Just a picture of the engine compartment

Like it says.... Just a picture I wanted to post on the v8 S10.com form.

Video of the truck... And header fit.

Thanksgiving Eve...

Not alot to report today. Here are a few pictures of the $20 carburetor getting it's choke tower hacked off... I am going to finish the blow through conversion next week, and I'll take some pictures of that. Today I only had a few minutes to play with truck stuff. My shop is busy, the shops that I sub work for are busy, and it's holiday. If I can get a little more time in the coming weeks I should have this thing running shortly.

Here is where the cost of the project stands at the moment.

Truck: needed a T5 transmission and this one had a rebuilt one in it. Paid $500 but sold the trans for $500 (it also had a set of ralley wheels that sold for $400 and the motor got picked up for $200, so really this thing was -$600 bucks) we'll call it $0

Motor: paid $50 on Craigslist because it "made noise" after the previous owners rebuilt it. Turned out to be a timing chain that was bumping the block (kind of a common issue with the earlier casting blocks) PO said it had less than 500 miles on it, after disassembling and inspection, I have no reason to doubt the milage claim. Bonus was the RV Cam and .040 over pistons in fresh bores. Yes it's just a lowly 307, but if it were any other sized small block I most likely would not have got it for $50.

Gasket set for the motor: $35

Transmission: Mike at Classic Auto here in Concord kicked down the old Powerglide that was in his 66 Chevelle and a nice shinny new converter that was supposed to go in something else (for whatever reason it didnt) all for 100 bucks.

Carburetor, intake, mounts, distributor: swap meet package deal for $70

Exhaust: $15 so far

Fuel pressure regulator: $25 eBay... We will see if it works, as I haven't received it yet. The idea is to use the efi pump with a bypass regulator so the we can boost reference fuel... I'm sceptical that a $25 regulator can really step down the 55ish psi that the intank pump puts out and boost reference reliably... But hey it's an eighth the price of a Mallory/Aeromotive/FuelLab regulator so we're gonna roll the dice.

Radiator: $52 also eBay.... Using a replacement 4.3 radiator, I'll post some pictures once it's in.

So total is $347 if my mathbis right.... The original goal was 12s (in the quarter) for 1200 bucks total... I think I am in good shape with the budget... Still need all the front drive stuff and a driveshaft.... And a big ol' eBay turbo but......

S10 headers installed.

Got in early this morning and finished up the passenger side header. Here are a few pictures of them. And a few of how they fit in the engine bay. The drivers side is an inch longer over all, so that the cross over pipe will meet up next to the passenger side pipe when it is installed.

Next step will be the mount the radiator, and make up the cross over pipe. That's all going to have to wait till the radiator and bends come in... Hopefully next week.

Diy log headers for the S10

Okay... So I searched the internet for a picture of someones log headers for an S10 swap, and came up only a couple pictures. What I was really after was some specifics on tube sizing, and how they stepped it up.

Advanced Adapters sells v8 conversion headers that are stepped up logs similar to what I ended up making. The Advanced Adapters ones seem to be pretty popular, though I would have my concerns about there flow properties since they use crush bent tubing. I want front dump or forward facing headers, as I will most likely be adding a turbo to my setup. Originally I was going to purchase Schoenfield forward dump S10 headers, but after some careful measurements realized that they would put the collectors halfway into the wheel openings, rather than in the fender ahead of the wheel openings. The Schoenfield headers also would make for alot of work to modify for a turbo setup.

I started with with a set of shorty headers I had laying around the shop. They had 1 3/16 primary tubes, and some weird flange that I never found collectors for. I cut the flanges off and began fitting. The log tube I welded on is 2 1/4, and the step up fits on the outside of the primary and the inside of the log. The drivers side is the tight one on a S10 swap, as the rear tube must clear the steering and brake booster.

So here are some pictures of the drivers side finished. The shorties were free, and the two lengths of tube and the reducers were 15 bucks I now have an extra $300 that I would have spent on the Scoenfield, so I am ordering the turbo instead.

I will post a few pictures of them installed... Maybe tomorrow if I get a chance to finish the passenger side. These are for a SBC in a first gen S10, using TransDapt adapters on 2.8 mounts. The transmission is a powerglide sitting on a 1/2 inch rigid plate (no rubber mount) attached to the t5 crossmember in it's stock location. I hope these pics and info help with your project.

This style and setup would work well on f-body Camaro and Firebird too as they have the same sort of space limitations.

Let's get the intro out of the way.

So for the last 7+ years I have owned and operated my little hole in the wall hot rod shop. We have built motors, restored classics, even lowered a Civic. The majority of work is on 50s and 60s muscle cars and customs. Restomod for you catch phrase kinda guys. For most of my life I have been car obsessed. At any given moment in my shop, or one of the shops I Sub at, there is a 10 second street car, or a frame off resto, or some other kind of car butchery happening. 

I am not saying I am an expert, but I do have alot of experience doing things that are not necessarily common place for the average home hot rod builder. That being said I get alot of questions about products, or methods, and I like answering them, just not over and over again. Here is where this blog comes in. I can write out explanations, reviews, procedures etc. and they will all be right here for anyone to draw on. For anyone to read. For anyone that may find this stuff useful.

Maybe no one will ever find this little blurb and this all just a big waste of time... Oh well... I guess we will see.