Dead Reckon

So, in about two weeks I'll have sitting in my driveway a 1983 S10 standard cab "Tahoe", 2.8, AC, no other options I can think of, short bed soon to be (A year or so) tire eating monster. Working on getting it running before I move it to my house. I am trading it for a '79 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 2dr I have sitting around. The plan for the truck is simple, get it's ole' 2.8 running and capable of moving the truck so I can use it to fetch parts to make a rat rod of sorts.

After that, I'm gonna fix the immediate issues which I will cover later (When I am fixing them or sometime just before).

Once the truck is moving and at least somewhat reliable, I'm gonna find a good used 350 around with a good TH350 or TH400 to stick behind it, preferably a 400, get the other parts I need, front springs, all new control arms, ball joints, etc. Rear diff is supposed to be able to handle a stock 350. Which 350 I get depends on what I do to it, at the very least it will get resealed and have the valves set, or replaced, may or may not cam it, not looking for a ton of power, it is just an S10 after all.

The plan is that this truck is not coming apart until I have all the parts I need to put it back together, I do not want this to end up some half finished mess, I want it to be a running, driving, and tire burning mess.

So all I have left are pictures, for now, going Sunday for the third Sunday in a row to try to make it run. Hopefully the electric fuel pump is enough to feed the carb, it's one of those cheap 4-7 PSI mr gasket units. Might grab a couple used pumps out of the junkyard and see if one is good, dunno. Either way, I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Richardx2

Ok looking forward to reading about your S10 build. The front springs will have to be a bit stronger than the stock springs to compensate for the extra weight for the V8.

In addition the balance of the weight of the drive train might be something to consider, with all the extra weight in the front the vehicle might be a bit heavy which could lead to some handling problems.

Since you are not the first person to put a V8 in a S10 some research on a good setup is recommended.

Dead Reckon

Yeah, not the first, nor the last, I was considering body swapping a 40's cab of some sort onto an S10 frame before I decided "Hell, why not just leave it an S10?".

Got the truck running this past Sunday, the cheap Spectra electric fuel pump did the trick, runs like a top, now we've just gotta find the leaky freeze plug, fix the drivers side window (It fell down into the door after I'd already declared a victory for the day)... Also gotta replace the parking brake cable, drivers side spindle (It's stripped and the caliper won't bolt up right), and uh, tires... Oh and fix the strangest issue, when the brake pedal is pressed, the turn signals come on (Fronts, and front side markers), not that strange, right? Well how about the fact that it also beeps the warning dinger under the dash whenever the left brake light or turn signal is on? Only does it on left turn signal or brake, right turn signal works fine, no beeps, left turn signal flashes all four and beeps, brake lights up all four and beeps. I have no idea what is going on, just that my prodding around in the fuse box looking for a switched source for the fuel pump couldn't have screwed things up THIS badly.

I'll get some pics of the install this weekend, forgot the camera and my phone sucks at photos, I'll probably get a short video of the truck too. Things are going, slowly but they are going. They will go faster when it's at my house and I can work on it more often.

Richardx2

Well I am having the same issue with my 95 C1500, when I depress the brakes the turn signals and marker lights come on. In addition when I plug in my horn fuze it lights up all the instrument cluster lights, even with the key in the off position.

I am not that strong in troubleshooting electrical problems and I have been chasing wires for a while, so when you figure out what the situation with the turn signal please let me know.

Have fun with your build, are you going to run a carb or fuel injection on the engine? I have a set up for a pretty strong carbed SBC with vortec heads already researched just saving money for the parts.

Dead Reckon

Going budget, so I'm going carbbed, I'd love to drop in a shiny Blueprint engine, but I'm gonna go with a cheaper 290 or 260 horse $1,500, $2,000 SBC engine, hey it's only an S10, how many horses can it take to make it too fast?

Anyway, probably won't do jack with the truck this weekend, kinda need a break from it, it took me three Sundays to get the thing running, and now I've got the job of replacing a freeze plug ahead of me, changing the fluids, securing the fuel pump and wiring, figuring out this bizarre electrical issue, and doing a few other things before I can get the truck street legal. I work weekdays, so I only have two days off a week, the nice thing of not driving my (current) project is that I don't have to get it done before work on Monday, so, that'll be nice. With my '77 Oldsmobile Delta 88, it was kind of a fix it as I go because I really HAVE to go deal.

Things will pick up here in a few weeks when the truck is at my house and I can mess with it on a regular basis, just got a holiday to get around before we'll have time to move it.

Dead Reckon

Brief update, fixed the strange beeping issue, the bulb was loose in the passengers side tail light. Evidently it's a warning feature to tell you that you have a light out?

No idea, but it's fixed, we'll be replacing the freeze plug and I'll be working on getting the truck road worthy by about September I hope. Not going to be able to do much to it through the winter, mostly just hope to save up so I can work on it in the spring.

So here's the to do list:

Rear freeze plug(s), coolant flush (Nothing but water in it)

Oil change, fix the choke (Or convert it to mechanical), new air filter, get a junkyard air cleaner (This one got smashed somehow), general tinkering to
fix minor things that have gone awry in the two years it sat.

Drivers side front caliper won't bolt on, the threads are stripped on the spindle

Parking brake cable

Tires

Windshield and wipers

Assorted odd and ends to ensure the truck is good, then it should be road worthy. I'll keep y'all posted.

Dead Reckon

Consider the project dead, have to keep the car I was going to trade. Totaled my daily today. Oh well, guess I can't have all the fun can I?

This is the car I was going to trade for the S10:



And this is the car I wrecked today...



Silver one is a 1979 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 2dr hard top, the black one is (Was?) a 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 4dr... Loved that car, had it for two years, but it's dead now. Just parts.

Richardx2

Well at least you have an engine you might be able to do something with.

Dead Reckon

Nah gonna be selling the SBC 350 in the black delta to my cousin, he's putting it in his '89 GMC pickup. It's got about 160k miles, smokes a little, but it's a strong engine. At least the Olds 350 in the silver car is rebuilt, so I shouldn't have issues.

Still want to find me a mid 70's to late 80's 2wd Suburban at some point, so when I get this car going and a bit of money saved, we'll see where that goes. I like those things, big comfy tanks.