Hi,
If you do not see a Contents Menu on the left side of this page, Please click HERE for this site to load properly.
Thank you for visiting my S10 conversion site.

I had a Driveline built to fit between the rear battery boxes.

Nov. 19, 2007
The GM stock drive line was extremely close to the right side battery box. I opted to have a new driveline built. The new driveline will not have the oversize tube through the middle.

Nov. 20, 2007
I had a buddy cut the tube sections off in a lath. I delivered the driveline "yokes" to the driveline shop to be used with the new driveline. My measurement for the driveline lenght was 52 7/8" from "U" joint center to center.

Nov. 28, 2007
The driveline is back from Six States, Driveline Service, and is balanced and installed tonight. This looks better.

Feb. 27, 2008
Tonight was a warmer evening so I will install the Aluminum brake drums and the drilled brake rotors that I bought off eBay.
The Aluminum drums have a steel liner where the brake shoes contact inside the drum.
These were OEM parts on some GM automobiles and did not require any modifications to fit.
I weighed the new components and also the old components for my information.
The steel drums each weighed 15 LBS.


The Aluminum drums each weighed 11 LBS.


This is a picture of the rear brake wheel cylinder that needs to be rebuilt or replaced. Because I am going to install a power brake booster / master cylinder assm. I will install new wheel cylinders that are the correct bore for GM power rear drum brakes. The stock nonpower wheel cylinder bore is 7/8" and for an s10 with power brakes is a 3/4" bore.


Here is the stock GM S10 front disc brakes and the new drilled rotors, from eBay.


I weighed the new components and also the old components for my information.
The stock S10 rotors each weighed 20.5 LBS.


The drilled performance rotors each weighed 19.5 LBS.

These rotors are directional and must be installed on the correct side of the vehicle.
While I was removing the brake calipers I found that the upper A arm pivots are completely shot and need to be replaced.
I was able to remove the old grease seals with out damaging them so they can be reused after I pack the wheel bearings with grease.
The disc brake pads were in very good condition with 90% wear remaining. I lubricated the pins and sliders.

These are the Aluminum wheels that I purchased from my local auto wrecking yard. The wheels were complete with center caps and nuts.
The clear coating on the wheels was very weathered and peeling. I used "JASCO SPEEDOMATIC PAINT REMOVER" to remove the clear coat. The paint remover contains "Methylene Chloride". DO NOT use any cleaner that contains Sodium Hydroxide or LYE as it will attack the aluminum wheels and eat em!
I will give the wheels a good polishing with Aluminum kitchen cleaner to get the stains out. I looked at "Mothers Aluminum Wheel Cleaner", but it was too high priced for the heavy cleaning that i need to do on these wheels. The Aluminum pots and pans kitchen cleaner was less than $2 for a large container.
The center caps were covered with green oxidation that I was able to remove with some fine BRONZE Wool, NOT steel wool, as steel wool WILL scratch the chrome plating.
I weighed the stock 14" steel wheels (with a bald tire) and compaired the weights to the Aluminum wheels (with a new tire).

The stock GM 14" S10 steel wheel and tire each weighed 36 LBS.

The Aluminum 14" wheel and tire each weighed 32.5 LBS.

Apr. 4, 2008
To gain more clearance away from the driveline, I cut loose the right side battery box frame, above the driveline, and moved the vertical (corner) angle iron and also 3 of the vertical battety frame sides at the top and bottom in 1/8".
Making the inside of the width of the battery box a little smaller, but it should not be a problem.

Apr. 30, 2008
I mounted the vacuum pump on the left front inner fender.
I bought 4 rubber electric motor mounts at my local motor rewind shop.

The mounts had 5/16" threads, so I drilled and tapped the bottom of the vacuum pump so the mounts would thread into the bottom of the pump.
I used a 5/16", "Coupling Nut", (cut in half and used 1/2 of the nut on 2 of the mounting studs), to level the pump when it is bolted inplace.

The 5/16" bolts to secure the pump, come up from the bottom through the inner fender into the nuts.

