TomTheWicked
10-03-2016, 07:12 PM
Hi all, long time listener, first time caller. I'm sharing the build of my '94 S-10 pickup that my dad and I are working on for your critique and, well, whatever it is you guys do with the information you gather from here...anywho, here's what we're starting with.
132732
I bought the truck in October 2011 with the the hopes of making it a cool drag truck on the cheap. Fast forward a few years, jobs, and garages later, my dad and I went to a NASA event in Summit Point, WV and got bit by the road racing bug. We've done a few HyperDrives, a few HPDE sessions, and have pretty much decided that this is going to be our racing hobby of choice. So what are we going to do with this truck? Cut it up and make a race car (errrr, truck) of course!
So where do we start? Well we hemmed and hawed for a bit on whether it would be best to start with a short cab, or to shorten the extended cab I already had. Ultimately we decided that the latter was a better option for a couple of reasons: First, at 6'2" the short cab doesn't leave much leg room after you move the seat forward when the main hoop is installed. Second, we like custom things. Third, we have the tools and knowledge, so why not?
132733
We marked two lines 10.5" apart, and cut the back shell off of the cab.
132734
The inner floor took a little thinking to get though so that it mated up as easily as possible.
132735
After a grinding disk and some careful measurements, here's the result. All that's left is to cut 10.5" of sheet metal off of the remain cab and stick the rear of the cab back on.
132736
Just like this. We used a pneumatic flanger to provide a lip for the rear of the cab to slide onto.
132737
After a little trimming of various undercuts and corners, we were able to put the cab back together.
We wanted to remove that terrible gap (of approximately 1.5") between the bed and cab to make things look a little more "aero" and further shorten the truck to have a final wheelbase of 110.9", about 2.5" longer than a regular cab. We accomplished this by taking 12" out of the frame. We removed the front bed/rear cab mount and were then able to find good and straight real estate to take out metal of.
132738
We feel like doing the "Z" cut evens out the stress better than a straight cut would, although I've seen where others don't do the "Z".
132741
It took some time to square the frame back up and get it all lined up correctly, but this is the result.
132742
This is the final weld. We are going to plate it for extra reinforcement because, well, having it crack would suck.
Next we set up the front suspension. We've currently installed DJM 2" drop spindles, Proforged .5" longer upper and lower ball joints, and tubular upper control arms from Speedway. We set the ride by simply using a couple pieces of strap, all-thread and a couple of nuts. Using the 1/3-2/3 rule, the lower control arms pretty much ended up level, and the upper control arms were angled to move the IC towards the opposite tire. Also, as best I could measure with some imaginary lines, this gives me a front static RCH of around 1.5." Pretty acceptable IMO.
132743
After fitting both spindles and control arms for both sides, it was just too irresistible not to set it on the ground...After we did, we measured a clearance height of just under 5.5"...we will probbly have to raise it slightly in order to meet club minimums (5.5" I think)
132746132747
Next we are going to work on the Satchell link. Waiting on a rear cross-member to arrive, and then I will have more pictures posted.
PS if someone could tell me how to rotate those last two images, I'd appreciate it.
132732
I bought the truck in October 2011 with the the hopes of making it a cool drag truck on the cheap. Fast forward a few years, jobs, and garages later, my dad and I went to a NASA event in Summit Point, WV and got bit by the road racing bug. We've done a few HyperDrives, a few HPDE sessions, and have pretty much decided that this is going to be our racing hobby of choice. So what are we going to do with this truck? Cut it up and make a race car (errrr, truck) of course!
So where do we start? Well we hemmed and hawed for a bit on whether it would be best to start with a short cab, or to shorten the extended cab I already had. Ultimately we decided that the latter was a better option for a couple of reasons: First, at 6'2" the short cab doesn't leave much leg room after you move the seat forward when the main hoop is installed. Second, we like custom things. Third, we have the tools and knowledge, so why not?
132733
We marked two lines 10.5" apart, and cut the back shell off of the cab.
132734
The inner floor took a little thinking to get though so that it mated up as easily as possible.
132735
After a grinding disk and some careful measurements, here's the result. All that's left is to cut 10.5" of sheet metal off of the remain cab and stick the rear of the cab back on.
132736
Just like this. We used a pneumatic flanger to provide a lip for the rear of the cab to slide onto.
132737
After a little trimming of various undercuts and corners, we were able to put the cab back together.
We wanted to remove that terrible gap (of approximately 1.5") between the bed and cab to make things look a little more "aero" and further shorten the truck to have a final wheelbase of 110.9", about 2.5" longer than a regular cab. We accomplished this by taking 12" out of the frame. We removed the front bed/rear cab mount and were then able to find good and straight real estate to take out metal of.
132738
We feel like doing the "Z" cut evens out the stress better than a straight cut would, although I've seen where others don't do the "Z".
132741
It took some time to square the frame back up and get it all lined up correctly, but this is the result.
132742
This is the final weld. We are going to plate it for extra reinforcement because, well, having it crack would suck.
Next we set up the front suspension. We've currently installed DJM 2" drop spindles, Proforged .5" longer upper and lower ball joints, and tubular upper control arms from Speedway. We set the ride by simply using a couple pieces of strap, all-thread and a couple of nuts. Using the 1/3-2/3 rule, the lower control arms pretty much ended up level, and the upper control arms were angled to move the IC towards the opposite tire. Also, as best I could measure with some imaginary lines, this gives me a front static RCH of around 1.5." Pretty acceptable IMO.
132743
After fitting both spindles and control arms for both sides, it was just too irresistible not to set it on the ground...After we did, we measured a clearance height of just under 5.5"...we will probbly have to raise it slightly in order to meet club minimums (5.5" I think)
132746132747
Next we are going to work on the Satchell link. Waiting on a rear cross-member to arrive, and then I will have more pictures posted.
PS if someone could tell me how to rotate those last two images, I'd appreciate it.