41 chevy 1/2 ton project Fenix

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joedoh

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
1,725
Location
doodah ks
yes I know how to spell Phoenix.


the 49 is done, well, done-ish. :lol: projects keep my hands busy and my liver clean. This is my 1941 1/2 ton short bed build.

I took apart the 41 I bought last super bowl weekend. I rolled it in the garage on my 8k lb capacity body cart because sometimes overkill is just right. my intention was to build this one for myself but we will see. I hope to have it running before New Years. 5AL, 41 3/4 ton.
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here is the donor, 91 4.3 auto S10. I used the bed floor on the 49.
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I had it stored in the back yard till now, last time I moved it I accidentally ran it out of gas which plugged up the sock or the filter or both. when I pulled it out with a chain to change the flat it developed, I left the key on. so dead battery/weak fuel flow, I decided to jump it and pour a little gas in the TBI to prime it. of course it backfired, and it may be easier to list the things that werent on fire after that. my sweater smothered the engine, then the ground, then the engine again. the only loss was the air fllter. my hubris always has a method of humbling me.

the truck came with the wrong bed, it had a 53 long bed. In may I found a stash of 41-46 trucks and bought everything, 4 cabs, two front ends, 4 beds.
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only one set of rear fenders though, and they are 37-38 fenders. my brother was browsing cl in pa and found a set for me though
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and I found a spare pass rear at a guys horde
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so thats today, 11-18. this will be simpler than my other builds, and should be faster because its a running driving donor and the simple electronics compared to the last three trucks which all had complicated bussed electrical. wish me luck!
 
I'll be watching. Especially since its an S10 project. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two. I have a list of things I would have done different on mine, but it is coming along pretty nicely.

I just missed a 40 Chevy cab a week ago. I told myself I'd call tomorrow, but too late.
 
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what would you have done different? I have done a couple s10 swaps but this is my first 41-46. I think I have to cut the outside of the torque boxes off. I will know tomorrow.

I had an hour or so after dinner so I stripped the firewall and cursed at the bumper. thankfully my battery sawzall was handy. never understood these bumper mounts, and they have to be cut off anyway, so choppy choppy
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clip off
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anyone need a clip? cheap to get rid of it
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more tomorrow, the cab is loose just have to take out the steering column and strip the harness and computer. the shifter was connected with a wire tie, like a bread bag tie. I think the drivers lower arm needs replaced too.
 
Are the torque boxes the fat wide pat of the frame? If so, my strategy for them would be to shape the top half of the area to match the original frame so the cab could sit down 2 or 3 inches lower on it. My cab is on top of it there. I would have to change too much of the rest of the fabrications to do that part over now. Besides, I ended up with a decent ride height for me.
 

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yep thats the torque boxes. I have a good plan for trimming them, I want this thing to be an earthworm. I have 3" springs and 2" spindles for the front and 4" dearched leafs and 2" angle blocks for the rear.

yours looks great! the guy I got the extra fender from thought he had two and the other was a 39-40 ford truck instead. I almost bought it just to have it.
 
did some work to the 49 today, have a couple interested parties. I hope they see it the way I see it. but I did finish stripping the donor. got all the parts I need and only one more harness to pull through the firewall. the cab mounts are loose, just need the cherry picker. dont think the neighbors appreciated the 10:30 work so I called it a night.
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not bad for a total of 3 hours work.


OH I remembered, I listed the front clip on cl, the title said "1991 S10 front clip and tailgate only no other parts" and the first sentence of the ad says "I dont have anything else from this truck, no other parts. no wiring, no engine, no trans." I got three calls on it today. one for a trans. one for the engine harness. one for the glovebox. I am not kidding. CRAIGSLIST man, endlessly entertaining.
 
yep thats the torque boxes. I have a good plan for trimming them, I want this thing to be an earthworm. I have 3" springs and 2" spindles for the front and 4" dearched leafs and 2" angle blocks for the rear.

yours looks great! the guy I got the extra fender from thought he had two and the other was a 39-40 ford truck instead. I almost bought it just to have it.

Thank you, Sir. I buy lots of parts I have no need for myself. I have two Chevy hoods that will likely fit your truck. Couldn't pass up free.

His fender has to be either a 38-9 or 40-41. It splits there. Unless it was a car fender.
 
I remember looking up the running board attachment shape, it was a 40, so 40-41 it is.

beep nap time, she was tired today, tuesday is her "school", a 2 hr gym session. I needed to return the title for my car trailer so he could work it out at the tag office, long story, anyway I used the 2 hr gym time to drive an hour south to drop off the title in person so it wouldnt get last, combating murphys law as it was. well, murphy got me anyway, he wasnt home, so I left it in his door and high tailed it back to get the girl just in time. pulling in the driveway, he finally called back. he was at hobby lobby. in wichita. about 3 miles from my house.

she laid down and I popped the cab off
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this was a nice surprise
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and on
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and in for thanksgiving
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needed some room to walk around so choppy choppy
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the rear mounts were holding it crooked, now its crooked the other direction because I havent trimmed the outsides of the frame for the cowl.
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needs to come back about 6 inches, motor needs to come back about 9. this will likely be the last work till after thanksgiving
 
well its christmas and the truck looks the same. I had a bunch of little stuff to do for the 49, and we had two funerals in two weeks, one was the matriarch of my wifes family, and 4 family parties. I think we are done for a bit though, so I will be working on the truck starting Saturday.

picked up a few goodies today at bowtie bits. It was an easy decision, I was updating the books on bought/sold and so spending a little bit on the fine details that I love doing is okay by me and the budget.

