Newbie: Looking for advice which of my S10 donors to use and direction for project

[BigTom209]

Hey guys, newbie here and I have to say I love trolling this site looking at your builds, so many ideas and amazing talent!

I've been fixing/flipping vehicles on the side for years and honestly I'm just getting tired of it, I said last year I wanted to build something for myself and started looking around the farm for any possible ideas. Well, we have (3) late 40's or early 50's GMC 3/4 or 1 tonne grain trucks in various states but cab/font end wise they are all decent. And being my father was a GM mechanic most his life I thought it fitting to build up a GM truck!

So I have the old metal, needed to figure out what I wanted to do with it. I wanted stupid amounts of power, but reliable... so I came across a 2007.5 GMC 3500HD with a 6L LY6 Vortec motor and got the whole truck cheap because it was wrecked, still drove it nearly 100 miles out to the farm though! I couldn't find a "cheap" 2WD 6L90 transmission that would allow me to use my factory ECM to control it so I sold the 4WD one that came with the truck and picked up a 2WD 4L80, may end up buying a standalone controller for it or else possibly turning it into a full manual shift not sure quite yet. I also have a Ford 9" rear end in one of the old wrecked trucks at the farm I might swipe or a good buddy of mine has a '99 Camaro rear end with 4.11 aftermarket gears he'd let me have super cheap


So... kindof have the parts for the drivetrain figured... old cabs and body parts figured... needed to decide on a frame. Of course S10 comes up right away for these trucks and this is what I am trying to decide on



At the farm we have a '93 or '94 S10 regular cab short box that has a wrecked transmission, it's of no use to anyone so free for me to grab if I want it and it was my original plan to use it but then at the local salvage center I got a deal on a '03 extended cab short box S10 with only 105K miles on it. 2WD 4.3L, runs like a champ I used it for work and put on nearly 2000 miles and it never once missed a beat. Using it for work (they pay per mile when using personal vehicles) the truck paid for itself and actually made me a few bucks so again, freebie to use.


So... I have a early 90's and a 2003 S10, neither one of them are the regular cab long box so neither is the "ideal" donor... but parts are available from both vehicles to grab so if I needed a brake master cylinder or pedals or whatever I can pick/choose from either. The 2003 is complete, running, driveable... I've debated keeping it intact and building possibly a 2nd truck using it's drivetrain as is. Definitely no where near the power of the 6L and 4L80 combo I originally was going for, but a little 4.3L for a daily putt around would likely be just fine. What would you guys go with? Just looking for opinions, no right or wrong answers I just thought maybe there was perks to going with one over the other or maybe people would recommend using the 4.3L as is so keep the 2003 for another build and throw the 6L into the old '90s truck. I also think i heard somewhere that the newer S10's had a beefier boxed in front end versus the older ones? Maybe for strength I should use the newer frame with the bigger motor?

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by BigTom209

So... I have a early 90's and a 2003 S10, neither one of them are the regular cab long box so neither is the "ideal" donor... but parts are available from both vehicles to grab so if I needed a brake master cylinder or pedals or whatever I can pick/choose from either. The 2003 is complete, running, driveable... I've debated keeping it intact and building possibly a 2nd truck using it's drivetrain as is. Definitely no where near the power of the 6L and 4L80 combo I originally was going for, but a little 4.3L for a daily putt around would likely be just fine. What would you guys go with? Just looking for opinions, no right or wrong answers I just thought maybe there was perks to going with one over the other or maybe people would recommend using the 4.3L as is so keep the 2003 for another build and throw the 6L into the old '90s truck. I also think i heard somewhere that the newer S10's had a beefier boxed in front end versus the older ones? Maybe for strength I should use the newer frame with the bigger motor?

frames are the same, save some small differences, 82-03. all of my 02 gear bolted right to the 84 frame I have. all s10 use the same front frame sections, there is a welded slip joint that attaches the different length rear sections.

if you have a shortbed s10, you can make it a longbed by cutting off the last ~11 inches of the frame, flipping it over, and welding it back on. then grind the rivets off the front leaf perches, move them back and weld them back on. doing this gives you a longbed wheelbase, and also lowers the rear of the truck an inch (because the leaf perches will move up on the angled part of the frame). I have done this, its easier done than said. russ (62chevyII on this site) has pictures of it, and I got the idea from him.

if you have an extended cab s10, you can either use a longbed AD bed, or separate the frame at the factory slip joint, remove the 5", and weld it back square. this will give you a longbed wheelbase.

I like using the 4.3 autos from the donor s10. you have to move it back in the frame about 8 inches but it makes for a great cruiser. it has enough trouble with traction with the 4.3, I imagine anything more powerful will just be a portable tire melter. in fact the guy who bought my last truck looked at a 6 liter 5spd before mine, according to him it was too much, traction was nonexistant at any more than part throttle.

there are guys that will tell you to keep the original frame, but starting with 3/4 and 1 ton you will have to replace axles and springs and still figure out all the same systems to put in a v8 and power brakes etc. the original frame does let the body mount right on though, that saves you about 3 days over an s10 swap.

check out oldsarges (skymangs) s10 swap in the sticky, its a great resource.

[BigTom209]

Yeah understandably there would be an issue of traction with that big motor installed, the LY6 is rated at 353HP and 373 lb-ft where as the 4.3L is around 190HP and 250lb-fts Soooo yeah whole other ballpark! And I purchased a HP tuner pro setup so theoretically I could look into doing a few tuning mods and they claim with a cam and few odds and ends I can get that engine easily upwards of 450+ HP at the flywheel... so yeah, slightest flip of the throttle and likely I'd be roasting tires But... besides the issue of possibly having to constantly buy replacement tires... a good sized V8 does sound way better than a V6


I don't think I want to start with the original frame simply because as you stated, need to upgrade pretty much everything and honestly I'd rather have the ease of available aftermarket parts for the S10 versus a old frame with little support. I have seen a bunch of the S10 swaps and guys redoing the frames, lots of good information out there that's for sure. I'm heading out to the farm this weekend so I was going to haul those old trucks closer to the shop and maybe start looking at stripping down at least one of the S10's. So between the S10 trucks I have, both being short boxes but one is a extended cab the other regular cab, what you're saying is the frames are basically identical? So either I choose will require the same mods to be useful, probably makes more sense ripping apart the old wrecked one since I can still use the newer one for checking cattle or hauling odds and ends around the farm plated or not, just keep it for the moment as a beater.

[joedoh]

yes, even the brakes are the same. the rear axle pinion is slightly different but still a 7.625, doesnt matter if you are using a 9 inch.

keep in mind you need to move the engine back in an s10 frame to make the AD body fit, and S10 V8 swap mounts usually move the engine forward.

[BlueJeep]

Mine's a 1995 X-cab s10. I went with a longer bed, like Joedoh suggested. I have a 5.3 and it is plenty of power, tires can spin at will at just about any speed. If you scan though my build thread I originally put it together with the 220k mile 4.3, which was fine but had tranny issues so I decided to change a few things...

[av8tr33337]

Originally Posted by BlueJeep

Mine's a 1995 X-cab s10. I went with a longer bed, like Joedoh suggested. I have a 5.3 and it is plenty of power, tires can spin at will at just about any speed. If you scan though my build thread I originally put it together with the 220k mile 4.3, which was fine but had tranny issues so I decided to change a few things...

Been a long time since I've been to this site Bluejeep. I know I've seen your thread but I dont think Ive seen the finished product. I'm starting to get the itch again and things are finally starting to turn around in my financial situation and schedule so I can maybe start work on mine again soon. Got to peruse your thread and steal some ideas!