Chassis Build Up & Design

Low speed maneuverability isn't a huge concern as it won't be a daily driver.  I'm more worried about having enough lock for oppo and similar situations like Ryo mentions.

The Isuzu already tracks pretty hard with road surfaces due to the extra caster and wide tires, so I do have some experience with pulling.  The S10s from the factory are setup with so much scrub radius already it's inevitable when going big like this.

I'm certainly going to run as is for now.  Need to get it on the road and enjoy it before taking it to the next level.  I lack focus already, so I really need to limit the scope of the project.  But any serious geometry changes and I might as well go for a full custom chassis.

Regardless I need to get the body on and a decent alignment worked out before making any final decisions.  Just wanted to get the thoughts and calculations done while the mockup was fresh in my mind.

I spent most of my last week working on this. Well just fitting the radiator in the core support. I wanted something to appear unmodified once the truck is back together, so I spent time disassembling several of the spot welded parts to get the Cavalier radiator to fit inside just right.  Ended up cutting the entire bottom out of the core support and built a second piece to act as the radiator support. I used the factory upper bushings from the cavalier, but cut down the brackets to just a metal donut to support, but not cut the bushing. Cut holes in the upper portion of the core support to just fit the modified brackets.  For the bottom I used the factory S10 upper bushings.  They're a rectangular rubber cup that holds the portion of the radiator that clamps around the end caps.  Lots of clearancing throughout to fit all the details of the fan, drain, and other radiator features.  Still have a few more places to trim a bit more away and add a pair of bolts to support the front of the core support to the lower structure.

I hadn't thought about the height of the upper radiator hose on the cavalier radiator.  It is a bit low, but I'm looking into capping off the water pump neck and boring out the boss that would allow me to make it forward facing at a similar height to the radiator outlet.  That should eliminate any high spots outside the radiator.

Anyway, that's progress. Now to keep some momentum on this even as I get the Isuzu back on the road.







Plenty of working room, now.

     

I'll have to get some more close up pictures of the entire assembly to show some of the clearance details.  I could knock this out much faster the second time through, but I was trying not to remove more than I needed.

Looking good!

now you should figure out how to maintain AC

Easy. Drive the Isuzu.... 

Yearly updates? Dammit...

Well considering the only reason I'll be in the good ol' US of A these next few months is to finish this project... maybe I'll be updating more. I won't make any promises.

I did however, in between chasing down issues on the Isuzu, training for World's Toughest Mudder, and general catching up with friends this last month, find time to work on this project. I spent most of my time test fitting and mocking up the intake tract and steering shaft, but also made up the E85 sensor mount and restarted momentum on the exhaust. I should have the exhaust through the muffler completed with another day in the shop and I'm really happy with how the merge and transition from the 2.5" downpipes to the 3" tailpipe turned out. It came together exactly as i had planned and that is always a good motivation.

I made my merge based on this how-to from honda-tech: http://honda-tech.com/forums/welding-fabrication-53/merge-collector-fabrication-101-a-2787713/ To transition from 2.5" to 3" tube I flattened the 3" tube in the vice and it lined up perfectly after a few trials and some grinding to straighten everything out.

The original 5x11 Oval Magnaflow muffler I purchased was wider than 11"... so I couldn't fit it in the 12" space I had. Ordered up a 5x8 and have plenty of space now.

Too bad I'm taking 2 weeks out of town for WTM, but once I'm back I'm excited to keep going.

looking good!

Glad I'm breaking the trend.

Finished up the exhaust through the muffler. No pictures yet, but I picked up some stainless rod and a bunch of exhaust brackets at the junkyard to get the mounting sorted out. That's on the plan for tomorrow, but the final hangers will have to wait for some stainless washers I ordered up.

I also ordered a set of smaller dimple dies to fancy up my brackets. I may be joining the dimple die everything club soon. 

PCM bracket with the E85 bracket in the middle. E85 bracket is now ready to weld to the frame. Another goal for tomorrow.

bends look good, what are you using? I don't remember seeing a finger brake

5 lb Sledge and the Vice are my bending assistants. 

Exhaust is all tacked together. Tried something new bending up the 3/8" Stainless Hanger rods I picked up (Amazon FTW). Built a quick jig with a piece of pipe I cut off the muffler and hit it hard with the Oxyacetylene torch.  Definitely got better as I went.





I was able to use the factory exhaust hangers and happy it came together so well.

I have another bend that I will use to support this rod from the bottom.





