It's my turn, 47 S10 build

[Cautrell05]

looking back through I forgot to post pictures of the running board mounts. Last summer we put a new hoist up at the shop and the main assembly came shipped on a pallet and they had some quarter inch thick L-shaped straps holding everything together with ready bolt. There's eight of them total. At the time I was looking at it thinking these have got to be useful for something so rather than chucking in the iron pile it threw them in the back of our one parts truck we have out back that's got potential metal stored in it. That's where we throw the odd and the regular stuff that might come in handy but we don't use it often enough to keep in the shop. Kind of like a junk drawer for fabricators. So when it came time to do the running board mounts originally I was going to use 1x2 1/8-in wall rectangular tubing because we got a bunch of that. And then I got to thinking about those L brackets. And they ended up being the perfect size for what I'm doing. And they were free. Which is also nice. The short leg of the bracket is wide enough that the factory quarter inch running board bolts can go through there with room for a nut and washer. Not a very big washer but enough. And then where it is bolted to the frame i used another section of the same bracket. I could have welded them but if they get bent folded or whatever I'd rather be able to take them off and fix them rather than have to cut them off and then weld them back on. I got the front two done c because they were the easy ones. I still need to get to the third one back at the front of the box. They are ridiculously solid though. I can stand on them and pretty much jump on them and I don't feel any flex at all. That's more than I can say for some of the $800 running boards that I installed on new pickups when I was at the dealership.

[joedoh]

great problem solving, i love using on-hand stuff

[Cautrell05]

Long overdue picture dump. I don't have a good excuse other than I've been lazy with updates.

I built a battery tray for it that fits behind the right rear wheel. I'm thinking instead supposed, rear weight and right side weight to offset fuel tank, steering column, driver etc still need to get a remote charging/jump start post wired in as well as a inner fender cover for it.

The bottom was cut from 3/16 plate because I got a bunch for free and then framed with 1 inch square tubing. Top of the mount uses two existing box to fender bolts and the two bottom bolts are drilled below the bed floor so there's no extra visible fasteners. Kinda bit of a pain to pull the tire in order to change the battery but it's easier than a couple I have swapped batteries on that are mounted under the cab.

Also works if I need to disconnect power the negative cable bolts to the frame forge under it. One nut, pull the cable and power is off

[Cautrell05]

Updated the front park lights on a budget. Turned out really well for not much money.

[Cautrell05]

Transmission cooler installed, lines bent, secondary fan temporarily mounted for now. Planning on pulling the front clip off this winter and painting the inner fenders and radiator support. Going to mount the AC condenser and possibly dual fans along with a new transmission cooler. Evidently this one leaks.

[Cautrell05]

Really happy with the stance.

[joedoh]

gorgeous!


a small nit. that fan wont work that far away from the rad, those ducted fans need to be smack against the rad to work well. pushers work less than pullers and pushers mounted off the surface wont work much at all. source: CFD engineer.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by joedoh

gorgeous!


a small nit. that fan wont work that far away from the rad, those ducted fans need to be smack against the rad to work well. pushers work less than pullers and pushers mounted off the surface wont work much at all. source: CFD engineer.

Oh I hear ya. It did make a difference but I know it is not as effective as it would be of mounted properly. It was a band aid while I drove it around with a mechanical fan but no shroud. When I mount the condenser this winter I think I'm going to go with dual 12s instead of the single 16.

[oldman3]

Looks great...Jim

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Looks great...Jim

Thanks

[Cautrell05]

Got the fan shroud finished a couple weeks ago. 2 part shroud with 3/16" round bar for the frame covered on 20ga. 6 blade 17" fan moves some pretty decent air.

[6DoF]

that shroud is legit, well played.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

that shroud is legit, well played.

Thanks. It wasn't fun that's for sure. At least it turned out good.

[joedoh]

perfect! I love making stuff with rod (sometimes coathangers haha) , your technique is great! also your "stickout" of the fan blades shows you did your research on fans.

will you get thermo clutch for the fan?

