84 S-10 with this and that....

All the parts your car will ever need, and all the stickers your fridge will ever want! I love that place - excellent build. Soooo when are you gonna do some burnouts?

Burnouts in a few weeks....hopefully

I'm sure I've forgotten a few things.

S-10's aren't usually my thing. Around here they're perpetually like the truck was when you started. That's my explanation for why I didn't open this thread until now.
I have to compliment you on the thoroughness of your un-berkeleying. Now I'm have another reason to try and sneak off to the Challenge this year.

Thank you Mazdeuce!

After wrestiling with it for over 2 hours, the drivers window is back in its tracks and working. Fuel pump installed and door locks replaced. (no door key when I bought the truck). Got some thin washers that should solve my bolt issue with the convertor. Addedsome medium strenght threadlocker for luck. Off to the junkyard this Saturday for a LT1 filter adapter and some other bits.

Why no updates? Because I'm in the garage, not on the computer!

Saturday was a success at the junkyard. It took 2 trips of course, but I got the oil filter adapter and installed it. Finally got the headers tightend into place. Used a set of these washers in hopes they don't shake loose.

The filter is a VERY tight fit. If the headers vibrate, they will touch the filter. Currently there is only 1/8th of an inch clearance. I can get a shorter filter, but that thing is tiny. Current one is small enough, only the size of a 12oz pop can. (Delco PF52)

Installing the lower steering column was another fail. It hit the headers. How is it that nothing fits when the truck was together once before with the same engine? Added a 1 1/4 inch spacer under the trans mount to level the motor (needed to be done anyhow to correct driveline angle) which helped, but still rubbed. Pulled the steering column and ovaled the holes that held it to the firewall. This lowered it another 3/8 inch and fixed the problem. Next up was to install fresh lower ball joints as they were dangerousy sloppy. The bigger Blazer sway bar got put on as well. With the front end tight, I can tell the springs are too soft and the shocks not as good as I had hoped. Hope there is room in the butget left... Saved some money on the alternator. The truck came with a working unit, but it would not fit the brackets I wanted to use. Bought a new front plate and pulley for less than the price of a used one. Now I have a lightweight, 105amp unit. Should be plenty strong for my fans and ignition system.

Gave up on finding a used intake manifold and ordered one from Jegs, its about 2 weeks out. Won't be much time for testing before the Challenge.

Over the past week:

I have installed and adjusted the shift cable. Now I know why its 5 feet long. Once you wrap it around the trans in a big arc, it goes where it needs without too much slack.

Lower ball joints and big front sway bar are on.

The inside was all back together, but I stumbled over some waterheater insulation (bubble wrap with aluminum foil) in the attic and decided that it would be a wise to put some on the firewall and under the carpet.

Well I should have gotten more done over the 3 day weekend, but sometimes life happens..

Spent all day Sunday making brackets for the powersteering pump and fuel lines. Why it took that long to cut a few pieces of steel and drill some holes is beyond me. I do have a new found appreciation for my drill press however. Best $40 find on Craigslist ever! I started with an OE bracket for a 70's 350 truck then cut it down to clear the the steering box on mine. Then added a 1/8" plate for my pump to bolt on. Needed one more as a shim to line up the pulleys. I like the OE bracket as a base because it wraps around the motor for better support. Let the paint dry overnight and installed them today. Still needed a little tweaking and had to reroute the lines but its done.

Made a run to Tractor supply for some tubing to make some spacers. I found they sell their hardware by the pound, that makes it way-way cheaper than the Ace hardware I've been going to. The tubing was 30% less too!

Alternator is brackets are just OE, so they are ready to go. Just need to slap on some belts and the accessory drive is done.

I'm glad that engine gets to go back, it has unfinished business with the drag strip in Gainesville.

Weekly update, sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll try and get some posted in the next day or two.