Picked up a new bent to fit set of fuel lines for a Blazer.  Problem is they appear to be for a 4 door. Definitely not right for the 2 door, but the company is so far trying to make it right and asked me to take some pictures for them.

Definitely not the same line:



Regardless it had me pulling out all the fuel lines I had on hand and I pieced together the forward half after getting the E85 sensor welded up to the crossmember. I couldn't get my welding skills together today, but it's on there. The welds just look like poo. Once I test fit the cab I'll splice the front lines with the cut offs I have from the Yukon I pulled my engine from. Already brainstorming how I'll mount the lines to the transmission. I'll only need to tweak a few bends and add one bracket to have it laying nicely along the T56.





These are all factory parts and connections so far.

Ryo stopped by with a friend from work and between the two of them they spent part of the day making much better TIG welds than I could without as many hours practicing. Oh did I tease? I have no pictures, but I have many thanks to those two. I'll finish up the last few welds this week and get it mounted on the frame again for some pictures.

Ryo helped me start tearing down the frame to get it off the table and start the final build up. Getting this done is really starting to feel like a reality.

I was debating if I should find a way aka a warm place to clean up and paint the frame, but then I started looking and thinking about what needs to be done for the suspension and I know I'm going to be trying many different ideas in the future to get it closer to what I want, so just putting it together for now. I might clean up some of the uglier rust quick with a brush and slap some tractor paint on the uncoated portions.

On that note in my S10 forum browsing I've been seeing several builds lately that have been relocating spring mounts to get lower. One of my biggest contentions with my current suspension setup is the use of blocks, so I'm really tempted to go this route too. The Blazer front mounts are actually quite easy as they're riveted to the outside of the frame. With the sliders I plan to run in the rear it doesn't seem to hard to recess and weld them up into the frame. Ryo was concerned about the leaf clearing the frame, but the more I looked at the more I think I can work around that too. Tailpipe routing on the passenger side will get tighter and if I run the parking brake cable I'll have to drill a through hole into the front mount. Nothing that can't be worked with.







Between the sliders and wanting to get the ride height correct I'll be waiting until I have most of the weight on the chassis before I mock it up, but the mind is already running with the idea.

so far ive been super impressed with the durability of the brush-on rustoleum bedliner. unfortunately haven't been able to find it sold on any local shelves, but amazon has it.
brushes on very thick, and sticks well to light rust as well. so far aside from a section I ground off on a rock on my rock sliders, not a single flake or chip.
although it has only been a couple months, I'll let you know in the spring how it likes salt.

Nice to hear it's approaching the finishing stages. Your frame looks miles better than mine as-is. A few years ago I spent about a week scraping, wire brushing, using rust converting primer, and painting and it's basically all gone now.

It's one of those things that I'd like to do because I doubt the frame will ever be bare again, but the timing is bad with the weather and I'm likely to continue to modify the frame, so it isn't the best situation for it.

The tube bender said they found the right CNC files to match what I showed them. Supposed to have new lines bent up this week, so that's another improvement.

Nice to hear it's approaching the finishing stages.

HA!

but yes, progress is good!!

Nice to hear it's approaching the finishing stages.

HA!

but yes, progress is good!!

It's all relative - this project will likely be finished long before my truck has a turbo and a 5 speed 

Thanks for the confidence in my progress haha

I'm really slacking on pictures,  though. Finished up the fuel lines up front today and the new rear lines from In-line Tube were spot on. They took care of me, so I'm happy.

Spent most of this week cleaning up the shop in preparation to get the frame on the ground. It may be early next week before I get the last of the exhaust welding done and back on the frame for some quick pictures.

Rentedmule, how are the 550 lb Springs treating you up front? I like the 590 ZQ8 rate on the Isuzu, so I'm thinking of going all the way to 650 with the weight of the V8 and Blazer. Had any issues with the shocks themselves at the higher spring rate or has the higher rate eliminated most of the destruction from bottoming out? What was the part number you ordered for the new springs?

what's the calculated corner frequencies between those two spring rates?

I'll have to check the part numbers for the 650's, they're out in the barn. I still find the 550's too soft and have bottomed them out a few times; nothing serious but I can see witness marks on the coils. No more damage to the LCAs but the mounting plates are already bowed and so are the T-bars on the shocks.

I still only run 5-6 clicks from the lowest setting on the shocks for street driving and up to about 9 or 10 for auto-X. There still seems to be plenty of adjustment range and I wouldn't expect a problem with the 650's. I was hoping to have those on and tested this fall but the snow came early and the truck is parked now.