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I had spotted the lower grille at bowtie bits a couple weeks ago and vowed to go get it. I had all that turmoil around christmas and so today was the first chance I had. luckily I went today because he was listing it on ebay, but was happy to sell it in town. I asked if he had an upper, he sure did, couple dings but nicer than the one on my truck, so I bought that too. Best of all was the brand new windshield frame/glass/rubber. Its pricey at first glance but they are always rusted and the screws break off, and assembling them with glass is a &^*(&. I figured I would only save about $200 refurbing mine, and only $100 buying a new bare steel frame. and this comes with a new center bar too, mine are dinged up.

look at the fineness of the backside of this brand new windshield. No broken screws, no rusty nastiness.

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More coming!
 
my wife has a new years eve tradition of a kids party, so all the nieces and nephews are over. I feel like gru in the midst of minions, every one is gross and you cant understand what they are saying. But I still got some stuff done.

while it was unseasonably warm I decided to bring the trailer with my parts 41 around to the front yard. My plan is to take the parts off I need, pass the rest on, and pull the cab off that gmc while its up front too. then sell the trailer haha. constant flux around here.
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ugh. so many rusty screws. I decided since I had a new windshield frame I wouldnt worry so much about using penetrating oil and heat to extract any of the screws. This decision sped things up considerably. I used the spinny wheel to take the windshield regulator loose, then a jack to hold it up while I spinny wheeled the screws up there.
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ready for someone else to restore.
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this is where they always rust through, the bottom center. the parts truck has rust there too.
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blessed be the designer who made the dash removable. I had to remove it anyway because the windshield regulator wasnt regulating
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yep have another one like this. the pot metal wears and the gears dont mesh. I hoped this one was ok, but since its not I will do a rebuild in this thread.
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this part is $18. so I need one of those too haha.
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last thing tonight was to get the front part of the floor pan loose. little heat and some penetrating oil here, got all but the two right screws.

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I need it out so I can set the mounts up. I ordered all the front end components control arms steering etc, mevotech has a kit that is only $300. Debating on drop spindles for this one too, I will decide between blazer dual piston brakes or s10 brakes before I order spindles and rotors and calipers.
 
needs to come back about 6 inches, motor needs to come back about 9. this will likely be the last work till after thanksgiving

A trick I found for moving engine back on a S-10 frame is get the V8 swap mounts and reverse them but 9" sounds like whole new mounts. Lol

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thanks for the tip. I keep the stock 4.3 in all of these builds. when you use the S10 V8 swap mounts, the V8 has an extra cylinder and needs that offset at the firewall, but the V6 would still be 4-5 inches away from the firewall and that would make an electric fan almost a necessity.

The 47 GMC I did last year I moved it 5 inches like you described (custom plates) and the clutch fan did not fit,. the 49 I finished this year I moved almost 8 and the fan barely fit and still had a little room at the firewall. I used universal weld in frame mounts and chevelle motor side mounts.
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If I can get it moved 9 inches, there is a second benefit, the one piece shortbed driveshaft SHOULD drop right in with no modification.

Of course I think I will need to move the axle forward an inch or so which will require shortening the driveshaft anyway. but at least its the inexpensive and more common shortbed one piece. I have been using the 4" diameter aluminum driveshaft.
 
the s10 donor has some okay appearing seats with terrible covers, and a headrest. I am going to go for a nice rich burgundy interior on this one so I drew up what I want the upholstery to look like. the pleats will be half rounds, really bumpily. I think it will look nice with the bolsters. I think he said they were 89 fwd lebaron seats.

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I cleaned out the garage and decided it was time to take out another shelving unit. I had cleaned off everything from the 49 and all the extra S10 parts I would never need (TCC or ECM for a 98 blazer? how do I even save these things). Eventually I will get rid of all the shelves on the right side of the garage but for now there IS SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES! :lol:
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did you ever have a moment of clarity? I marked the cut for the frame trim and started to get out the plasma cutter, but I wanted to make sure I knew where the fuel lines ran. usually they cross over on the trans and come up the back of the engine but I didnt see them, I figured it out and quickly decided to use the spinny wheel to make my frame cuts. :eek:

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well that could have escalated quickly! luckily I am the uber careful, googles and a faceshield kind of careful.

did the other side. dont worry about where the cab is in relation to the cuts, I was pushing it side to side to make room. the cuts actually work out perfect with the taper of the cab.
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Thats all I got done today but the real trick was organizing the garage and not burning the place down haha. we had some errands to run, time for a new work laptop since its a new year, self employed guys know the glory of Jan 1.
 
all squared up and roughly leveled.
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I dont need it perfect yet, the mounts will be mirror images on either side and will level it, and the mounts will also have a little wiggle room. Still considering lowering it another inch on the frame.

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but the mounts are designed in my mind so its just a matter of cutting steel. I may do a mid mount, or at least a support, once I cut the seat riser out I am worried the floor will get floppy.

looks like I can move the motor back 8.5 inches. I would like a little more, but cest la vie.
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