1947 S10 4x4 Blazer swap

[msaintg]

Well, I got my water and oil cooler leaks fixed. Put a new battery in it and ran it for about 5 min. Now the tranny line is leaking at the radiator..... argh! Oh well, to be expected.

[chevyboy73]

get that front end on! nice work!

[Rods57]

Looks great, what is the color and paint brand, i am thinking of making my 57 the same

[msaintg]

thanks, It is going to take some time before the front end is done though. Lots of bodywork to do on the fenders and hood. But I get your point

As far as the paint, it is 'Almond' color. It is Rustoleum paint from Lowes. That color only comes in a quart size. Very simple to use, just have to reduce it a little bit with acetone so that it will go through the spray gun. I didn't even measure it when I reduced it. It drys a little slow, but I still didn't get much dust settling in it before it dried, and my shop was very, very dirty when I sprayed.

Today I bled my brakes and changed the engine oil. then I drove it up and down my street. Sounded good, but it wouldn't shift out of 1st gear. I still have not hooked up the speed sensor for the speedometer, so I hope that is all it is. If not, I have no idea where to look for the problem.

[msaintg]

week 39 - Spent a lot of time chasing oil leaks, bleeding the brakes and cleaning up the electrical harness under the hood. Here is pic of the big connectors that I had to remove to clean it all up. Then an after pic of the electrical (still not done)

Then I moved on to more body work. I cleaned and undercoated that piece that goes behind the grill down at the bottom and then I worked on the front fenders. I should have them done tomorrow, but here is a teaser pic.

[msaintg]

week 39 continued - I got the fenders painted and the backsides undercoated. I started to clean the 8 layers of 'paint' off of the grill, but not done yet. Then I went ahead and test fit everything.

[cleanshaven84]

It's coming together. It's getting to the point now that each little bit you finish makes it look more and more like a truck. I'm glad it's coming together good for ya.

[98layinframe]

Trucks coming along nicely and looks like its very close to drivable! Are you going to run 2wd s10 offset wheels to widen the track width any?
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[msaintg]

I can't go any wider (different offset) with the front wheels (they only clear by 1/2" when the wheels are turned), but I want to go to a more neutral offset with the back wheels to move them out about 2" more on each side. I didn't think I would have to change the offset on the backwheels because it has the 4x4 rearend in it. I have to figure out my transmission problems before it will be driveable. The tranny looks like it is leaking out of the front main seal and it won't shift out of 1st gear. I learned that the speedometer sensor (that went from the transfer case to the anti-lock brake unit) needs to be hooked up or it won't shift. Since I don't have either one of those pieces anymore, I don't know where to hook up the speedometer sensor.

[Daze57]

v v nice AD you have there.

[98layinframe]

Where do they have the sensors on the stock 2wd s10 trucks? Is there a blocked off plug on the tranny, or mayve its in a different style tail housing?
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[msaintg]

The problem is not at the tranny. There is an adapter plate (instead of the talestock) between the transmission and the transfer case (see pic on posting #12). The 4x4 gets the speedometer input from the transfer case. Now that I have a 2x4 tranny (see pic on posting #83) the sensor is on the tailstock. The problem is both go to the antilock brakes. From there the wires change color and go so some test plug (I think). I have not had time to study the 50 pages of transmission data that I have colected to figure out where I need to connect these wires. The scary thing is that these transmissions have FOUR other sensors in order to shift up and down. I hope I didn't inadvertently disconnect any of those. From what little I have read so far, the lights for the gear select (P,N,R,D,D,2,1) will light up or go off depending on what code the system is reading. I am really fealing over my head here, but I think I can do it with a lot of patience. fingers crossed, kiss the cross, etc.

[msaintg]

week 40 - I started out this week putting the windshield and back window in. I tried to get them professionally installed, but either they would not touch it or they wanted over $300 to do it. So I did some research and did it myself. The front windshield was actually pretty straight forward, but I had a devil of a time getting the back window in. I ended up chewing up the top of the back window seal, but nothing too noticeable. I still need to install the center rope (I had to order the tool) on the back window, but at least it is in.

[jed971959]

if you send me your email address I will try and send you the wiring diagram
of the eng &tranny it's 4 pages
what year of blazer did you use
you must have a speed sensor reading at the computer for it to shift
I don't have criuse or abs on my truck and it shifts
Jim

[msaintg]

week 40 cont. - I decided to spend the rest of the week chasing loose ends, so no more pics this week. I chased down the wiring for the speed sensor so now it shifts out of 1st gear.. yay! I FINALLY bolted the cab and bed to the frame. Wow, I reallly blew it designing the bed mounts to bolt from the bottom, facing the inside of the frame, to a captive nut in the bed. It was almost impossible to get the bolt up in there and find (and align with) the nut in the bed (all while holding the Blazer rubber and washer up in there), blind, shifting the bed around, contorting my old body...... whew, I am tired again just thinking about that ordeal. Anyway, DONE! Note to self, next time, run a bolt all the way through (like the cab) and call it good enough..... not that there EVER will be a 'next time'. This is a first and LAST build. Oh, I also mounted the rear bumper to test fit it before painting it.

