My 54 s10 build
 

Hello all. Ive lurked on here for a while and picked up a lot of tips and tricks involving these trucks and s10 frame swaps. There is so much info on here its amazing.

Anyway, I figured i would start a build thread for my truck. Ive been working on it for 4 years now off and on (life happens, kiddo, etc) so this will probably be painfully slow but I hope to get it done sooner than later. The story starts with me needing a little truck to do errands (lowes, trash to the dump, etc) but still be a badass ride. I searched locally and found a 54 3100 a couple hours north of me for a good deal. I had seen the s10 switch over and decided thats the route for me. Ive always played with cars and was heavy into s10s in my mini truck days so it seemed natural.

The truck lived its entire life before me on a farm in Caroline, VA and its very believable that it only has 12,000 miles on it. It was ordered without the bed and the flat bed on it was built for it after it was bought. I thought it was odd that its a corner window truck with no bed, why would someone spend the money on the "fancy" cab but no bed? Its still cool none the less. Ill post some pics as i find them to catch up to its current level. The s10 frame/suspension is done, ready for the cab to be set on and mounts mocked up. My next step is to pull the 54 apart to get the cab off.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

right on man welcome that's pretty cool about the no bed but still the "fancy cab" parts it looks like its a pretty solid truck. whats the suspension setup on the s10??

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Here is the s10 frame as i started with it. It was an 82 reg cab long bed and I picked it up from a local pick and pay for 300 beans. We stripped every thing off of it in the junkyard and left the cab, bed, and engine/trans behind. It took the three of us 2 hours to strip that sucker clean and wheel it out the front door.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

It is your standard bagged setup for an s10. It has tubular upper and lower a arms with airlift 2500 dominator bags up front, bolt in four link from the thorbecke bros with an 8 inch bridge notch and airlift 2500 dominators out back. I'll post pics as I find them. Hopefully somewhat in order, haha.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

I don't have many pics of the front end assembly but have a decent amount for the rear. I first power washed the frame and gave it a few coats of black tractor implement paint. That stuff is tough as nails and goes on thick even in a spray can. The first is my daughter doing work trying to help.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Here are some pictures of the steps in the bridge notch.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Halfway through I went to the same pick and pay yard where i got the frame and found a 4wd rear from a 01 Olds bravada that has a posi and 3:73, as well as disc brakes for less than 100 bucks. Score! Most of these pictures are taken over a couple years just tinkering when i had the chance mostly on Saturday evenings after the little one goes to bed.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

About 2 years ago i found out about a junk yard a few hours north of me that mainly had a bunch of old stuff stashed away. It has been around since the early 60's an had accumulated a ton of cars, like 100 acres worth. Its called Leon's auto parts in Culpepper, VA. If you live here in VA its worth the trip to check it out.

Anyway I wanted to get a regular bed for the 54 so my dad a I took a ride to check it out. I asked the owner if there were any ad trucks out there, he said yeah "they're out there on the hill, but not many left though". He handed me a hand drawn map and off we went. Up a hill, then down, cross a creek, then back up a hill and bam there they were like 1/4 mile away from the office. I found a bed and asked if there was anyway he could help us get it back to the truck, since motorized vehicle are not permitted in the yard, he says yeah just take this car and throw the bed on top and slowly drive it back. My face had to be priceless when i saw this poor little Saturn. I said "you mean truck?' he says "nope, car". So here I am going down a logging road in a Saturn sedan, cross the creek (not deep) and back up the hill to my dad in shear disbelief that this about to happen.

It was one of the best stories my dad and i would tell to friends and family but also one of my favorites. Without getting too personal, my dad was diagnosed with cancer not long before that and it would be one of the last few crazy gearhead things we would do together. This trip was 2 summers ago and we went once more last December. We had a blast. Dad left us a couple months ago, while its very strange hes not here i know he still helping me with my hot rod antics. After all I get all of this from him.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Welcome aboard! Looks like another good start to a project. I like the bug in the background too.
Jeff

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Thank ya sir

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Great story, look forward to watching your build.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Thanks Hussey. I've been following your build, it's really helped me figure some stuff out.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

that bed on the roof looks like something I have done over the years haha. notice I did not say something I would do...

great start! I have seen 5 window and big window grain trucks before and wondered the same thing?

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

The funniest part was that the roof of the Saturn was a perfect shape for the bed to wedge itself on top

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Now on to the powertrain. Like all of us, you tend to end up with a few spare parts over the years. I decided to re purpose this engine and trans for the truck. The engine is a 400 sbc thats been popped out to a 406 with aluminum heads, forged internals, and a fairly healthy cam. The trans is a th400 with a 2500 stall and shift kit. That setup was in my 84 Olds Cutlass Supreme until i got a wild hair and decided it needed an LS1 and 6 speed. The 400 ran strong (12.20's at 110) but I wanted the car to be more of a road trip type of ride and do duty as an alternate daily. It does both very well.

That said, the truck should haul with this combo in it being as the Cut comes in at 3210 lbs and I doubt the truck will approach the 3000 lb mark. I took the engine mounts and swapped the ends, frame mounts on the engine and engine side on the frame, and it worked great. I've seen that done throughout threads here and it works perfect. I just had to drill one hole. The trans crossmember is from jegs and its for a th400 in an s10 v8 swap. I just took the member and flipped it around, made couple of mounts and it fits right in the space just behind where the boxed part of the frame stops.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

my sweet new valve covers.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Cool story about the truck bed and your dad. Reminded of some of the things me and a buddy used to get into. Also like the '61 (Impala/Bel Air?) in the background of one of the pics.

Nice build you've got going. A 406 and bags ought to be a blast to play around with.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Thanks man. Good eye on my 61, most people are way off on what year. It's a Impala 4 door hardtop. It's mostly stock but it's bagged, naturally haha.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

I'm not sure if i missed it or not but what lower control arms are you running? One pic has stock uppers another has tubular uppers. And what size tire?

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Sorry I kind of blew over that, my bad. The lower arms are from thorbros, the uppers are chrome moly from an ebay store that sells mainly drag racing g body stuff (hurstcutty83 is his handle). The tires are bias ply g78-14 Goodyear powerstreaks on a factory g body 14 inch steel wheels. They are tall, like 27 inches, so i figure it'll lay hard on almost any wheel tire combo. I've been thinking on whether or not to go radial but i already had these tires from my Impala, they were on it when i got it, but I would want wide whites and they are expensive. So I'm still on the fence on that. Depends on the budget towards the end.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

I'm digging in on this one. Cool truck.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Thanks man. I've been slacking lately on the truck, life has gotten in the way. To keep the wife quiet I've been working on the house, an old house always has something to do. I have had time to mess around for short periods of time and built a drift trike. I haven't killed myself on it so I got that going for me, haha. It's just an old bike, some 1 inch box tube, a go kart axle, and the bulletproof harbor freight predator engine. It's pretty simple and a whole lot of fun. Hopefully soon I'll be back on the truck. I'm itching to get it done.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

So between working and the wife wanting to renovate various parts of the house, I haven't had a lot of time for the truck. I have, however, gotten the cab mounts made and tacked into place on the frame. I used the plans that hussey has posted and they look like they are gonna work great.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

I have also removed the front clip off of the cab so I can access the lower sections of the kick panels/wheel house that Mother Nature has removed material from. So of course I had to lay it on the frame to get hype. This is my goal when it is aired out. Maybe I'll pick up some side jobs grading driveways.

Re: My 54 s10 build
 

Cool. Thanks for the updates