54 gmc s10 swap (yes yet another one)

[54 jimmy]

well finally finished with the wiring. going to take the cab and nose clip off an up to my uncles body shop for the rest of the rust repair and primer and paint. hope to have this done by mid to end of feb. i will be out of town for the last two weeks of jan and the first week of feb two of which will be out in vegas for training for my job. i got my guages cleaned up just waiting on my refacing kit for the speedo to come from harmons next week.

[1952ssr]

I'm going the same route for my wiring harness, saving money. What year was the S10 you used? I might could use your help with a few items.

Thanks

[54 jimmy]

93 s10 reg cab short box. i'll do my best to help you with your wiring.

[1952ssr]

Ok, thanks. Well mine was a 85, and I'm putting an LT1 in the truck. Kinda reverse from yours. The lights are pretty straight forward, and the gauges I got them figured out. I'm using the '52 steering shaft along with the turn signal box. I know I have to splice from the existing harness to them. I've pretty well got my LT harness figured as to be a stand along unit. But, I'm having trouble with how to get power to the fuse box so the lights work. What items did you and didn't you use from the S10 wiring. If I make no sense tell me or ask me what I mean.

[54 jimmy]

i just took the wiring harness apart and traced every wire. i cut off all the fuel injection stuff and all the guage cluster wires because i did't need them. i used painless wire instructions to figure out the rest. i used the s10 fuse block and firewall pass through. hopefully this link will help you it did for me.
http://www.painlesswiring.com/Manuals/10102.pdf

[1952ssr]

Man thanks alot, I looked briefly and I think that it will help big time. I'll go through it Monday and print out only the GM things I need.
Have a Merry Christmas!

[54 jimmy]

glad i could help. merry x mas to you

[bjcaldwe]

What did you do to rehab your stock speedo?

[54 jimmy]

which part.

[bjcaldwe]

I was thinking you replaced some parts in the speedo, but I could be wrong. I do like the idea for the other gauges.

[nickp51chevy]

I've popped in on your build every once and a while to see your progress. And it's been a while since I last did and you have got a lot done. Looks like you'll have a driver soon. Keep up the good work. And congrats for your new addition to the family.

[54 jimmy]

bjcaldwe i did replace the guts of the speedo with ones from a 76 chevy truck speedo. they were a direct replacement. nickp51chevy thanks it took 6 years to get to this point. i hope to be driving it this up comming summer. hope to be able to take it to the york hot rod show in york pa. i may take it to carlise all gm nationals or the all truck nationals. it will see a lot of local car cruises that is for sure if it is done. i plan on driving the balls off this truck.

[bjcaldwe]

That is awesome info. We have a 73 stepside that is just setting doing nothing.

[54 jimmy]

well if you have any question just ask bjcaldwe

[54 jimmy]

well got my parts from harmons. wife kicked me out of the house on x mas eve day and said go work on you truck and stay out of my way. i got a lot to do today and i can only deal with the kids or you. she chose the kids so i got to work on my truck wasn't expecting that. got most of the old paint and some of the surface rust off the cab. also put the new speedo face decal on.

[bjcaldwe]

Looks like you made some more good progress.

[southbounddee]

54 jimmy...i read your thread today and i must say i can't wait to see more.I like the bed ideal, make it something no one has seen before it'll be a cooler truck in the end!

[54 jimmy]

well the bed is on hold for right now. i just want to get the cab done so i can drive the truck then i'll worry about a box or what ever i come up with. thanks. i'm waiting on income tax and some better weather to get the cab to my uncles to get it in shape.

[54 jimmy]

well i been out of town on work nothing done on the truck. gona start doing the body work. going to the junkyard to get a 4wd s10 rear and steel wheels for the truck. scored a set of uniroyal laredos for $50.00 off a guy at work theses things are pratically brand new. bought an ez wiring harness for the truck.

[rhodog77]

54 gmc,
i have the same wiring kit. Have you started wiring yours yet. If so, any tips, tricks, advice or potential problems. I hoping to start mine in the next few weeks.

thanks
brian

[54 jimmy]

won't be wiring untill i get the body work done and the cab back on the frame. probly a few months or sooner.

[54 jimmy]

wife and i went to the junkyard today and got a 4wd s10 rear out of a blazer got the sway bar too. just need links and make a few brackets for them. my rolling chassis is going to a friends garage for a while while i do the body work at my place. my uncle has too much work for me to bring it by his place.

[1952ssr]

Any reason for taking out the S10 harness and getting a painless kit?

[Dan Bowles]

I ditched the S10 harness because there was too much junk on it that wasn't needed for these trucks. If you are running a carbed V8, there is no need for a computer. The dash isn't right for mechanical gauges and most aftermarket gauges have their own mini harnesses and senders anyway. A painless or EZ is just a great way to go. Nice and clean and worth the $150 or so to make it all new.

[Dan Bowles]

Not to mention the fact that the wire is printed what it is for every 6 inches or so. You won't find THAT on an S10 harness!