Just a Few Words

 The other day I was over at a neighbors while he was working on his Chevy. He was having radiator problems and was wondering why one of the fittings would screw into the top of the tank on his rad and the other wouldn't screw into the bottom. Now,he was replacing a rad that had plastic tanks with one that had steal tanks. The first thing I noticed was that the fittings on the steal tank were two different sizes. The ones on the original radiator were both the same size. He faught with it for an hour or so till I mentioned the problem. He said to me that it didn't make any sense why it would be like that. It could be any one of a number of reasons. I started to explain that there are things that auto makers do to try to eliminate the back yard mechanic to people are more inclined to bring ther vehicle into a dealership or shop to get them fixed.

  There are actually quiet a few little tricks that manufacturers do to make it hard on the backyard do-it-yourselfer. It just makes sense business wise to create a market. I remember my cousin asking me why wouldn't car makers put dual exhaust on vehicles if it worked so much better. Simple,it's called get the job done. Most of us know that dual exhaust on any V-6 or V-8 engine creates better flow and therefore better performance and fuel economy. How ever,it costs more money. Its the same with cam profiles,cylinder head designs and the like. Of course for the most part manufacturers are building for performance more and more again,to the delight of all of us so they are incorperating years of research and development. The result is more durability,better performance, and better fuel economy than ever.

  When adding computer advancements it adds even more advantages. Timing is damn near precise,fuel pulses are timed exactly to valve timing and so forth. ECM's learn how you drive your car and adapt. There are still things that automakers should do but,don't due to cost and the like because you can buy tuners and software that give even better performance. One reseaon is drivability and smooth operating. After all most of us are in stop and go traffic quite often. The rank profile cams and huge displacements are for the track anyways. With that said though,most cars and trucks are coming out of the factory with at least 300 horsepower anyway. And for around $350.00 you can get yourself a tuner from Hypertech or even Superchip to get more bang for your buck.

More on the S-15

 Since deciding that the S-15 was going to be a daily driver for my mother I felt that the 350 Chevy that was in it was a little much for her,and besides I have a perfectly good 305 that was gonna get tossed anyway. With a little help the 305 can be a strong enough engine for a lady that's damn near finished her working life. The above picture shows just how tight the engine bay is when you move closer to the firewall.

 Another very strong indicator of the thought put into installing the LT-1 into this truck was that the firewall was not gently "massaged" to give plenty of clearance for the H.E.I. or access to the bell housing bolts. Resulting in the need to undo the tranny cross member and pulling the engine forward enough to get at the last couple bolts to disconnect the engine from the tranny.

At first I figured that it would be an easy swap however,on closer inspection it turns out that there were some aspects of the initial built that were over done from laziness if you can believe it. Instead of using proper exhaust hangers the complete system was welded lock,stock and barrel from the collectors right to the dumps. Including welding the pipes to the cross member. There are actually places where they welded the two pipes to each other. One the other hand the guy putting this system in may have understood the fact that there would be a lot of vibration and may have just not wanted it to ever come apart..either way we'll never know.

 When I first drove this truck I noted that the transmission would not go into any forward gear but,drive. Once I got underneath and had a look it was easy to see the reason why.The way the shifter cable was attached with a bolt and a few nuts locked against each other didn't allow for any clearance past the transmission pan. A little thought and this would have fixed this little problem right up. One off the pluses are engine mounts with adjustable holes so that you can change where the engine's final resting place by as much as an inch and a half with out drilling new holes for the frame mounts.

For a while I was trying to figure out the reasoning behind most of the way this truck was built however,I decided it wasn't worth the effort. When it gets put back together it'll be done so that what needs to be accessed can be and what doesn't won't. This is the third S- series truck I've done and I've found that without serious modifications these trucks just aren't built or designed with anything but,stock V-6 or 4 banger engines in mind. So adding anything over 350 horsepower requires doing some homework. Just like any other build.

The S-15 with the LT1

 A little while ago I made a snap decision to buy an S-15 with a small block Chevy in it. I drove it and found that it had a hell of a time putting the power to the ground. Needless to say,I decided to pull the 350 out of it and through the original 305 from our Firebird project into it and fix it up a bit then give it to my mom. Now my mother is not exactly a spring chicken so the 305 with a mild work over like headers,a mild cam and a decent stereo will suit her just fine. and of course,putting the interior back together is a must. And as you can see from the pictures below it does leave a little to be desired.

When I first had a look at this truck I noticed that there was lots of things done that gave me the impression that it was slapped together,namely how the plug wires were a mix match of a few different sets and the zip tires to keep all the extra wires out of the way of moving parts. The truck has twin electric fans,one of which was hooked up to a switch and the other directly to ignition power as well as a flex fan attached to the water pump. I don't know about you but,I am not a fan of flex fans because when they grenade they have a habit of chewing up vital hoses and wires. Anyway, it was a simple fix to get the twin electric fans on the same ignition power with a slightly larger fuse and some heavier wire. The brake lights didn't work when I pulled it into the garage and a quick look at the brake light switch told me why. After replacing that and changing the rear tail light bulbs to the correct ones all the lights worked and no warning lights were on.

 Now,this truck was on Kijiji for about 3 months,it's easy to see why. The owner that had it before the guy I got it from decided that having the truck in primer was going to help sell it. Including the mirrors and bumpers,and the rubber window seals,the grill,headlight bezels...pretty much the entire truck was done in rattle can primer. The body work was a mix of bondo and fiberglass. About the only thing that was done right on this truck was the exhaust system,everything else was basically slapped together with the expectation that some young kid that doesn't know better would shell out a few grand to buy it. Needless to say,when it sees the road again it will actually resemble something that had some time spent on it and it will be ready for a half decent paint job with the body work done right.

 Judging by the amount of extra wire,it seams like the stereo that was in it may have been bigger than what was under the hood. Then there was all the sawdust and little flakes of hay. There was no rear seats so I'm thinking that someone used the back seat for a hay wagon.