Chop Top V8 '89 S10

[VTStance]

Hey guys - First post and first big build for me. I'll be posting updates on my 1989 piece O' shit Chevy S10.
A little info on it - I am the third owner. First owner was an old guy, drive it normal up until 80,000 miles. He let it sit for a good amount of years then decided to sell it, the second owner tore the motor apart and rebuilt it just for piece of mind. He drove it for 3,000 miles until his other car needed a clutch, to come up with extra he decided to sell it. I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket and had decided I wanted a truck and something to make into a bit of a rat rod, when I stumbled upon this on craigslist I made a few calls, found a ride down to CT and picked up it that weekend for $850. Aside from a rotted floor pan and rocker panel this truck was mint and a steal for how much he wanted. I drove it home and loved it! A little 2.2l 4 cylinder with a 4-speed t5 transmission. I knew I wanted to chop the roof but did not know how. Without the knowledge and all the negativity I got from friends and the local traditional hot rodders that only fueled my flame to chop it and at least attempt something to prove to myself I could do it.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking - These first two are the day and day after I brought it home.

[VTStance]

That weekend I had the rest of the VTStance crew over to take a look at one of the projects we'd all be getting into over the winter - After they left and I had done some research between the internet and talking to a local rodder from up the road I dove head first into the chop portion of the build.

[Robitussin]

Nice! I am a huge fan of 1st gen s10s. Excited to see how this comes out! Oh and btw if you want to get the pictures to show without having to click them upload them to an image hosting site (i prefer imgur) and copy and paste the url of the image into [img] url here [/img]

[VTStance]

I'm waiting for at least one of you to tell me how I NEEDED to brace the truck before chopping.... Sorry I hurt your feelings

Since I knew I wasn't going to use any of the stock glass I was a bit rough with it for shits and giggles...

I decided to chop 10" out of the roof and in the second picture am making my first cuts into what was a perfectly good and innocent truck. I was pretty nervous about it but I bit the bullet and dug in.

My buddy's Nate and Pat were over that night for moral support and an extra set of eyes and brain power for things I may not have thought of myself.

After three more cuts the roof was off!

[TeckniX]

Next time you bite the bullet, go ahead and brace the inside of the truck first. Those pillars are 'held' together via the roof and have now flexed from being cut down.

Something like this would've worked:



http://www.customclassictrucks.com/t...p_a_truck_top/ (for next time)

[VTStance]

Before I did anything else Olson (will be all I say of his name), a traditional rodder, and builder who has made it into Rodder's Journal told me he wouldn't give me any more pointers until I showed him I had a donor roof. The roof will be used for quartering which you will see later on. Olson completely hates this project and will only give me advice after about an hour of mockery!

After I found one at a local junkyard I kept up with the progress by cutting my original roof into 4 quarters (unfortunately have no pictures of this...) then beginning to line up and tack on the corners.

Here we are with all four corners tacked on and my donor roof was cut into slices made to fill the gaps as you can see. Blue was original and the red slices fill the gaps to I can keep the same width of the cab and not bend pillars.


This roof chop took me a little over a month to do and while I was in the mindset of it that's all I did. While at work I would make lists in my head of what may work, what could look good, be easier and better and what wouldn't work. I'd come home, eat and head straight into the garage even if I only sat and looked at what I had done so far and what step I will be doing next. The day finally came and my roof was fully tacked on, I pulled the truck out of the garage and up to my blue wrx to see how the roof line measured up.


NOTE: I could not have done any of this if it weren't for my friends and girlfriend. While some helped me physically others helped me mentally and kept pushing me during the nights when I had lost motivation and didn't think I could finish it. This chop is far from perfect and I'm at ease with that, it was my first one, in a small garage with very minimal tools.

[_e90]

Unless it's just me.


But pls. More.

[Robitussin]

^^^^^^^ this

[soab]

Im excited to see this

[VTStance]

My buddy Pat who had the welder we had been using went away to school which brought the chop top part of the project to a screeching halt. Although the roof was low, the truck was not low enough for my standards by any means. Also the truck looked way out of proportion with such a bulky front and rear end compared to the cab, it was time to start changing that.
First my buddy Peter and I pulled off the cap and the bed.

I have plans to either make my own bed with the help of a friend/carpenter or buy an old chevy stepside bed and take off the fenders to keep with the low profile look, ratty and open wheeled look.
After the bed was off the rear leaf springs were very easy to get to so Pete and I took out two of the five in each pack.

This along with 3" drop blocks and I figured it would be getting a little bit more acceptable.

We threw it all back together and pulled it back out!

[_e90]

Flat, wood plank bed with a side exit exhaust?

[VTStance]

This is when the posts start to slow and you are all up to date on how the truck is sitting and what's coming next - I ended up lowering the front a few inches more and pulled it back out to the side of the garage where it is currently sitting.

I'm away at school on weekdays and working on weekends. All work and no play leads to a lonely truck but a wallet that's slowly accumulating some spending money. At first I was going to save for air.... then I realized that this cannot have a 4 cylinder in it. That air fund quickly changed to a V8 swap fund and parts were being bought. I went back to the junkyard where I found my donor roof in search for small block chevy motors. Knowing which motor I already wanted made me picky and I didn't find what I was looking for. On my way out I stumbled across an old keg, or maybe... my new gas tank.

I got a spare key made for the truck and bought a screwdriver too... Use your imagination.

After craigslist hunting for a week or two I found a nice th400 transmission with 35,000 miles that came out of an old mobile home. I picked this up just a few days ago and it was just enough to re-light my fire and keep me motivated!!


That's all for now, everyone!!

I am currently looking for a carbureted sbc 350 and doing my research on what I want to do for a driveshaft and rear end. Stay tuned and let the feedback roll!

-Joe

[jfunkexpress]

This is amazing. Can't wait to see more.

[mikey G]

Creative and different. In for this.

[VTStance]

Thanks guys, might have a sbc 350 lined up for this weekend and if so I'll also start pulling the motor and tranny!