I bought a Summit Racing vacuum reservoir on eBay.

May 1, 2008
Mounted the vacuum reservoir on the inner fender.

May 2, 2008
Revised the mounting for the vacuum reservoir to gain room for the Zilla cooling reservoir.

To get ready to install the power brake assm. I removed the manual brake master cylinder assm..

May 3, 2008
Removed the power brake booster, master cylinder assm. from a wrecked S10.

Also, I removed the brake swing arm that goes with the power brake assm, because, I suspected it was different than the manual brake swing arm, I was right!

All of the parts from the wrecking yard

Notice the different mounting of the power booster vs the manual brake master cylinder mount!
I knew this was going to get difficult!
I used a cut off disc to cut the studs off close to the firewall.
Drilled holes through the center of each one to mount the power brake booster with the mounting nuts under the dash.
I started with a 1/8" drill bit and enlarged each hole by drilling them + 1/32" until I had the holes enlarged to 1/2".
HOLY CATS, The steel bolts were welded into the underdash brace, the welds had hardened the bolt heads to where they were harder than the drill bits!!
I broke a couple of the smaller drill bits and had to sharpen every drill bit after just 30 seconds of use, the corners of the drills would just round over!

Complete!

Back to the wrecking yard on Monday because, Even the brake light switch arm is different and did not bring the one from the power brake donor truck.

Jun. 28, 2008
I am going to connect this brake line lock to the front brake line, down from the proportioning valve.

July 5, 2008
I selected the location just to the right of the inside cab hood release to mount the line lock.
I used 1/4" carrage bolts to mount the lock.
I used a short length of plastic tube for a spacer to make up the space at the top of the lock and the dash contour.
I cut a notch in the lower panel to ease the removal of this panel with out removing the bolts that hold the lock in place.
I purchased 3/16" X 30" long lines with 3/16" inverted flare fittings, and also a 3/16" tube to tube union.
I carefully made the bends needed to get the tubing connected. I covered the tubing with electrical tape and secured it with wire ties.
Bled the system and checked for leaks.
To use the line lock, you hold the lock button in and press on the brake petal to set the front brakes, release the brake petal and then release the button and the brakes will remain (locked) pressurized.
To release the lock press down on the brake petal and the lock button pops back out to the unlocked position.

Sept. 20, 2010
I have been thinking about if the 195/70/R14 tires are a poor rolling tire or
if a narrower tire on a 15" wheel would get my S10 to rolling more efficient.
I have been looking for a set of 4, 15"X 4" wide compact spare wheels for the S10.

I have had "Want to Buy" adds on Craigslist for the last month. Finally a good fellow called me with 2
compact spare wheels and tires, with the compact spare that came on my s10 I only need one more to have a full set of 4, 15"X4" wide wheels.
I went to Magic Valley Parts Locator and went through the mountain of tires and wheels and
found the final compact spare steel wheel that had the same offset for an S10.
I degreased and cleaned the 4 wheels, removed the valve stems, and then painted them with
Dutch Boy, Instant Chrome, Chrome Aluminum #4101.

Sept. 29, 2010
I purchased 4, 165/80/R15 tires from Jacks Tires, had them mounted up on my rims.

They look out of place on my S10, esp after getting used to the wider 14" tires and wheels.
I will have to see if they make a difference on my rolling resistance.
I noticed right away that the truck is much easier to steer and feels more nimble on the road.
I will see within the month if there is any drop in recharge costs.

Oct. 4, 2010
I have been courious just how much more the 15" tire and wheel combonation weighs compaired with the other tire
and wheel combonations. So, tonight I removed one of the 165/80/R15 and the steel compact spare wheel and weighed it.
For my information the 165/80/R15 tires and steel 15" X 4" wheels weighed 37 LBS.
(Stock 14" tire and wheel combo weighed 36 LBS., Aluminum 14" tire and wheel combo weighed 32 LBS.)
Time will tell if there is any improvement in rolling resistance.

NEXT Warp9 Motor to S-10 Transmission Adaptor.

eXTReMe Tracker

More next time...........