S-10 what to do with it

having (almost) built a GRM challenge truck out of a first gen s10, i have a few suggestions.

1. look at my build thread over on pro-touring: http://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?43374-project-drivabeater

2. build it specifically with your goal in mind. keep true to the purpose. i went too many directions with mine and screwed myself.

3. weight reductoin and relocation is KEY.

4. google my screenname. youll find most of my internet based research that way, i think. lots done on here, thirdgen.org, pts10.com, s10forum, and s10planet.

5. cage it from the start. you need to add chassis regidity in these trucks. watch the cab to bed gap as you go down the highway. about 2.5 inches of flex on mine.

hope that helps.

and the 2.5 4cyl shares a bellhousing, trans, and all manual trans parts with the 2.8.

also, a camaro 3.4 with all the camaro bits, ran off a lumina engine harness and PCM (7727) will read boost when running code $59 and a 3 bar map.

and it all more or less bolts in.

Michael

4cylndrfury wrote: woah cool, I guess. Needs moar powarz!

have a "50 trim" t3/t4 and a TD04HL-13T more than enough turbo for the 9mm rods lol... this truck is a good bit lighter weight than the car the engine came from so if I do it it should/could be fun with some suspension mods and the power

Why don't you team up with Curtis73 and put his 650hp engine in it?

What transmission will you use Mark? Or is one attached to the back of the engine already?

Chevolvolet S740!

aw71 with the accumulator mod... have a spare for if/when i blow up one... although I would prefer to run a t5 the budget doesn't allow for that right now... sure would simplify the driveshaft... using volvo trans I have to use a 2 peice driveshaft or a slip yolk type shaft :-/

that pic is just the engine sitting in the engine bay (on the cross frame) to verify fit... I was worried about the intake manifold having space past the steering shaft... i hadn't even removed the stock 2.5 body mounts yet (could GM have made it a bigger PITA to remove?)

obviously clearance got better everywhere when I set a 2x4 under the engine to mimic where it would really sit... still a good bit lower than the duke sat and a little further back... I'm lucky enough to have the gears in the block to be able to run a block mounted dizzy.

I didn't even realize that was the volvo engine sitting between the frame rails. Gonna be a head scratching combination when you pull up somewhere.

Suggestion for you Mark, After mounting the engine and transmission take the original Volvo and S10 drive shafts to a driveshaft shop explain that you need a single piece shaft with the Volvo output and the S10 tail. Measure the distance between the end of the transmission and the differential with the tires on the ground, they will help the shop to determine the length.

wow, i completely didnt notice that that was a volvo motor. definately different!

ill be keeping an eye on this one. its definately something different. and i thought i had seen everything that could be done to a 1st gen.

volvo in s10 has been done before... but it never ran... http://www.aaronreedbaker.com/hotrod.html

this would be the 1st mounted in a stockish body though...

for driveshaft it'll need to have a slip joint in it somewhere... stock volvo has a rigid yolk at both the trans and diff end... and uses a slip joint in the center carrier bearings

this is how a guy who built a volvo powered locost7

modified volvo driveshaft in a chevette... on the right side is the trans... carrier bearing to the left and the slip yolk which goes to the rear end on the left side

my plans where to see if I could mount the the carrier bearing kind of like the 2 piece s10 driveshafts did but I think that would put it smack dab across the center of the fuel tank... but i'll worry about that when the time comes

Doesn't the front side of the guibo coupler have a joint into the transmission that can be pulled out and replaced with a conventional shaft? (the T9 from the Merkur does)

thats a very good question and I will def look into that... if it does that will simplify things a lot... standard 1 piece driveshaft would be good...

so this is whats going in

not much today... removed the drivers side frame motor mount and then slipped the drivetrain in complete with trans... the power steering pump will JUST fit... the donor car had a/c also so i've got the big drivers side acc bracket... i'll need to cut it up a bit and just have a top mount alternator

also tossed the front end on just to see how stock hoses fit... i was amazed to see how well it all fits stock IC hose and all... motor mount building will be tight as you can see from the pics the stock 700 mount just sits there with no room to spare... I think i'll end up with some very narrow mounts and then do a 3rd anti tourqe mount along the passenger side frame rail to the head...

