1982 Chevy S10 - $2018 Challenge Build by a 16 year old kid

So i recently bought a 1982 Chevy s10 off some nice folks who had it parked for 5 years or so in the back of their farm (total barn find kind of deal). I bought it for $500 and it came with all new brake parts for all four corners. It had very little rust and what rust it did have was minor surface rust on the body.

This is my first car/project so super stoked to get it together in time for the $2018 challenge and hope to learn a lot from you all on the GRM forum. 

Now a little about me:

My name is Gabe and I'm 16 years old and I'm homeschooled in Central Florida.

I am actually ASE certified in engine repair and suspension and steering, which lead to my last Challenge team taking the white and blue RX-7 to the last challenge (the really loud and obnoxious car). This year i wanted to try something by myself so I bought this S10 with the hopes to turbo LS swap it.

This will be my build thread on it. I would love it if the more experienced builders would share their knowledge and experience with me since I'm learning as i go and don't have a lot of experience on full builds like this. 

Here are some pictures of the truck how it was found: 

Update on the brakes, plan, and work to come soon...

Thank you all for checking it out and feel free to drop some knowledge,

Gabe

I love me some red 1st gen S10. Kudos for single cab short box goodness. Lots of good info here for making it handle better on the cheap. What engine does it have/will it get? V8 swaps are cheap for more tire smoke. And the two best things I did to improve the driving experience were, in this order, limited slip (torsen from an f-body) and Blazer sway bars. Party on.

In reply to barefootskater :

I love the first gen S10's too, kinda why I bought this one. Its hard to find a std cab short bed S10 of any year in Central Florida so this for $500 was a steal IMO.

A cool fact about this one is that it was owned by Disney and then sold to the guy who sold it to me. Another cool fact is that this is the the first year they ever made the S10 and its one of I believe 3 year models that had the 1.9l isuzu motor AND a 4 speed manual; as far as I know there were less than 10,000 made in the 1.9l manual in a short bed single cab style so its a relatively rare truck and I happened to grab it for next to nothing .

In theory the engine work but it only made 85hp so it'll be getting an LS and 4L80E out of a truck and the Ford 8.8" rear out of an explorer. Plan is a turbo since I have one laying around but we'll see where the budget takes me... Thanks for the link I'll check it out.

I'm more into drag racing the auto cross so it'll be built more for the drag racing portion of the challenge but it'll get some handling mods to help the autocross time a little.

Thanks for checking it out and for the information, hoping to learn more about building a truck on a budget from the GRM forum members than from the S10 forums.

Cool to see another S10 headed for the challenge!  Sounds like yours will be quite a bit faster than my 305 TBI swap 

In reply to gabecar3 :

If drag racing is your thing that's awesome. These trucks are pretty light and can fit nice fat powerplants easily. Sounds like you have a pretty solid plan too. My only advice then would be some scratch built traction bars since even my 28 year old stock v6 makes the leaf springs wrap like they are made of cheese.

Those 1.9s are indeed getting to be very rare animals. Interesting, but not at all suited to speediness. I almost wish I had bought a 4cyl just to have less weight on the nose. 

eastsideTim said:

Cool to see another S10 headed for the challenge!  Sounds like yours will be quite a bit faster than my 305 TBI swap 

Yeah for sure! I assume you're taking one too? The plan is a turbo LS but my budget may limit me to an NA LS and then I'll rely on the alleged ability of the First Gens to get weight down to 2,500lbs "easily."

Auto or manual gearbox?

barefootskater said:

In reply to gabecar3 :

If drag racing is your thing that's awesome. These trucks are pretty light and can fit nice fat powerplants easily. Sounds like you have a pretty solid plan too. My only advice then would be some scratch built traction bars since even my 28 year old stock v6 makes the leaf springs wrap like they are made of cheese.

Those 1.9s are indeed getting to be very rare animals. Interesting, but not at all suited to speediness. I almost wish I had bought a 4cyl just to have less weight on the nose. 

