Hi guys, I thought I would share a little bit of my slightly modified 89 S-10 project. My dad and I run an automotive repair shop and we tend to accumulate a few spare parts. One day we were rummaging through a pile of junk we had stored in the back of an S-10 that we had traded for. The old 4 wheeled storage box had a 2.5 motor that had popped a piston, and a transmission that liked to growl more than bite. The little pickup had a pretty strait body on it and we both agreed that it would be a shame to just let it sit there and rot. And like a sign from above dad had a brilliant idea. He stood back, took a good look at the truck and said, "this thing has got just about the same body lines down the whole length of the truck." " Couldn't we just whack the bed into, move the cab back, and add what what we took off of the bed to the fenders?" "It shouldn't be too hard, right". (YEA RIGHT!!) I looked at it and decided it seemed to be a doable prospect. We both decided it would definitely be something unique. We stood there and discussed our ideas and gave our best game plans on how to go about it. Soon enough we laughed off our crazy scheme and got back to work. It has been about 5 years since the idea of our crazy frankentruck came to life.
Jumping ahead now, the old spark for something weird comes back to life. 2 months ago we were getting frustrated with the same ole everyday methodical work, and we needed something to unleash our creative ingenious on. I remembered the idea that dad had for the old worn out S-10, so I fired up the John Deere tractor and grabbed a chain. We pulled the crusty truck up on the lift and started the tear down. We started by taking the bed and the fenders off, then we took the cab loose. Now we needed a plan. After careful deliberation my plan was to cut strait and cut fast. Dad's plan was to hide anything capable of cutting metal! One thing we did agree on was that it was going to get a twin turbo small block and a turbo 400 transmission.(Remember when I said we tend to accumulate spare parts) Then the real work began.
So far we have moved the cab back 14.5 inches, shortened the bed 14.5, and added the 14.5 we took out of the bed to the front fenders. We decided to leave the gas lid that was on the bed section and just add it to the left front fender. We figured it would be a good place to dump the exhaust from the twin turbo setup. I just hope some kid at a full service gas station doesn't think that is where the gas goes... We plan on making the spring on the fuel door a little softer where it will jump in and out like the flapper on an old tractor exhaust. Were just doing this project for fun anyway, so why not! Last weekend we started mocking up the vortec 350 that we are going to use for this build. We got the motor in place and decided that 14.5 inches back just wasn't going to cut it. So what did we do, we cut it! We fired up the cutting wheel and cut a big portion of the firewall out. Now the motor will sit 20 inches back from where a sbc would normally sit. Can anyone say wheelie!
I have had a lot of people come in and ask why in the world would we want to do something like that. They all say it looks like too much work. Well if you want to know my motivation, it's simple. My dad is my best friend, and so far we have had a blast working on this rig. We both share a passion for cars, and both like something a little odd. So why not spend a little time together and build our own oddball creation. We have a long way to go, but it is coming together. We plan on modifying a dog box out of a van to cover the motor. We are going to try and find a dash out of a 59 chevy car to put in it. And we will be putting a 14 bolt chevy rear end in it as soon as we break the stock one. Oh and so far we have only go $150 in the truck. That is counting the truck, completed long block, turbo, intercooler, bov, transmission, 3500 stall converter, rear end, drive shaft, aluminum wheels, 11.5 slicks, and all materials. (Did I mention that we tend to accumulate a lot of junk) It is forever more a junkyard build. Enough talk, here are some pictures.

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Cool build and different which is a good thing. Please keep this updated!

What turbo choice?

 

subscribed!! like the gas door on the fender

 

Im loving it cant wait to see more

 

sandbum I am going with the cheap ebay t3/t4 hybrid turbos. I have one that was bought for another project that never got used. I am just going to buy another one to match. I know I will probably get some bad feedback on them, but this is the first turbo setup I have ever done. If everything works out I may go all out and build a boost friendly motor and put on a set of good turbos. I am not looking for 1000 hp out of the motor. I just want it to be a fun beater that I can drive on the street and take to the track on the weekend. I don't know if my expectations are unrealistic but I would like to see 500-600 hp out of it. But as long as it is fun to drive and turns a few heads, I don't really care. I have had a couple of supercharged motors, so I am not completely out of touch with how boost works. I had a 84 Monte Carlo SS with an 1100 hp small block. I would like the turbos to be small enough to spool pretty quick. I don't plan on turning the motor over 5000-5500 rpm.

