"The Distraction" Why I haven't updated the stereo in my car...

Notloudenuf said:
Hell yeah lovin the work you're doing.
There is a 80's model blazer parked under a shed at an old meth shack down the road. I'm trying to work it out for free :D
Click to expand...

If only you were a high school chemistry teacher mistakenly diagnosed with terminal cancer...you could work out a trade. lol


Jay
 
WOW. It's been a while.

Back around Christmas, I was really busy with work, and went a couple of weeks without Facebook and most of the Forums I spent a lot of time on.
After remote start season calmed down, I founds myself with some time to work on my truck, and after that I just tried to keep the streak going. lol

Recently, I tried to log on here and on DIYMA, and couldn't get on over there...talked to Nick (Apicella) and he said that the owners of DIYMA cracked
down on people in the industry and want like $500 (a year, I think he said) for us. No thanks.

Anyway, since the last post above, I managed to get the transmission mount welded in (not completely, I need to pull the cab to do the top and do some touch ups) and started
on the driver's side floor replacement...

IMG_20180311_134603188 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

I ordered a bunch of parts:

Walbro 255lph in tank fuel pump
HotRodFuelHose -6AN PTFE lined fuel line and AN fittings
AN wrenches
Fuel Filter
Transmission Dipstick
Floor pan

etc.

IMG_20180116_145619026 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr


Then I embarked on a side project. I built a custom steering column.
I started with the stock '89 S15 steering column I had from the cab that came with the green truck.
Swapped in the shift bowl from a floor shift '81 Firebird (without the mount for the column shifter)
Used the upper stub shaft from an '08 or '09 Buick Lucerne and the leather wrapped steering wheel
from an '07 Cobalt LS with stereo and cruise controls. In order to get those to work, I grabbed the
lock plate, turn signal cancellation cam and clock spring from a '94 Grand Prix with steering wheel controls.
I need to make a cover for the part right under the steering wheel (the upper stub shaft is about 7/8" longer
than stock.)

I also body worked and painted everything satin black.

IMG_20180415_125133525 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

On to rust repair...

Jay
 
So, I knew it needed a driver's side floor pan. And the area at the bottom of the fender well/kick panel.

IMG_20180413_113013407 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

So, I cut the floor pan out and started fabricating patch panels...

IMG_20180413_115455992 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

Then I got more in depth...After I got the floor pan out, the top plate on the body mount was shot...

IMG_20180413_114610026 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

So, I cut that out, cleaned all the loose rust out of the inside of the body mount and treated it with Rustoleum Rust Reformer.
Then I did 3M weld through II primer on the faces that got welded. Everything has a coat of SOMETHING on it, so hopefully it will be a while before it rusts again,

IMG_20180413_191723359 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180425_152650380_HDR by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180425_164327029 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

All ground down

IMG_20180425_164327029 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

Then I opened up the kick panel some more and found the inner structure was very rusty.
I also found out that even though the lower A pillar looked mint, I could stick a screwdriver though it. Sigh.

IMG_20180413_194515047 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180413_194748565 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr
 
Which meant I needed a new rocker panel. So I cut it open to see how it looked. It had minor rust bubbling on the outside.

IMG_20180509_182324099 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180513_164658831 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180509_175729112 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

It was pretty rusty inside...So....


I used skills learned from pressing grills to make a jig so I could make a replacement panel for the main part of the inner rocker.

IMG_20180603_140720232_HDR by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180603_143144928 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180603_175249883_HDR by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180605_212809368 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

I also replaced the part of the inner rocker that attaches to the body mount.

IMG_20180610_175323218 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180611_070529770 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20180612_210647241 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

And then there was more rust...
 
While I was poking around, I noticed the area under the lower hinge was soft. So, I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to remove the hinge to repair the area behind it. I made a jig that bolts to the fender mounts (part of the hinge) to position it, so I can make sure to get it in just the right spot.

IMG_20180509_124309074 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

That's pretty close to where I'm at now.

I bought another rocker panel, so I could section it up to rebuild the inner structure...because most of the inner structure was missing. lol

IMG_20180606_185201537 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

I envy you guys who live in the south, and west. lol

Jay
 
Yes it is. I've had several people tell me I should just get another cab. But this is the third cab I've had during this project,
and I don't feel confident I could do better. This one looked really good except for the floor rust, which I've come to expect
to find on S-10's of this vintage in my area. It was all the hidden stuff that got me. At this point I'm going to finish it up,
and probably cover the entire floor/firewall/kick panel/rear wall with Soundskins.

I'm really hoping the passenger side isn't this bad. I almost don't want to check, but I don't want to fix it after paint, either.

Also, I filled in the shifter hole in the floor, removed the foot parking brake, mated the gas pedal from the S10 to the base
of the drive-by-wire pedal from the Silverado. I'll be using the floor shift and hand parking brake from a Trailblazer.

I need to open up the passenger side front body mount to (at least) fix the captive nut that has broken loose.
I don't take that as a good sign. lol

Jay
 
Thanks. I had a couple of months where car audio was just not interesting to me. Burnt out, probably. But I've gotten to do a few jobs that were fun since then, and it's helped re-focus me.

Jay
 
Well, after over thinking this inner structure piece for almost 2 years, I finally said "F it," and got to work.

I went out to the truck and found pieces of the old, rusty rocker. From there I looked at the clean area and determined the approximate shape I needed.