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by joedoh

perfect! I love making stuff with rod (sometimes coathangers haha) , your technique is great! also your "stickout" of the fan blades shows you did your research on fans.

will you get thermo clutch for the fan?

I did a little reading on it. At 2000 rpm It moves enough air to suck a towel against the grille and hold it there.

Haven't thought about a clutch fan. That 400 needs all the airflow it can get.

[Cautrell05]

I needed to plumb in the oil pressure sensor and also the fuel pump pressure switch but I also wanted to keep with the no visible wires trend. T fitting, some copper tube and a simple bracket later and that's the result. Even went far enough to two tone the tube so it blends in more.

[Tempest67]

now that 'two tone' wire is what I call 'Detail'

I like it


nice work,

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by Tempest67

now that 'two tone' wire is what I call 'Detail'

I like it


nice work,

Thank you. I get a little OCD on some of the details.

This was on a customers that I did last year.

[Cautrell05]

Anybody else see the episode of Malcolm in the middle where Hal goes to change the light bulb and ends up pulling the motor on his car? I can relate to that.
The latest big project started about three months ago it was supposed to be just upgrading the passenger door latch so it closed without slamming it and actually stayed shut. That turned into, well while the window is out for access it would be a good time to put power windows in. That turned into while the doors are empty I should order window and door seals. Now would be a good time to paint the inside of the doors. Can't get the front side very well with the hinges in the way. Easiest would be to pull the doors. Really need to do something with the inside is the cab. The original paint was covered very poorly with some tealish colored stuff that was peeling everywhere and most likely contained lead. If the doors are off anyway now would be the time to paint the inside. Before I paint the inside I need to fix the holes in the firewall. Cant really do that with the cab on. Well crap. Time to quit putting it off.
12 bolts, the hood, shift, throttle and steering linkage and gravity is all the holds the cab on. 2 hours and an overhead hoist later and I suddenly have a ton of work to do before I can drive it again lol

[Cautrell05]

For the amount of time it would take to patch all the holes in the firewall and trying to get the wrinkles out it wasn't worth it for the cost of a couple panels from LS fab. We have a sandblaster here and the plan was to do it in two stages. First step was to rough cut the firewall and blast the surrounding area and see how but much rust repair I have to do. Compared to a lot of the builds I have followed I lucked out. I knew that both kick panels were trashed. I wasn't expecting all the other holes but at least they were minor.

[6DoF]

[Cautrell05]

Eventually I will get this caught up and start posting updates real time.
Nice part of blasting with the firewall cut out was being able to get the back side of the dash without laying under it. After blasting the back side of the dash and a-pillar areas got a real heavy coat of rust converter.

I knew both kick panels were junk. Thankfully the rust didn't go deeper. The floor wasn't that bad but there were end small pin holes that it was easier to just replace the section. Just like the dash, ending got rust converter or weld through primer before welding.

[Cautrell05]

Both sides ready to weld up. The floor sections and left kick panel are 18ga, the right kick panel was 20ga.

[Cautrell05]

Few more updates from the firewall project. The panels came from LS fab. Rather than mount then flush like most people do, and there's nothing wrong with that, I decided to keep the body line around them. I think it gave it a nice look keeping it.
Down side, all the welds were in a 3/8" wide strip around the top and sides. That was not fun to grind. Did manage to get it all smooth without any filler which is pretty good for my first project like this.

Also upgraded from the body cart to the rotisserie. Should have done that sooner.

[Cautrell05]

Had to do some repair work to fix a previous "repair". At some point the left rear cab corner was pushed in and they pulled it out just enough to close the door and no more. Two porta powers with the wedge end inside the cab corner and some time with a body hammer and its a lot better than it was. Not perfect but way better.

The pockets for the door striker were made from 14ga. Pre planned with cardboard then bent and welded.