1947 S10 4x4 Blazer swap

[msaintg]

my brother took the wheels off of his 68 camaro and went back to the original rally wheels, so he gave me these. The old wheels had too much reverse offset, but these fit the truck perfectly. I just love how they fill the wheel wells. The only downside is that they are 12 years old. They still look perfect because the car never left the garage. I think I will replace the fronts and try running the rears.

[msaintg]

6/3/2018 - I have been working on the AC & heater for the truck. I got it all installed and off to the mechanic to get the AC charged. I know it is not a fancy unit, or even that attractive for that matter, but it was easy to install and more 'period' correct. I also added visors. I purchased electric door locks too, but I have not attempted to install them yet.

[iowaboynca]

kewl!!!

Keep us posted on how the AC turns out. I'm thinking of a similar setup

[rgunlock]

Good to see that the trucks getting a little more love Mike!

[joedoh]

I used that unit on a truck, great way to get it all in one! you will need a on/off heater valve though because the heater core and AC core share the same air flow, so unless you can turn off the coolant flow the AC will never get cool, the heater will be "on" at the same time.

It bears repeating that your truck is awesome.

[msaintg]

thanks guys.
The AC is working great so far (AZ hit 113 degrees today). Wife is driving the truck daily now. No engine temp issues with the new radiator and fan in front of the stock radiator. (still no fan shroud)

[msaintg]

hi guys, time for another check in.
Hard to believe the truck has been on the road over 5 years now. Lets see, what's new....... we moved again, so the truck has its very own garage. it doesn't have to share with the common cars.

[msaintg]

new AC works just OK. The heating unit works real well though.
The new engine and tranny have over 3000 miles on them and are running great. Wife decided that the truck does not get good enough gas mileage to become her daily driver, but she still drives it a lot. I thought my old 'rebuilt' transmission had a slip, but the new transmission did the same thing, so I investigated the issue further. turns out the throttle position sensor on the engine was failing. just a few bucks and now it is shifting perfect.

I still have NOT put the electronic door locks on it because I am dreading working inside those doors, but I will do that soon. She did get me to build a console for it. I covered the door panels with the same vinyl that I used on the console. I also replaced the garbage carpeting with new automotive carpet. here are some pics.

[oldman3]

Truck still looks good, nice job on the interior...Jim

[99 to Life]

nice garage, congrats on the move. glad to see you still working on this thing. very nice build that gets used. can't beat that.

[msaintg]

thanks guys.
I love this site. everyone is so friendly and supportive.

[99 to Life]

In deed, when I started out about 9-10 years ago, I knew nothing about cars or trucks. This site made alot of that possible to do. Nice community for sure.

[msaintg]

hi guys. working on the truck again. I don't know if I did something wrong or if it is just too dam hot here in AZ, but I am having a problem with the center console that I just built. the contact cement is not holding the material on. I have tried 3 different types of glue, but it is coming off. WTF? For now, I just put some staples on the inside to hold it in place until I can figure out the problem.

I worked on the electric door locks for over a month, but could never get them to work properly, so I gave up. Not really 'gave up', but rather decided that I didn't want to put electric door locks on it. Since I have the doors converted to the Altman easy latches, there is a week spot in the latch when used with the 1947 handles (NOT push button). You can easily force the outside handle down and back up when the door is locked. The Altman latch breaks after about 3 or 4 times. So now i have holes in the doors from the wires and a switch in the dash that doesn't do anything and $150 worth of brand new electrical stuff that is going in the trash.


On a brighter note, I got her new stereo put in. Of course, the wife wanted a stereo that had all of the modern conveniences, so we got one from Retro Sound that has Bluetooth, USB jack, and works with her phone. It is a nice little unit, but they messed up on their grill adapter for our trucks. The adapter positions the control knobs at an angle when they should be in line with the unit. Here are some pics.

[msaintg]

here is the unit as they have designed it.

[msaintg]

I had to modify the front plate, but it turned out pretty nice. For speakers, i just put some 6x9s in boxes and set them on the floor behind the seats.

[99 to Life]

sorry to hear about the locks. I made my own bear claw bolt on assembly on 49'hardtimes. it had stationary handles outside, and keyless entry/door poppers. the inside locking mechanism worked also. wasn't really fun doin all that work. What I did on my 51' years prior was this dead bolt system. It bolted on the inside of door pillar behind seat area. Basically had a keyless entry activate the accuator that pushed the pin into the door. Worked really well until my keyless entry quit. AVS actually makes a nice keyless entry/remote, I planned on getting that for my 51'. Used it on my 49' when I did the more complicated locks. If you want locks and turndown handles. Easiest thing to do is this deadbolt design.

Radio looks good. I planned on using that brand for a 54' I did. Just haven't gotten around to it. Its the only retro fit radio we found for the 54'

[msaintg]

thanks 99,
I thought it would be simple with the kit from Avital. It came with the remotes and everything. I was able to mount the actuators vertically after I modified the lock linkage on the Altman latch and get them to lock with a manual switch. I was not able to get the remotes to work no matter how I wired them up. The vibration of the truck would make the doors lock with the actuators mounted vertically and then I could not unlock them. That's when I found out you cant use the twist handles with bear claw latches. The twist handles have too much torque and quickly brake the latch. I didn't want to convert the truck to push button and I couldn't get the remotes to work, so I gave up.

Hopefully your radio install on a '54 goes better than it did on the '47. They didn't even provide any instructions for mounting with that face plate either.

[99 to Life]

I'd just do the deadbolt style lock like my last pic. you could prolly reuse those accuators you have. I'd just order the AVS remote kit, very nice key fob too. the 54' radio is a bit different and seems like an easy install.

[msaintg]

Wow, what a piece of crap I have become... over 1.5 years since I was here with an update. Truly sorry

Well, I have done two things recently. I lowered her rear bumper 3" and moved the license plate above it instead of hanging down below it like the afterthought that it was. I did a real quick patch job where I left holes in the roll pan, but I will (read might) address that at a later time.

I also made a wooden floor for the bed. I just grabbed a sheet of plywood from Home Depot and added the metal strips to it. The plywood just lays in the bed on top of the metal S10 floor. Not a high quality job, but the wife is very pleased. Oh, she is still driving the wheels off the old truck. I told her I would not blame her if she wanted to sell it, but she just screamed "NEVER!"