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A Chevy S10: The search for Redblock power

Oh, I'm not looking to get rich off this truck. I'll probably toss it on CL for ~$1800 and see what offers I get. I just have too many unfinished projects, and I'd rather sell this and out $$ into the Volvo :)

By the way, I think your idea is awesome! If you're after uniqueness, practicality doesn't matter, otherwise everyone on here *should* be running 350's in their turbo car. You can find 400hp+ small blocks all day long that will run forever and every auto parts store carries parts...

Plenty of small and big block s10's on the road, haven't heard of a red block yet :cool:
 
383Mazda said:
Oh, I'm not looking to get rich off this truck. I'll probably toss it on CL for ~$1800 and see what offers I get. I just have too many unfinished projects, and I'd rather sell this and out $$ into the Volvo :)

By the way, I think your idea is awesome! If you're after uniqueness, practicality doesn't matter, otherwise everyone on here *should* be running 350's in their turbo car. You can find 400hp+ small blocks all day long that will run forever and every auto parts store carries parts...

Plenty of small and big block s10's on the road, haven't heard of a red block yet :cool:
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's precisely my thought process on the matter. I've only heard of one person putting a redblock in an s10 and he didn't get it finished before he sold it. Matter of fact I tried to buy that truck back then and it got sold before I could get down there to get it. Guess you could say that one was my inspiration, because I've wanted one since.

Anyway, got my first purchase in the mail today. Thanks Gary!




I'm planning on pulling the engine out this coming weekend, might be making a deal to trade it for a nice converter.
 
turbotankshane said:
After getting the t5 swap done and realizing the goals I had for a 300whp daily driver 240, I found myself a little bored. So, I promplty traded it off for a 1991 Chevy s10 pickup to have a new project, and I should be picking up a new daily this weekend.

Here's the way this thing was presented to me:



Now while I immediately loved this little truck, the decals were a big no-go for me. So with a little elbow grease at the wash, they came right off.



It has its fair share of problems that need addressed before it goes under the knife.. Theres a nice A-pillar 3 gauge pod with volt meter, water temp gauge, and wideband AFR gauge, and the voltmeter is the only one that works.. and this big goofy tach gets stuck at whatever RPM it happens to be at if you turn the headlamps on :roll: Gas gauge doesn't work, backlighting on the cluster needs either fixed or upgraded.. And there's a few too many stickers on this thing for my liking. These pep boys special "racing seats" are liveable for now but I'd rather just have a bench seat in it..





Anyway, there's a list of things I'm going to fix before it goes under the knife, but the plan after that is to bolt a mildly built 8v redblock up to the 700r4 that's already behind the 4.3 currently in the truck, as it would really simplify things to not have to worry about a driveshaft, shift linkage, crossmember/mount, etc.

Long term goal is ~400whp/11's, while remaining streetable.
Click to expand...

I see I'm not the only one who likes racing seats in an S10
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208380839831344&set=pcb.10208380841231379&type=3&theater

Good Luck with the rest of the build.
 
+T kit arrived today! Lots of parts but the meat and potatoes is 16t, 90+, 350cc injectors. A good start for this thing to get the truck moving under turbo power.



Getting more excited about this every day!
 
Torque converter adapter showed up today.



I've got a head with a t cam on the way and a full gasket/bearing/seal set coming as well. Once that's all here I'll start putting an engine together. I've made little progress on the truck itself this week, I had planned to have the 4.3 out by today but ran into problem after problem with daily life and didn't have time to touch it. I ended up working on everyone else's cars instead, and its looking like this coming weekend is going to be more of the same. But, some progress is better than no progress, and I at least got all the busted/bent stuff out.

 
Updates! The 4.3 came out rather uneventfully, and sold pretty quickly.



Bearings and gasket sets arrived, thanks for the steal of a deal from kevbot.



Let my wife talk me into painting the engine..



So this past Sunday, I proceeded to make a giant mess on the driveway. No garage built at this house yet, but its in the works. Disassembled to check out cylinders, bearings, etc. This block came from my old 92 740t that had 350k on it when I tore it apart.. and its hard to believe that it had that kinda mileage on it. I'm willing to bet it was replaced at some point before I got that car.