Insulated the cab floor with the water heater wrap. Not sure what the FMV is on leftover home improvement supplies would be. I'm just going to call it a safety item (hopefully reduces driver fatigue on the trip there and back). 

Drive shaft is in and the shorty exhaust is on. I hope there is money left in the budget for some mufflers as I am running long tube headers with 3' pipes and turn downs....

Radiator and fans are in, just need to wire the fans up. Ignition is slowly coming together. The CD box is mounted and the wires run to where they need to be.  Need to pick a spot for the coil, relays, etc.

Haven't started the trans lines yet, really need to get moving on those.

So here some pictures I should have posted yesterday.

Found this magnet under the carpet

insulated floor

oops, how did that happen?

put the door springs back in, right tool for the job makes it way easier. Did have one "mis-fire", luckily it went straight away from me.

Tucked under the dash. Picture isn't upside down, the box is. Wires routed better this way.

Current state of affairs under the hood

2 week since my last check in.

Time is running out fast.

Intake finally arrived! Installed along with carb and plumbing. Primed oil pump, forgot to install oil pressure sending unit.....geyser of oil made a mess....

Fans installed and wired. Distributor installed and wired. Trans cooler lines done. Throttle cable done. Had to use the silly blingy one the truck came with instead of the stock style one I wanted. I removed an unused fuel tank vent line from under the truck and repurposed it into a vac line for the trans modulator.  Put the seat back in . Spent 2 nights scraping window tint off, still not done. Ugh this stuff sucks. i'm not going to bother taking it off the back window. 

I'm sure there are a dozen little things I'm forgetting. It cranked when I hit the key, so I can't be too far off right?

instead of adding a bunch of weight to hold an engineless frame down while installing front springs, take a piece of chain with a hook on one end, run it over the frame and around the front axle on the floor jack, keep as much slack out of the chain as possible and you can compress the spring much more safely.

just a thought.

peace, love, and happy motoring.

That's a lot of progress!  Looking good!

Tonight was the first attempt to start it. It coughed a few times but no fire yet. Letting the started cool and battery charge for awhile.

It started and ran on its own!!  Only a month behind schedule...

Now it won't start back up...  See my Mallory igintion tread for details...

Went to work on the tonneau cover frame, its cut down to fit the truck now, just have to trim the cover and put on some new snaps.

Ditch the fancy pants ignition stuff and stab a 1 wire HEI in it?

Made it around the block...twice! Tomorrow, all the way to the gas station! (Gotta have goals right?)

Starting issue seems to be in the ignition switch. Wiggle a little and it fires up. 

Neighbors so far approve of the open long tubes. I'm not going to push my luck. A pair of glasspacks are going to be put on.

Looking good, but you are running out of time!

I'm exhausted...

so much left to so, so little time..

drove 10 miles today. tiny coolant leak and a throttle that hangs open a bit.

My intermittant no start has be traced to a faulty module in the Distributor. Can't find a replacement locally, can't find a cheap used HEI unit. Had to buy a brand new unit at the parts store, ouch. Budget balanced out when I took off all the cool stuff, but what a dissappointment. If only I had kept it simple with a used HEI to begin with I'd be time and money ahead. Oh well. 60 hours until I put in my earplugs and head south! 

Well it just about done. I'll drive it into work tomorrow so I can put on the new tires and do an alignment.

Romped around in a empty parking lot and nothing blew up, just slid around a lot. Old bald tires aren't much help.  Fixed a couple little leaks and welded up the exhaust.  I've driven some questionable stuff before, but this one has me genuinely worried and I don't know why. It's 1069 miles to Gainesville, hope to see you all on Thursday! 

Awesome job!  Are you driving it down?

Unless you are volunteering to tow it, yes.

Needs more 4/6, otherwise well done.  As for concern over driving it to the Challenge, it's a carb'd SBC in an S10. [/end concern]

Made it to Atlanta last night, no issue beyond being very loud in the cab. Earplugs and muffs.  See everyone tomorrow at the hotel.