INSTALL: Tennman's Sidemarker Fuel Fill on a Stepside
 

Finally got around to showing the install! I hope this helps everyone. There are alot of pics, so it might take awhile to load them all.

Here is what I used:

1- 1997 S10 fuel filler door with neck
1- 1 1/2 fuel filler hose (see blazer tank install for part number)
3 ft of 5/8" hose
4- 1/4" machine threaded bolts 1 1/4" long
4- nylon lock nuts for above bolts
2- 1/2" spacers for above bolts
1- permacap gas cap (optional)
1- large can of patience!!!

Here are the parts I got from the local wrecking yard:

more pics of junkyard parts

sidemarker light

backside of light,
You will need to grind smooth the ridges around the bolt holes on this side. Also grind off the white ridges on the ends near the bolt holes.

Here is the top of the fuel filler neck. You will need to weld on an exhaust reducer fitting that goes from 2" ID to 1 1/2"OD on the bottom. I cut the filler length to just below the vent hole fitting.
I could only find a 2" ID to 1 1/2" ID so I had the fuel filler hose stretched with an exhaust pipe stretcher.

Here is a pic of the sidemarker hole where the lense goes. My fender had this metal backing on it.

another pic without the light.

Here is the backside of the fender.

You have to cut out the basket.

All that is really involved is cutting the fuel door to match the width and height of the sidemarker lense. Measure between the white ridges up and down (approx. 2 1/2"), but measure to just outside the bolt holes ( about 1/8" past on both ends turns out just past 3 1/2" length). My fuel door faceplate (big round part) seperated from my hinge piece, so I had it welded together again.
You can see the weld spot on the side in this pic.

Drill the holes for the lense and cut out a notch for the light. I used the original screws and just cut them off on the back side.
Now the bolt flanges on the back part of the hinge base will need to be cut off. Sorry no pics, but you will know which ones they are. They are little tabs with nuts welded on the backside. These were used to bolt the hinge on the S10. Feel free to try and make these work for you, but I couldn't, so I cut them even.

Here comes the hard part. Drill 2 holes in the lip of the hole on the fender (where the light goes) These will be used to mount the hinges in place. While your at it drill the holes on the opposite side also. These holes will be used to hold on the plastic fuel tray.

Next hold the assembly (hinge assembly with lense attached) up in the hole. You need to open and close the assembly while holding it in place to get the alignment right. The best way is to hold the hinge underneath while the lense is in the right spot. Have your helper open the door slowly and then mark the through the holes you drilled in the lip to the hinge. TRIPLE CHECK YOUR MARKINGS!!!!!!! I cannot stress that enough. Then pull the assembly and drill the holes. Make sure they line up appropriately after you drill them. Next bolt it in. I had to add some washers as spacers between the fender and the hinge to help bring the back half of the hinge more flush.

Here it is installed:

Another (again)

Next bolt on the fuel tray to the filler neck.
I actually bolted on mine upside down, with the hole in the filler neck towards the top. This makes it easier to fill with gas. I tried it the normal way, but there is not much room, so this was the fix. It doesn't seem to affect anything. Hook up the hoses (the filler hose and the vent hose). Next hold the assembly (filler neck with tray) up to the hole. Find where you will need to trim the tray, then pull the tray off and trim what you need to trim. You will need to do some trial and error here. What I did was leave it loose, take it to the gas station, Insert the gas nozzle, then mark the location of the tray. I also marked the holes I drilled earlier on the fuel tray.

Heres another of the filler neck installed. The Blazer tank inlet and the filler neck match almost perfect. When I installed the fuel tray I added spacers between the tray and fender. Once again to give a little more room when adding fuel.

Drill the holes in the tray for the bolts (once again TRIPLE CHECK before you drill. There isn't alot of room to play with on the tray. You might need to do a little 'tweaking' and bending to get everything to line up properly.

Awesome job
 

:D
Great how-to, thanks for the info. Seems pretty straight forward, some items tedious but as you said I'm sure the key is checking your measurments and marks.

Keep us posted on other projects.

Make sure when you open the door, the lense doesn't hit the side of te bed. I remedied this by bending the hinge a little, so it didn't open to a full 90 degrees.
Here is the reason for the Permacap:
I installed everything and put the regular gas cap on and put the light in. The light harness hit the gas cap. So I got the permacap because it has a lower profile. Now the light clears just fine. I still have to remove the cap to fill the tank (California gas nozzles have huge adapters on them and they won't fit in the light hole well). But I really don't mind much.
Here are some pics of the final product:

more

Another

One More

Since they seem to go together, here is the link to the blazer tank install:
BLazer Tank Install

Also I put a new light harness in and zip tied it discreetly to the hinge after I wrapped it in electrical tape.
Hope you enjoyed this post!!!
It's really not that hard, just tedious and it takes a little tweaking.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Shawn

Wow that is really really cool. Great job thanks for sharing.