Followed through on the coveted greenblock conversion



And as of this evening, one cylinder has had the ridge reamed and has been honed, I'll finish the others tomorrow. I had a hard time getting this autozone ridge reamer to center in the bore correctly, it always wanted to cut more from one side than another, and not consistently. Seems like I'm getting the hang of it now.



The head will be going to the machine shop tomorrow to have some rust on the valves taken care of, in the meantime I'll replace the bearings and start assembling the bottom end.
 
Shortblock has been assembled, new bearings and seals installed. Had to bring my work inside the house due to the temperature and precipitation we've been receiving of late..



I went to see a friend at the shop I was recently working in, and he parted with a nice 3000 rpm stall torque converter. I'm more excited about this thing than I am about getting the engine put together, ought to be a blast!



Started pulling old studs out of the head and a few exhuast studs broke, so off to the machine shop she goes!
 
More parts have arrived.. I had originally planned on using the stock volvo intercooler, but this one was too good of a deal to pass up.



The engine going in the s10 is 99.9% done



But while I'm waiting on a few little things, I thought I'd get the spare block bolted up to the 700r4 and put in the truck so I can work out some engine mounts.



Its going a little slower than I would have liked, but progress is progress and I'm happy with that.
 
Started last night after work, because what better night to give a Frankenstein a new heart than Halloween..







Also, picked up a microsquirt for $200 with harness, and bought a cheap android tablet to bluetooth with it via the MSDroid app

 
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Woah, just noticed this project and I dig it. I've always had a soft spot for (lowered) S-10s and Blazers. I actually would have rocked this with the cheesy graphics. Looking forward to seeing this on the road.
 
I'm overdue for an update on this. Not long after the last update, I rear ended an elderly lady that just happened to be an old friends mom, and simultaneously fixed her back that had been paining her for some time.. it was a strange situation. To make a long story short, I'm now dailying the jankiest, smoke-blowinest, sub-$1k old 4 cylinder ford ranger, nearing completion on the s10 and after its driveable the wagon is moving into its place to get a few body panels and a core support fixed and get a turbo shoveled in.

Most recent pic I have of the S10:



Since this picture, the harness has been made and the last thing I really have to get figured out is how to rig my tv cable for the 700r4 and the s10 throttle cable, although I suspect I'll just adapt a volvo throttle cable and solder the aw71 end onto the 700r4 cable. After the cables are done its just assemble the rest and tune the 'squirt!
 


Alternator setup is done, and for posterity's sake, it takes a 47.5" belt to run this accessory configuration.

Got ms wiring done, currently dealing with sync issues but otherwise all of my harness splicing between the s10 factory harness, volvo engine harness and ms harness went without issue. I printed off a book from alldata to make it happen.
 
I approve this shenaniganary!

Cool build, and why not, truck will be so light?! Would love to see a 16v head and a Holset on forged internal red, er green block. Make it do wheelies and bunny hop in the street! Should not be too terribly hard with a stock 16v head. Love it, stay gold!
 
Nice progress man! I just bought a 98 ranger (B2500 actually). As I've researched motor swap options (for grins and giggles), I wound up in the turbo mustang / thundercoup forums which use the same 4cly Lime motor, and apparently a popular head swap for those guys in the Volvo 16V head, lol - who would have figured??

Maybe I'll follow your lead and throw my spare turbo drive train into the ranger and we'll start a redblock powered mini truck club :lol:
 
383Mazda said:
Nice progress man! I just bought a 98 ranger (B2500 actually). As I've researched motor swap options (for grins and giggles), I wound up in the turbo mustang / thundercoup forums which use the same 4cly Lime motor, and apparently a popular head swap for those guys in the Volvo 16V head, lol - who would have figured??

Maybe I'll follow your lead and throw my spare turbo drive train into the ranger and we'll start a redblock powered mini truck club :lol:
Click to expand...

I've recently got a 90 ranger, its the 2.3 with a 5 speed and it burns a quart a week minimum. It's a gutless wonder but its dead reliable. The guy I bought it from has a 2.3 turbocoupe engine swapped into his and its a hoot.
 
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