now that I have a windshield I can put a punch list on it.
first up is bolting the body down, next is the running board seals, then I can install running boards. I have tried to do them in different order and it sucks, the running boards make it hard to get the seals on and the seals and running boards make it pretty difficult to put the steels and rubbbers on the bottom sides of the mounts. right away, there was a problem, one of the rubber donuts was missing, I tore everything apart everywhere at both garages, no dice. in a stroke of fortune though, the guy that loaned me the lock strip tool worked at a salvage yard and they just got an S10 in the night before. Thanks Travis!
with that sorted (after three trips for the right length bolts) I worked on the running board seals. there are holes in the bottom of the cab, and the screws are intended to go through the rubber into a metal strip with speed holes for the coarse screws, sandwiching the rubber. but laying on your back or side, this sucks, which seems to be the theme of the post, so what I do is mark the rubber and drill holes.
works great!
then I worked on the blower pass through on the firewall. If you dont remember, I am using the S10 HVAC which has a large component installed on the firewall, including the blower. but I had to cut the blower off because it wouldnt fit, the hood and hinges get in the way. on the last truck I made a square hole and a flange to screw the blower to on the firewall. it worked, but I felt I could improve it. on this one I was more careful with my cut on the firewall box, so I got some 3" ABS plumbing bends. the 45 degree street bend was a perfect fit, and I trimmed the inside of the flange so the air would blow straight into the AC box. this was surprisingly easy, I figured it to be a real problem, at least the last truck this took a lot of work.
I used a new 4" holesaw and a coupler to make it all removable but still air tight. this is the view of the coupler end from inside. an L bracket and some sealant will make it solid and watertight. this is definitely easier than the last one.
more in the next post.
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