend to do builds to the extent of some of you, but I realized that I enjoy reading other build threads where people are just doing everyday maintenance and minor upgrades, so I should start to give back to the GRM community as this place is awesome.

This is the 98 S10 V6/5 speed/ZQ8 I purchased from PimpM3 and did a fly and drive from Florida back to Ohio last weekend.  It has 210K miles on it but it drives nice.  It needs shocks.  It's no Caddy but it's quite fun to drive, it's been a while since I drove something that weighed less than 4K lbs.

PimpM3 was great to deal with and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend purchasing a vehicle from him. He was very upfront and honest about the condition of the truck and he made the purchase very stress-free. This truck was purchased from a charity auction that it was donated to so please don't attribute any of its short comings to PimpM3.

First things first, this thing is nasty inside.  I’m more of a form follows function kind of guy so I don’t really care about bumps and scrapes on a truck but I do like my cars to be clean-ish, especially inside.  This thing was a smoker’s car, though the smoking isn’t the worst of the nasty.  The PO must have taken a dog everywhere with him because the whole inside of this thing is covered in dog hair.  It also smells like a dog when it sits closed up.  I'm hoping some cleaning will remedy that.

There were also a few roach remains found in the truck.  That's no big deal, but as I found out this morning, there’s atleast one remaining live roach living in it – I looked down to find him sitting on my thigh this morning on my way to work surprise.  Sorry, no picture of the live one, I’m still looking for him after I reflexively swatted him across the truck and then couldn’t find him at the next stop sign.  That will be tonight’s project.  Here, have a dead roach instead.

Dusterbd13
Dusterbd13 MegaDork
6/5/18 2:07 p.m.

What's the plan for this? Cam?

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 2:37 p.m.

I had to take my nephew to a baseball game last night but I had just enough time to pull the console out before I had to leave.  3 10mm nuts and it lifts out.  

I broke it down and hosed it off until the runoff stopped being black. 

I didn't have a chance to use any soap on it yet so it's sitting in the garage until I can soap it up.  I planned to do it tonight but now the roach thing has prioritized the interior vacuuming.  Other than the lack of a cup holder it's not too bad to drive it without the console in.  I could drive the hearse while I have this thing pulled apart but you know the whole "new car excitement" thing.  I planned on pulling the seats, but reading up online it sounds like there's a torx bolt that is a PITA to get out.  I'll probably put a breaker bar on it and see if it moves, if not I'll leave them in for now.

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 2:40 p.m.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

Possibly, haven't really looked into it yet.  Current plan is to clean and baseline the maintenance and go from there.  What are the cam options out there?  I also have an LT1 looking for a home...

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 2:59 p.m.

My work requires us to "take" an hour lunch.  I'm salary so that used to mean I would eat at my desk and work through my lunch, giving them another hour of my life on top of the 9 hours they expect me to work (but didn't tell me that was expected till after they hired me).  Now I get out of the building even if I just go sit in my car.  Today I brought my window cleaning supplies and gave all the windows a cleaning inside and out.  It was nasty, but they're clean now.

I got SWMBO to help me remove the cap last night so I could clean the rear window.  

This was the view out of the rear view mirror for the ride home.

Now I can see again!

Dusterbd13
Dusterbd13 MegaDork
6/5/18 3:10 p.m.

I meant cam (class in autocross)

However, there are plenty of 4.3 cam(shaft) profiles.

If you decide to stuff the lt1 in here, please add flappy paddles or a sixth gear!

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 3:50 p.m.

Ahhhh, I originally planned to just daily it and do truck stuff with it but once I drove it autocross did cross my mind.  I've never autocrossed a car before but I did autocross the fsae car a few times in college.  I was pretty fast compared to the other rookies once I reset my idea of where the limits were. 

Super summit is this weekend over at Norwalk and they do have free autocross and drag runs.  I had planned to run the hearse down the strip for the hell of it but I haven't fixed the oil leak so maybe I'll take the s10 instead.

LT1 and t56 would be a blast in this, but if I find a cheap t56 it'll probably go in the hearse first because six speed hearse.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
6/5/18 4:14 p.m.

For a deep interior cleaning, I use my Bissell Little Green machine (but you could use a shop vac)and A LOT water

I really like Tuff-Stuff which is sold in all automotive departments including Wal-Mart and Dollar General. Priced about $3.50 per can (one can should be enough for 2 seat truck).  Add to that a scrub brush like you might use to clean the bath tub. 

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 5:06 p.m.

I'll have to check that stuff out, I normally use some carpet cleaner in a spray bottle I "inherited" but I'll pick this stuff up to try on the seats, I haven't had cloth seats in forever and this stuff says not to use on seats. 

When you say lots of water do you mean you really soak it down or do you do lots of applications?  I usually try not to soak the carpet being concerned it'd soak thru to the backing into the insulation, but it may be an unnecessary concern.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
6/5/18 5:09 p.m.

Both, lots of amounts of water and lots of applications. 

Just about the time you think you've used too much water on the seats, add a little more. But, have a machine that can extract the water too. 

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
6/5/18 5:21 p.m.
Sonic
Sonic UltraDork
6/5/18 5:32 p.m.

Carpet and seats respond well to pressure washing. It’s amazing the brown sludge that you’ll get out.  