 

In about a month a local school is putting on a car show. This will be their 6th show and it gets larger every year. We are going to try to make it with the s-10. We have a long way to go, but with a little luck I think we can do it. I am sure we won't be finished with everything we plan on doing, but I expect to have it driving by then and maybe a coat or two of satin black paint. I snagged a dog box out of a work van from a local salvage yard yesterday that I plan on cutting down to cover the huge hole we put in the firewall. The weekend is about the only time I have to work on it. If work slows down some I might get a chance during the week every once in a while. So just keep checking the posts, I'll keep you guys up to date.

 

Trouble always seems to hit at the worst time. I had 2 daily driver cars break down on me this weekend. I have spent the whole weekend working on them. I have been thinking about my project all weekend. Since I am going to have to buy another turbo anyway, I have been thinking about going to a bigger single turbo instead of the twins. What do you guys think? It will mainly be a street toy that I plan to drive to the track and play with. Any input will be appreciated.

 

Its been a while since I updated the build. Here is a few pics of the progress.

Passenger side manifold and motor mount.
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Driver side manifold and motor mount
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Turbo mounted right side
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Turbo mounted left side
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Exhaust mounted
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Homemade carb hat/coffee can
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Difficult to see, bud what kind of braces you have to hold the turbos ?

 

Nice build, sticking with the eddy carb?

 

@pavementpounder- I don't have any braces on it yet. As soon as I get the cold side piped, I am going to work on the bracing. I plan to make some kind of bracket to connect both turbos and either go down to the frame or the motor. I haven't decided which way I will go yet.

 

@half-fast- I'm not going to go with the old eddy. I am building a 750dp Holley now to go on it. That was just a good carb I stuck on it to break in the motor and make sure I didn't have any gremlins to work out.

 

I forgot to mention, the truck has 3in. downpipes that run about half way under the cab and cut down to 2 1/2 and go through chambered flowmasters with a turn down in front of the axle. It's as quiet as a mouse until you give her a little gas! If it runs as good as it sounds when the turbos spool, it should be a fun ride.

 

Dang, you guys take the cake. I love it.
That thing needs a solid front axle FX style.
Wild candy paint, heavy on the metal flake.
White wall retro 70s slicks.
Great idea...

 

Thanks a lot patl. It is going to be one weird creature, that's for sure. The candy paint would be sick, but I would rather try to swim the Atlantic as attempt to spray candy paint. I do have a set of old school 31x15 cheater slicks that I might put on it. I like the solid front axle idea. I always wanted a gasser!

 

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Pipes made and powdercoated.

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Starting of the dog box.

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Since the last time I posted, we got the fuel pump installed, the aeromotive boost referenced fuel pressure regulator installed, 1 junction box for the constant hot wires, and 1 fuse box with all keyed hot wires. Most of the wiring and vacuum lines are straitened up now. We took so much out of the firewall to move the motor back that we had to remove the gas pedal.... Well we got that straitened out. We had to bend the brake pedal over to make room for the new floor mount gas pedal. We ran all new hard lines for the fuel system. The 750dp Holley has been modified and is ready to be installed. The dog box is about half finished. I still have to put a couple of layers of fiberglass mat on it and some kind of heat shield on the motor side. I am thinking about using something like Hush Mat on the motor side to help keep the heat and noise down.

 

To let you guys know just how much of a scrap build this is, when we moved the cab back we had to lengthen the steering rod, I noticed that the rod mounted under the truck that lets the spare tire down was the right size and length. So we just unbolted it, cut the stock steering rod in two and welded the spare tire rod in. It turned out perfect! This budget build is starting to get expensive though... After buying the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump it has put us up close to $1000 counting the truck, parts, and material. lol Who says you can't have fun with junk!

 

Very unique, reminds me of some of the wild looking hot rods I've seen in pictures from the 60's and 70's. Not that I've ever seen anything close to it, it just has the same "f[]€£ what you think, I'm building THIS" attitude about it, and you can bet your ass, your housecat, and your cowboy hat that it'll HOOK.