Yeah I grew up around drag racers so that kind of the only style of racing I've ever really played with. I hear they can weigh around 2,500lbs by pulling the stock interior and some other bits and pieces. My goal is 10's but if I'm in the low 12's I'll be super happy. I don't have access to a good welder so I found some "slapper" bars for $50 on ebay that I'll probably get despite them being more expensive than I'd like...

I wonder if there are any Challenge builders around here that could help me with some of the fabrication I need since I don't have access to a welder or any metal working tools...

I was planning on buying a 2nd gen with the LN2 and NV1500 and making a compound turbo kit for it (since I have a bunch of turbos laying around from friends' projects) but this 1st gen fell in my lap so I'm going to run with it.

I hear if you want to make power with the V6's (idk what year for sure) you can take the PCM out of the V6 1500's, which made 250hp on the same engine, and bump your power up for super cheap but I've never messed with the GM V6's so i have no idea if that even works. That way even if you have more weight you get some more power for basically free (the junkyard near me will trade a working PCM for any other PCM in the yard free of charge).

Thank you for the advice it is greatly appreciated as it helps me figure out what actually works or doesn't

In reply to NOHOME:

Its the 4speed manual. I believe its a T5 but not 100% sure. Allegedly the 1.9L in it runs and it drove when it was parked but IDK because I haven't gotten around to getting a new battery for it and seeing if it will start.

3/23/2018

When I bought the truck it had no brakes installed on it (as seen in the initial pictures). It came with all the brake parts (everything from the hoses to the caliper, to the new springs for the back) so once it was home I started doing the front brakes. Here are some pictures of how that went:

Here is a comparison of the old rotors we put on to roll it home vs the new rotors it got.

I will get some more pictures of how it sits now when I go work on it later...

Some thing else that was done that I don't have pictures for at the moment are the factory window tinting on it (from 36 years ago) were hazed and peeling so I went with a razor blade and removed it from the side windows and will do the back glass to allow for actual visibility out of the windows. Pictures to come soon of that but you can see what I mean about the tinting on the windows in this picture:

Notice how the back glass is "dirty?" That's just the window tint on it turning brown and hazy. Both the inside and outside of the glass is clean yet its still foggy.

gabecar3 said:

eastsideTim said:

Cool to see another S10 headed for the challenge!  Sounds like yours will be quite a bit faster than my 305 TBI swap 

Yeah for sure! I assume you're taking one too? The plan is a turbo LS but my budget may limit me to an NA LS and then I'll rely on the alleged ability of the First Gens to get weight down to 2,500lbs "easily."

Mine started as a 2017 Challenge project, but wasn’t ready in time.  I’m going to be happy with 15s in the quarter mile, but I’m also kind of building it as a parts hauler, instead of making it a more dedicated race vehicle, too.  Using the challenge as an excuse to keep the budget down.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Thats a good plan. I'm still debating whether to go full drag truck or more of a street truck. But I'm also using the challenge as an excuse for a budget. Hahaha

The 82-93 S-10 is a great platform to learn on. They are easy to work on, durable, and fun to drive. I have owned several.

 At this point, I'd work at just getting it moving under its own power. The 1.9 isn't much to get excited about as you said, advancing the cam a tooth or 2 will help from what I've been told. Lets see a pic under the hood to make sure you don't have a 2.0 OHV engine. Confirm your rear gear ratio. The 4 speed trans should be a Borg-Warner T4, a T5 5 speed should bolt right in but don't bother if you're motor swapping.

Suspension:

Swap out the front springs for a pair of Moog #5662 $55 for a pair on Rock auto. Will be much stiffer for better handling and support the future heavy motor/trans.  Way cheaper than custom stuff and good quality.

 KYB gas-a-just shocks are a great bang for the buck. $37ea on Rock auto and there is a $40 rebate right now if you buy a set of 4.

Get familiar with the local junkyards. Look for a 2wd Blazer/Jimmy from the 2000's. It will have a big front sway bar that will bolt right on to your truck. Make sure you get the saddles to. Add some urethane bushings and Moog K700538 end links.