Mr. Lee
Mr. Lee GRM+ Memberand UberDork
6/5/18 8:50 p.m.

Hate to say it, but after having cleared out a roach infested vehicle before the carpets will have to come out. They'll breed behind the damn stuff. Those little brown roaches are everywhere in north FL and if you leave food in the vehicle for a day or two you'll have them. 

Roach bomb from dollar general, left over night, with the ac vents set to recirc. Next morning, pull the carpet and seats and pressure wash the crap out of them. Followed by a shop vac to the interior while the seats/carpet are drying in the sun.  Grab an old sunday paper, and use a vinegar/water solution to clean the windows/dash/etc. Reinstall when dry. Armor all the dash and keep airing out the truck. If you're lucky you don't have to pull the headliner.

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/5/18 9:38 p.m.

Not what I wanted to hear but I'm not surprised.  The bugs you guys have down there are insane.  I only planned to pull the seats to make sure everything was cleared out.  That may have changed.  I couldn't find my torx bits so I'm going to get another set tomorrow. 

I vacuumed the interior and didn't see anything more than two dead roaches, but we don't really have them up here so I don't know how bad they are. I don't eat in my daily but I'd gladly pull the carpets and headliner to be sure there's no roaches hanging around.

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy
Indy-Barely Functional-Guy UltraDork
6/5/18 9:50 p.m.

I'm following along to see where you take this one. I feel your pain about the extra hours being expected of you After being hired. angry

I still want a build thread on the Hearse please.

thedanimal
thedanimal HalfDork
6/5/18 9:55 p.m.

Look for Folex. Best carpet cleaner I’ve ever used. Tuff stuff is nice because it’s a dry foam, so it works well on areas you don’t want to saturate. But I like Folex and a good scrub brush.

MazdaFace
MazdaFace Dork
6/6/18 4:33 a.m.

Cool truck. I liked the zq8 trucks. Sort of miss my s10's in a rose tinted glasses kind of way 

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/6/18 8:23 a.m.

In reply to Indy-Barely Functional-Guy :

Not really trying to complain about working 9-10 hours a day, I've had much worse jobs, it's just the attitude of "you work until the job is done... unless the job is done early".  They take, take, take and never give.  Work 60-70 hours a week for weeks on end and then get told to use PTO when you need to leave an hour early one day.  I've put in far too much time thinking you pay your dues and then it'll get better, but then I look at more senior guys and see some of them are treated the same even though they've been doing this for 20+ years.  Of course the brown nosers have it differently.  I'm done giving them extra unless it's required.

Hearse build thread incoming.  I need to deal with these roaches first tho.  I really hope I haven't brought them into my house frown.

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/6/18 11:55 a.m.

No lunch time work as I ran to harbor freight to return the tools I bought on the trip back from Florida.  I then re-bought a 1/2" torx socket set as I can't find my original set angry.  It's kind of a punishment as I'm cheap and I hate re-buying things I know I already have but I'm too dumb to find.  I did have a 25% off coupon, and since I can't buy just one thing there I also grabbed a machete, a knock-off yeti cup (thanks to you guys), and a free flash light (now with chip on board LEDs, don't look at them when you test the batteries as I still have a spot in my eyes). 

Hopefully I'll get the seats and carpet out tonight, nothing will get done tomorrow as we'll be going to the Slayer/Lamb of God/Behemoth/Anthrax/Testament concert.  I doubt I'll be able to hold my own head up on Friday so I really don't want to have to try pulling the carpet then.

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/6/18 12:13 p.m.

Also, for those of you who have to deal with roaches all the time, what am I looking for to let me know if there's a cockroach infestation in the truck other than roaches themselves?  I've never had to deal with roaches so I have no idea what signs they leave behind.  Do they E36 M3 everywhere like mice?  Is there a chance there was/is just one in the truck?  I haven't found any food in the truck, it was dirty but no food.  It looks like you can make a bottle trap for them much like a bucket trap for mice, I'll probably throw one or two in tonight and see if I get anything.

AngryCorvair
AngryCorvair GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/6/18 1:58 p.m.
Dead_Sled said:

 tnothing will geat done tomorrow as we'll be going to the Slayer/Lamb of God/Behemoth/Anthrax/Testament concert.  I doubt I'll be able to hold my own head up on Friday 

Damn, that's a neck-breaking lineup!  

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito PowerDork
6/6/18 2:16 p.m.

Following because I really liked the truck and wanted it myself! laugh Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. 

And yeah, that's one hell of a lineup. I've seen all of those bands, some numerous times, and you'll need to take a day off afterwards to rest your neck from all the headbanging. \m/ \m/

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/6/18 3:19 p.m.

No day off, Friday is going to suuuuuck. 

I have been training everyday at work for the last 2 months.  Not sure my cube neighbor appreciated it but you can't listen on less than 11!

\m/ \m/

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/6/18 4:19 p.m.

Pass seat is out.  Not as bad as I expected under there.  Note I had already vacuumed everything around the seat.  Still no signs of roaches other than 2 dead ones and the one live one.

Dead_Sled
Dead_Sled Reader
6/6/18 4:35 p.m.

And drivers seat is out.  Taking apart the interior of an s10 is alot easier than a caddy, and the seats are alot lighter.

Anybody know what the wires going to the seat are for?  No power as far as I know, maybe sensor for airbag?

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