[msaintg]

Doing some math this week…. I am now up to 424 hours (after 40 weeks), $4955 invested, and I haven’t bought my new wheels yet. Ya, I would definitely say I am going to go over budget on this one. I had spent $20 on parts to rebuild my door hinges, but when I went to work on them, I found that they were in worse shape than I had thought, so I spent $300 replacing them. I also spent $160 replacing the front headlight buckets for the same reasons. Oh well, it is not really a 'budget' as much as it is a 'guideline'

[msaintg]

I spent a lot of time this week cleaning up the grill and one of the rear fenders. I had to remove all of the rivets in the grill to get it apart, but it was the only way to do the body work on it. The fender was in such bad shape, it will take me another week to get it paint ready. I painted the grill, bumpers, and radiator cover and a few misc. parts too (the dark brown is NOT primer… that is the color I am going to try out…. Not sure if I like it yet, but I thought there was too much ‘almond’ and was looking boring (I think I will paint the running boards and some interior pieces this color too).

[gregw98]

I think the 2 colors will accent each other. Looking good.

[cleanshaven84]

I've always liked a two toned truck. I plan to two tone my '49 when I get to that point. Doing the grill and running boards the darker color will add some nice accents to the truck and break up the almond a little. I think you'll end up liking it.

[daverod]

Great job so far. Read your build from the start great progress.

[msaintg]

thanks guys, I know I want an accent color, I just didn't want to go that dark (that was the only 'off the shelf' brown that Lowes had in the same Rustoleum as the Almond color). I might paint the grill half Almond. I am also thinking about painting the dash the dark brown, but some people have told me to leave it the Almond color..... hmmmm. That is the cool thing about a backyard paintjob ... I can keep repainting it as often as I like till I get if the way I want it.

Thanks daverod, It seams like I have been working on this truck for years... maybe that's because it is ALL I do on my days off. I know I have a long way to go still, but it feels good to be putting parts on and not taking them back off again and again. It is so funny, I never really had an end goal when I started, and I am not following any sort of plan.... just winging it. figuring out problems as they come up. Coming up with design ideas using the parts that are in front of me. I really like how the bed has turned out and I can't wait to get the tailgate done so you guys can see how different and cool it looks.

98laynframe--- way back in June you asked me about wheel clearance... well I am having problems finding wheels to fit. I don't think you will be able to use 2x4 offset rims on the 4x4 frontend. (At least not lowered like mine is) I have 3" from edge of tire to fender, but only 1/2" when the wheels are turned... that is with the stock wheels with a 40mm offset. All of the aftermarket wheels that I have found in 18" (the size I want) don't come with more than the 40mm offset but they are 8 to 8.5" wide..... which means the wheels will stick out 1" farther than mine do now... won't work. I am having trouble finding a wheel 18" x 7.5" with 40mm offset (or greater) that I like.

Mike

[msaintg]

Week 42 - I started off this week getting the beed put in the back window. Glad that is done. I assembled and test fit the grill to see if I like the color. Then I moved on to the seam in the hood. I want to see how the hood is going to fit before I do anything more with the fenders and grill. You can see in the pic that I need to do some more body work on the grill, but it is waaaaay better than it was. I was originally thinking that I would not be able to salvage it.

[jed971959]

truck is looking good you will be driving down the road soon
I have a couple questions about your builded
You moved the engine back 5"and the front spring mount back 9" which moved it up 3" did it lower it any before you put in the lowering blocks .
how much room is there between the drive shaft and cross member?
how long is your drive shaft from centre of u-joint to centre of u-joint? I'm guessing it's about 56"
thank jim

[ChevroletWT]

Crazy awesome build man!!!! That color you picked out for the grille is spot on. I think that will look great!.. can't wait to see more updates.

[msaintg]

hi Jim, ya, moving the mount up 3" lowered it about an inch. I used a 3" block on the spring perch which I think may be too much. I may raise the back end up a little by cutting the block down to 2". Yes, my driveshaft is 56.25" and clears the cross support by 3/4"

hi Will, wow, high praise, thanks a lot. I know how you guys like pics, so I will have a few more later today. ya, I like the brown, just think it is a little too much on the grill. I think I am going to paint the back part of the deviders the almond color. I think it will really pop then.