The rear bar is a tougher deal. They require a special bracket that only came on pickups with the ZQ8 sport suspension. They are rare. You can find the stuff on Ebay, but its expensive. Don't worry about getting that right now. If you if it cheap in the junk yard though do it. The brackets bolt on, but you will need to drill holes on your frame for them.

Most likely you have a manual steering box. Its slow, but nothing you need to worry about. Nothing to get in the way of motor swaps and one less thing to draw power from the engine.

Check out your ball joints, steering linkage and bushings for wear/loose parts. Its all cheap and fairly easy to service. Your local chain parts store will have a ball joint press in its loan - a - tool program if you need it. Get a front end alignment, ask for a little extra negative camber.

The truck has a 5x4.75 lug pattern, very common across GM so you'll have a big selection of wheels to play with on the cheap. Camaro/Firebird (pre '92) Monte Carlo/Grandprix (pre '88) 15" and 16" should fit well. Corvette wheels are the right pattern, but may require spacers to fit. Good spacers are expensive, cheap spacers are scary.

Good luck. Ask lots of questions, we all want you to succeed!

You do realize, that by dint of launching this project, you lose the rights and benefits of the "Kid" tittle.  

Do carry on.

Pete

In reply to Gearheadotaku :

I won't be working on the 1.9l in it at all because I don't want to spend money on it so it'll be getting pulled out as soon as I get a chance to pull it and throw it on CL or FB Marketplace. 

For suspension the only thing I have planned is a 2" lowering kit on the back (just lowering blocks) that I got for a few dollars and some 2" lowering spring for a V6 (to counter act the LS I plan on dropping in) but I will check out the Rock Auto spring you mentioned since they are cheap. As for shocks the ones on it were put on a couple months before it was parked so they are new (if we go by mileage on them).

I do have the manual steering box which is good for a swap but kinda sad for a daily but it is what it is. The 5 1/2 turns from lock to lock is really interesting....

The ball joints, bushings, etc. are all good I checked them before I bought it. Once the truck runs I'll get an alignment for it to get it riding right but from flat towing it home it seemed to be pretty good. 

I have actually bought a Ford 8.8 to put in it today and I'll be getting it Monday so I will be using a 5x4.5 pattern (the front will get adapters) so I can use Mustang style rims BUT I found some American Racing 15x8 aluminum rims in the 5x4.5 pattern I need for $300, which i think is really good considering they weigh half what my stock steelies weigh, so it'll get those rims and a full set of Nitto NT555R in 275/60R15 since they are around $300 a pair and are DOT drag radials. 

Thank you so much for the information and advice it is greatly appreciated,

Gabe

In reply to NOHOME :

Well yeah but I don't know a whole lot of 16 year olds right now who KNOW how to change their oil much less work on a full on budget drag truck build. hahaha 

3/24/18

Drafted a friend of mine to go to a junkyard with me to pull the Ford rear end I need for my truck. Got it for $150 (cheapest I could find it in Central Florida) out of a "Sport-Trac" Explorer pick-up with drum brakes that seemed to have the closest width to my stock one and the spring pads were only 1/4" off per side so it should fit better.

We got it almost all the way out but the yard wanted to close early so we got kicked out and I'll have to go back Monday to finish pulling it out...

Picture of the junkyard axle:

(Yes I know it looks like the diff is leaking fluid but it was sitting in tall grass with some mud so the "leak" is actually moisture from the ground) If y'all have some info on this diff that would benefit me feel free to share it. 

picture of me pulling the stock diff out of my truck:

Sorry for the few pictures (definitely not Nelson family quality build thread) I'm not very good at documenting my work since I'm usually wrist deep in the 36 years of junk under the truck.

Thanks for all the help you have all given!