IMG_20190327_152832314 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

You can see that it looks like the panel ended about halfway through the curve.
So, that's where I cut my original rocker replacement. I had messed up a little at the back and the gap was too big to weld up, so I used that as my base, and then used my 2nd, untouched rocker for it's intended purpose.

I cut it at the line closer to the front.

IMG_20190327_133050238 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

Voila! I used a punch I bought probably almost 20 years ago (for VW floors) to punch holes. My intent had been to weld the two pieces together, with the holes on the back side so I wouldn't have to smooth spot welds...but changed my mind.

Didn't end up having to section it, fortunately.

IMG_20190327_140746178_HDR by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

Refit the outer rocker and clamped everything in place before marking it this time.

IMG_20190327_170201446 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

Then I made some backers to fill some gaps.

IMG_20190327_172832256 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

IMG_20190327_173500496 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

IMG_20190327_155256592 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/152771097@N08/, on Flickr

The back side of everything got hit with weld through primer, and is drying.

I need to cut the extra 3 or so inches out of the factory rocker, and prep the surface of the rocker where I replaced the back piece, and I should be ready to weld things on.

After that I can proceed with the inside kick panel, bottom of the fender and floor.

Might be a while, I have some other things going on, but shouldn't be 2 years.

Jay
 
Wow, I have this on like 3 different forums, and I'm not up to date on any of them. lol

Bringing things up to date:

IMG_20190414_190057628 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20190414_225314169 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20190414_225320336 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20190415_215239042 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20190415_215242895 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

IMG_20190416_203537503 by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

But the rocker seems to be out a little (1/4" or less) at the front of the door, so I need to pull it in to make the door fit right before I install the floor.
Sadly, with winter being what it has, I have a bunch of stuff shoved in the garage and don't have much room to work. I plan to pick it back up in spring once
we get 50ish temps on the regular.

Also, I purchased the "Distraction from the Distraction," a '99 Plymouth Neon Expresso Coupe Manual in Forest Green.
I picked it up so I could keep the Mazda cleaner, and keep the miles off of it since I put 100k in 2.5 years.
Typical shows are 200-250 miles away from me, so I needed to tone it down some. lol

Untitled by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

It was originally an automatic, but the PO converted it to a manual. I picked it up for $550 with an Iceman CAI, Mopar Performance PCM, Embroidered "Neon" bra (sorta rare), Mopar High Rates and Extra High rate springs, Koni adjustable struts (which are shot) stock steelies and a set of Rotas. It also came with a full Prothane Urethane bushing kit.
The speedo hadn't worked since about 2006 when he swapped the trans, and the reverse lights didn't work either.

So far, since I've picked it up I've fixed:

Speedo/Odometer
Swapped Springs and struts

Front and rear motor mounts (front is now stock with Prothane inserts, rear is a Neon Goodies Semi Solid mount)
Replaced the exhaust manifold
Cleaned and painted the rusty battery tray, fixed a bunch of wiring issues, swapped to a stock PCM to see if I can get the MPG up.
And collected a lot of parts:

Untitled by Jay McGraw, on Flickr

I've picked up a couple more things since then. Come spring I have a lot of work to do. lol

Jay
 
OK. It only took a global pandemic, but my truck now has a floor. I'm going to pretend the other side is fine. lol



I had a hard time getting my welder settings right, so the welds aren't pretty, but hey, it's a floor.























And, while doing some of the welding, I had a ball of weld spatter land on my pinky finger nail and melt part way through my nail. Ouch.







So, yeah, they're ugly (I had some problems at first, and blew through in a few places, but it's solid.) I'm going to hit them with the grinder and cover it in seam sealer. There will be sound deadener and carpet over it, so you can't see it anyway. I'll clean up the under side when I pull the cab for some other stuff.



But overall, I'm happy. I should be able to put the seat, column and pedals in and figure out where to mount my Trailblazer shifter and parking brake handle.



This will probably be a rainy day project for the next few weeks, since I have some other stuff I need to work on.



Jay
 
Love seeing builds like this. Motivates me to finally find a project car. I want something I can work on with my son when he gets older. He’s only two now but when I put YouTube on the tv he wants to watch cars cars cars. Unfortunately the boy has extremely expensive tastes lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Today, I finished up mounting the on the shifter, and started on the hand brake.

The brackets I made for the shifter kinda floated over the edge because of the shape of the floor, so I made a support that tied it into the floor. I put a speed home in it, too. lol
Didn't get a pic. I'll post one tomorrow after I get the parking brake sorted.

A user on S10forum gave me a parking brake and support bracket he plasma'd out of a parts truck he had. I started by separating the floor from the support bracket.

49724888788_cde0ef3200_z.jpg


49725428516_6d72491e65_z.jpg


Then I determined position, which isn't as ideal as I'd like, I had to move it toward the driver's side, so there would be enough room between the passenger seat to build the side of the center console. That just means I might not have room for a convenient cupholder, but I'm still optimistic. lol

I cut the floor for clearance and made templates to extend the tunnel, and give it a little more height so I have clearance for the parking brake cables over the driveshaft.

I'll cut them up and get them in tomorrow. I'm making them out of 16ga, and the factory bracket will attach underneath.

49729350046_c105e0ec69_z.jpg


49729665747_f3a9e18a33_z.jpg


More tomorrow.

Jay
 
I see I forgot to post my shifter mounts the other day. Oops.

49724888698_f31d9dbc9a_z.jpg


Those got welded in and I made brackets to support the sides that were "floating" because the floor is curved.

Jay
 
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