still finding a good source for metal to build the mounts...

stopped by napa and picked up some motor mounts for a cj7

nice and stiff, has an interlock in case it does fail and under $25 for a urithane model when I deem it necessary (although feeling them I don't know that it will be)

stopped in at a local welding fab shop and picked up a good size chunk of 1/4" steel plate. going to be a lot of work to cut and shape with just a dremel, angle grinder and bench grinder and a hand drill lol... but it'll work i'm sure.

haven't been updating here as this isn't really my build thread... but... kinda slow going...

mounting plates are finished... would be so much faster with proper tools... a hand drill with a hodge-podge of bits (mostly wood bits at that lol) make for slow going when drilling though 1/4" steel plate... thankfully I at least have a bench vice... for drill bits... while slow going they do cut... unfortunately my drill is a keyless chuck type so can't really tighten down the chuck tight enough and it's to small of a chuck to fit the larger bits I need... so ended up dragging a bit around to widen a few of the holes... but it is done...

next up is getting the engine 100% perfectly place and working on cutting the wedged bits and welding them between the engine and frame mounts... picking up an autodarkening helmet from a friend tonight... need to pick up some fresh wire for the wire feed (mine sat so long it's got rust and just doesn't want to feed very well lol)

excited to be this far along... I think the CJ7 mounts are about perfect... prob won't have any more progress untill monday or so... need to pull the engine out and massage the oil pan and cross frame for a little more clearance

one mount left to do and to work on modifying the stock trans cross member...

for those that care you can follow real build threads here http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=233076 or here http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f30/project-s-weed-10-volvo-power-468204/#post7417803

meh... i'm board figured i'd update on GRM (build thread links above from turbobricks and s10forum)

engine is mounted... I got the block mounted dizzy in the mail yesterday and am working on getting everything wired up... using megasquirt with the relay board...

also replaced the nissan altima POS with this... 15psi of 16t fun... reminds me how fun the s10 will be :)

Remember while talking about those tiny 9mm rods that that nice shiny red wagon has 11mm rods and doesn't need as much boost as you'd like at the challenge...

Miss that car every time I start the PT Cruiser.

yup :)... i've got parts of a rod sitting in my volvo stash from when I got the 89 back in the day when the kool aid man let loose...

hopefully a good tune with the wideband will keep it alive... from what i've found even the skinny rods are safe to 250+hp with the good tune... and if/when it lets loose i'll find a later big rod bottom end (prob NA for the higher c/r)

donalson wrote: yup :)... i've got parts of a rod sitting in my volvo stash from when I got the 89 back in the day when the kool aid man let loose... hopefully a good tune with the wideband will keep it alive... from what i've found even the skinny rods are safe to 250+hp with the good tune... and if/when it lets loose i'll find a later big rod bottom end (prob NA for the higher c/r)

I was subtlety telling you to swap engines between the wagon and the S10... more boost awaits.

lol I'd thought about it... including the turbos (and I may down the road) but I want to leave the volvo alone as much as possible... no need to mess with something thats fine already doh...

You are completely nuts. Only on the Grassroots Motorsports board will you find someone crazy enough to think it's a good idea to put a turbo Volvo motor in an S10 pickup, and then actually do it.

Awesome!

lol and even worse... here's a guy who is doing an s10 rat rod... with 2 volvo engines lol... he's another GRMer... volvo GRM guys are a tad weird ;-)

http://www.aaronreedbaker.com/ratrod.html

click the link above to see the front end :)

family in town this weekend so nothing much happening... did manage to get the megasquirt relay cable made... what a PITA... cost me about $11 in wire... I can def understand spending another $50 or so to have it pre-built... and if I ever do MS again with a relay board I prob buy one from DIYautotune... but still well under $100 in my megasquirt kit so we're on great target for the GRM$2011 budget (although being 4 months away i'm worried I won't be finished in time... but there's always 2012

I am proud of you Mark. Looks great.