EDIT: From taking a closer look the rear end I'm using seems to be an older 8.8 because the diff cover seems different than the usual ones. Anyone have information on what it is or can confirm that it is an 8.8 (I don't care too much about gear ratio or limited slip or not just that it is indeed an 8.8) I would be super thankful for the confirmation... Thanks in advance

I am not a Challenge competitor and I'm not you / this is not my project, so grain of salt with this next bit; I don't know if I would spend $300 of a $2018 budget on 8" wide wheels.  Not sure what I think of the width but the cost is way up there for what you're getting.  I haven't bought wheels in a junkyard in forever but they were pretty cheap in comparison way back when.  

Budget seems really tough to deal with.  You may have to do the tighten up.

Awesome build. Wise point about the wheels, but literally don't worry about it yet. 

Running and driving on expensive wheels is better than not running and driving on cheap wheels.

Nice thing is, if you found cheap wheels later on that got the job done, you can take out the more costly wheels from your budget and replace with the new ones.   Like anything else.

This has the makings of a really cool build.  Looking forward to seeing how it shakes out.

In reply to pres589 :

That's a good point with the wheels but I was under the impression that the first set of wheels and tires are budget exempt... At least that's how we considered them on my team last year....

In reply to Robbie :

Thank you, yeah I', not worrying about it yet but I will have to move the truck soon because it will be changing locations so I can work on it so I do need to worry about the wheels soon...

I am doing my best to make a cool build (the kind of build I've always wanted) but use the excuse of the Challenge to keep a budget but there is a lot I don't know about the budget rules that I probably missed the first 12 times I read the rules. lol

Thank you both for the advice it will likely be used until I figure out my budget more...

Let me ask you experienced swapers.

I'm debating whether to do an LS or a SBC. I have SBC parts to complete a short block and I will be going NA this year no matter what engine I get (ditched the turbo idea due to the complexity of it and I don't think I could get it done with the skills  I have now). 

What do you guys think would be easier/more effective? I can get a complete LS for around $375 and a 4L80E for $175 at the local Pull-A-Part and I haven't had too much luck finding a SBC around me (hoping one of the central Florida GRM members will have some information on where I can find one) but I think the SBC will be easier since it doesn't have computers or anything. 

What are y'all's thoughts in what would be most cost effective for me?

Thanks in advance!

I can’t say anything about the LS, but the biggest issue I had with the SBC swap in my S10 has been the wiring.  However, that was because I kept the TBI system, since I live in a state that sees a lot of temperature variation.  Carb’d would have been a cinch.

I mostly went with what I did because I could get the donor car cheaply.  If I’d gotten a good deal on an LS powered truck, I’d have gone that way.  For me, the key was to have a complete vehicle to get the drivetrain from, so it would already have a wiring harness, and a ton of other little bits and pieces I’d otherwise need to buy, and take a budget hit on.

If you decide to go SBC, let me know, I have most of the parts to do the V8 style mounts, I’d be willing to sell at a reasonable price.  I started with them, but decided I didn’t like how the engine sat in the truck, so switched to the 2.8 style mounts.  Which reminds me of another thing, I highly recommend picking up the swap manual for this.  Don’t have to follow it to the letter, but it does a good job of showing all the pitfalls to avoid.

I think you're right about the first set of tires, you may be correct about the wheels, someone smarter about this than me can fill you in if the rules aren't very clear.  Sorry if I put some confusion or doubt into this.  

In reply to eastsideTim :

Yeah I live in Florida where it's always hot (except this past winter where it went down to low 40's which was strange) so a carb would be perfect. 

How did you find a donor car? I was thinking of getting a donor car (probably a '03-'06 2500 van that had a 5.7l and 4l80e) but i wasn't able to find any would be budget effective...

I will definitely let you know if i go SBC. 

Funny you say to grab a swap book. The last owner of the truck have me about a dozen books on hot rodding Chevy's and a V8 swap for the truck and a drag racing book and a bunch of really old manuals and info stuff. I also have the original title for it from when it rolled out of the dealership (back when the title fee was $20) which I think is super cool. I did skim through the swap book when i first got it and there was a lot of good info in it.