There's a package waiting on my front step when I got home.
Hmmm, USPS Priority 2-Day. Not GRM New Years Game. Nope, this one is from Team Alavanche, and is a very important piece of the Sonoma's future:
LS engine mounts! Still a ways down the road, but I figured having them in house will motivate me to get there sooner than later. Just need to strike a deal with my buddy who still has the LS1/T56 Camaro he bought new. :-)
Thanks for enabling, Patrick!
I like these trucks a lot and would love one for a daily. I had a two door, 5 speed, G80, '97 Jimmy that I really liked.
I can't wait to follow the LS install
Finally getting around to finishing the front suspension rebuild, including swap to late S-Blazer knuckles to gain bigger brakes and floating rotors. Yay! Forgot to bring caliper mounting bolts with me. Boo! So it's gonna wait until next weekend.
LCA's with tall ball joints, plus JY knuckles with good bearings:
New rotors, pads, fluid, inner and outer tie rod ends, adjusting sleeves, jounce hoses, jounce bumpers. Reman calipers:
I was this far into the job when I realized I didn't have caliper mounting bolts:
the only real achievement was getting the old brake fluid out of the MC reservoir:
yes, that's really brake fluid. It's significantly more filthy than the 4-year / 60k fluid I drained from our Ody a few weeks ago:
After refilling with clean fluid, I packed up and headed home with very little to show for my 1/2-day of "effort."
Standard:
Upgrade:
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Is it an upgrade when you go down?
So yesterday I opened the tailgate sideways.
a quick check of local yard website says they just set out a red 99 yesterday. I ask AK1, my 18YO, if she wants to go with and she says yes?!?!?! So we get there and she's wearing flip-flops. My bad for not checking before we left the house.
anyway, I go to the 99 Sonoma and see:
bummer. They've got 3 more S trucks though, including a red 2002. Tailgate has some holes in the outer skin but is solid at the hinges and latches so we brought it home.
Needs some clean-up but is better than the old one. Cost me $50 but I got to spend some time with AK1 before she goes off to college in a couple weeks. First we removed the emblems:
then we hit it with clay bar and Meguiars 3-step and put it on the truck:
good enough for my cheap ass!
Took a leisurely drive to my metal supplier to rummage through the Aluminum cutoffs bin. Park, open tailgate, hear hissing. A quick 360 of my surroundings reveals no snakes.
not my first rodeo. Using only the OE tools:
hashtag I own this E36 M3!
Outstanding! As a fellow S10 owner whos V8 swapping - HELLO! Nothing as cool as yours but the more I think about it I want to slap a SBC turbo kit on the 305 and see what its about. IDK. Finish the truck first I guess. Great work and cant wait to see it!
Follow my thread and check it out?
Thanks!
Chris
In reply to bonylad :
I am following your build, it's cool to have the family connection with your truck. This one might get LS swapped next year. I bought the mounts, so (as we all know from Craigslist) all the hard work's done!
Just doin' truck stuff today:
22 psi in the helpers = no squat with 2 yds of mulch in the bed
Fall cleanup complete:
and Cliff Jr got blown:
Wish you were closer! I dont really want my tailgate on my 97. Rust free..............trip to the beach? Does have a small dent though.
bonylad said:Wish you were closer! I dont really want my tailgate on my 97. Rust free..............trip to the beach? Does have a small dent though.
Oh man, I'm gonna try to figure this out. sounds like a job for the GRM Railroad. What's your zip code?
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
28570
text me 252 342 3562
Reading through this thread I realize I haven't shown much of the enabling the Sonoma has enabled. There was a transaxle:
and a big chunk of C5:
plus stopping engines from hitting the ground:
And picking up new tools:
and picking up mountains of rims:
and getting rid of mountains of rims:
and moving stage prop materials for AK2's school play:
and that's about it so far. But AK2 started drivers ed this week, so there's more enabling to come. Kid's gotta learn clutch kicks!
Well damn!
Back in Feb I had all the parts lined up to finish the front suspension refresh and swap to Blazer knuckles (for the twin-piston calipers and floating rotors), but forgot to bring the caliper mounting bolts with me. Today, eight months later, I finally got back to it. Wheels chocked, parking brake set, trans in gear, raised the front end and set it down on jack stands. Old and crappy:
new hotness:
parts list includes new LCAs with ProForged tall ball joints (to match the UCAs I installed last fall), JY knuckles / bearings / dust shields / wheel speed sensors, new calipers, new rotors, new hoses, new jounce bumpers.
Shock came out easy peasy, and the internal spring compressor secured the spring for removal. UBJ, tie rod, and LBJ tapers popped out no problem. she did fight me a little, but nothing insurmountable. First, LF brake tube nut was stuck to tube, so I twisted that berkeleyer off and will bend and flare a new line, no worries.
and the forward LCA bolt was rusted to the bushing sleeve. No worries though, plenty of room for the SawZall blade and plenty of budget for a new bolt.
then I experienced a minor win: the heat and vibration from the super-legit Torch blade RacetruckRon sent me actually broke the bolt free from the sleeve and I was able to work it back and forth until it came out. Used the wire wheel to clean up the bolts, gave em a healthy coat of anti-seize:
and hung the new LCA. popped the JY knuckle assembly in place, and by this time it was well after dark and I was hungry:
so I put the tools away and called it a night. I have to actually *go* to work tomorrow, so I might get to put in a couple hours in the evening. Soooo looking forward to getting rid of the clunks and having fresh brakes.
Got home from work around 4:30 and got after passenger side disassembly:
everything came apart! Again, tube nut was rusted to tube, so I twisted it off. I'll buy a roll of 1/4" NiCopp and a bag of tube nuts and replace both front lines, no sweat.
LCA bushings were pretty beat. I also found the press-fit LBJ was partly dislodged from its home position:
I cleaned up and anti-seized the LCA bolts and popped the new LCA in place, and a light rain began to fall. So I hurried through installing the spring, knuckle, and shock, and called it a night. If all goes to plan, I'll install rotors and calipers tomorrow, run hard lines on Wednesday, and have her bled and back on the road Thursday night.
that should be a pretty huge improvement for you
Looking good. Love me some V8 Sdime.
84FSP said:Looking good. Love me some V8 Sdime.
Indeed. All it needs after this is the V8! :-)
Advance auto parts order online, discount code COUPON25 for 25% off, pick up curbside. 25ft roll of 1/4" NiCopp for $49. Amazon would have been cheaper but now I can knock this out today.
Installed rotor and caliper on RF, installed new hose and it's very obvious that the Sonoma hose bracket won't work with the Blazer brakes. Not sure if I'm gonna modify Sonoma bracket (probably) or make JY trip just to get Blazer brackets (last resort).
Looking good.
+1 on teens driving manual transmissions. Impress your friends, never have your car stolen! I've got one trained, one to go.
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