it begins - the sonoma of doom project

i finally decided to tear into the truck after months of standing on the banks of the "what do i do now" river.

phase 1 is suspension. will let pictures talk for me.

i'm pretty sure this bushing is bad and one of the reasons i had a nasty clunk

here are some of the parts going on. 33mm/23mm sway bars, 2" drop spindles, etc... i also decided while things were apart to chop 1/2 coil off for a total of 3" front drop and to get a little better geometry in the front suspension. that herb adams book is going to get me in trouble one day.

the rear already got 2" blocks, which only brought the truck level. so i ordered 3" drop leaf springs.

today ended with one leaf spring installed, one front spring cut/installed/new LBJ/upper control arm installed. also got the other side down to needing to remove the spring and LBJ before i can reinstall things. it appears the lower control arm bushings and the upper rights were replaced at some point but they neglected the left uppers, which were scary. i found the tie rods, center link, and idler arm to be equally scary so i ordered all new stuff from rock auto this afternoon. my dad swiped one of my wheel bearings from my new used rotors for his s10 so i need to snag a new inner seal tomorrow and do more work unless it is raining. i've got a hunch that my vibration on the highway will disappear once the front end has all new parts.

in true cheap fashion i bought a 4 door 2wd blazer just to get the sway bars and ended up profiting after selling parts and scrapping the truck. the plan is that this truck will show at $2013.... was supposed to be this year but my buddy is getting married that weekend and asked me to be his best man before i knew the date.

more to come...

I'm glad I could have the extra set of drop spindles from the boat/truck IOE Lemons car will be put to good use!

go to www.pro-touring.com and search for project drivabeater

that was my s15 challenge project a few years ago that spiralled way out of control.

i already did the chassis research for you. it was competitove open track AND autocross.

michael

Holy poop. Are you sure it didn't sit in the river instead of on the banks?

Good luck! I like square body S10 buildups.

FYI... s-series trucks share most front suspension parts with A/G bodies. Most of the performance parts that fit (for instance) the 78-87 GM intermediate body cars will bolt on to your sonoma.

curtis73 wrote: FYI... s-series trucks share most front suspension parts with A/G bodies. Most of the performance parts that fit (for instance) the 78-87 GM intermediate body cars will bolt on to your sonoma.

Really? That's berkeleying fascinating. I knew that G bodies could be made to handle and I've been doing a bit of poking around about them. I've never seen an s10 that was more than slammed and frightening. Well except for the guy with the syclone, but I thought there was some sort of other voodoo with that truck. I'll be watching this with great interest.

Sonic wrote: I'm glad I could have the extra set of drop spindles from the boat/truck IOE Lemons car will be put to good use!

Me speak English? Unpossible!

[you know I'm just giving you a hard time!]

this is a southern truck. the frame and all undercarriage parts were still in factory black when i got it, that rust is from one ohio winter of driving.

duster i read your thread as you built your truck years ago. long before i had this truck. i know i probably should paint some stuff before i reassemble but i really just don't care. maybe it's because i really need the truck on the road ASAP so i can start getting 20+mpg instead of 15 driving my 4x4 suburban. i can always paint later.

yes G body stuff interchanges - which gives a wonderfully cheap source of things like tubular upper control arms from speedway.

while i was digging in my stash i found some front shocks. they are monroe reflex ones made for a dakota. they bolted right in, cost me $0(they were a warranty return at parts store because customer cross threaded nut and they gave his $ back so they gave them to me instead of dumpstering them), and are stiffer than a factory shock. the rears i have some bilstein takeoffs from a new durango that cost me $7 and close enough to be able to make work.

anything is better than this

ditching the adapters and ford wheels and stealing the 17x8 soft 8's from my belair.

Will be watching this with interest Patgizz. Square body S-trucks have always had my interest.

Freaking sweet! Can't wait to see more.

dculberson wrote:

Sonic wrote: I'm glad I could have the extra set of drop spindles from the boat/truck IOE Lemons car will be put to good use!

Me speak English? Unpossible! [you know I'm just giving you a hard time!]

That's what happens when I post after drinking. It made sense at the time.

I'm the attorney representing Daewoo of Death. I hereby notify you to cease and desist from any further mention of automotive projects "of doom." The world's most awesome Daewoo build already goes by the moniker "of doom."

Should you disregard this notification, I will be forced to spread athlete's foot fungus on your bathroom floor, feed ex-lax to your cats and offhandedly imply to all your neighbors that you oppose cancer research and kick puppies for fun.

look at my driveway, the guy next door already hates me.

Looks like a fun project

Reason 1,456 why it's good to be from Ohio. Far from.

patgizz wrote: ...that rust is from one ohio winter of driving.

These kinds of threads have me considering an S10 as a good alternative to a Mazda B2x00 (a real Mazda, not that Ranger with different badges).

pres589 wrote: These kinds of threads have me considering an S10 as a good alternative to a Mazda B2x00 (a real Mazda, not that Ranger with different badges).

If you do the mazderp, you can pretty much drop an F2T from an mx6 GT/ Probe GT right in, for all the 12 valve turbo goodness!

with the s10 a lsx / gen4 swap is easy for cheap v8 goodness

i dunno, i love myself a big rumbly v8, everything else i own has one with the exception of my 68 c20, but i've been wondering lately about how a trailblazer 4.2 would fit. probably too long or tall. then i think about an ecotec turbo like the solstice/sky. those engines are everywhere cheap because they put them in everything and turbo parts are plentiful. who knows. i think i'm going to do the maths for any possible swap and go from there. most likely anything would end up being a stockish 350 because it really doesn't get any cheaper than that.

right now the passenger side front is together and i'm mid-install on the left leaf spring. i just came in for lunch and to get a break from cursing the gm engineer that installed the springs with the bolt from the inside then installed the gas tank so the bolt needed cut or the tank needed dropped. so now i need to go to the store and buy a new bolt.

waiting on idler arm from rock auto or i'd be able to rebuild the steering today and be ready to align it. time to make some turn plates and bust out the coffee cans and rulers. last time i set toe i parked on gravel for a makeshift turn plate and it was a pain in the rear.

passenger side assembled (less rotor). waiting on the idler arm before i tackle the steering linkage, and leaving the front sway bar off to leave more room to do that stuff. oh yeah i put on ES poly bumpstops. got them for $4 at a surplus store. way better than the hard cracked falling apart rotting rubber factory ones.

both rear springs done. still need to do shocks and sway bar. i am going to add helpers to keep things level while towing the little trailer or throwing stuff in the bed. i have them already left over from another vehicle.

loving the ride height so far in the back just with it up on the jack. i added the very hard to find factory flares that make it look like you dropped another inch and give more room for tire. the blazer ones are everywhere, the truck ones are super hard to find. just tossed the ford wheel back on to see where it would end up.

Wipe off your camera lens!

guess who's back on the ground, with new used shoes. for the record i wiped off my lens prior to these pictures.

rear sway bar not on yet, next on list is that plus new steering column and floor shift conversion.

Those Soft8's really set if off. I like.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Reason 1,456 why it's good to be *from* Ohio. Far from.

patgizz wrote: ...that rust is from one ohio winter of driving.

I have an 86 Nissan truck with 350+ k miles. Compared to that thing, my truck is pristine. I am so happy I live in the backwards South.

more. settled a little when i drove it around the yard.