I picked up the donor S10 this past Saturday. Rich, a real nice guy, was there when I arrived. Young guy, like 20. Between him and his family, there was a ton of car projects sprawled about the large property. The truck was NICE. Way nicer than I expected. I mean the whole thing had a used look about it, but overall it was still very decent. A quick peek underneath, and I was really happy. The frame, the main thing I am interested in, is in excellent shape. He started it up, and drove it right up on the trailer, so I didn't have to winch it on. He reported that the fuel pump was intermittently failing, and that was the only real problem with it.
Rich asked why I didn't seem particularly interested in the details he was mentioning. I told him that as nice as the truck was, I was going to use the chassis and some other parts to re-frame a 1955 Ford F100. He said his brother is in the process of the same exact thing on a '56, and that we could look at it. What an incredible coincidence. We finished strapping the S10 down, and exchanged cash for a title and keys. Done. Just the way I like these deals, easy and fast.
We strolled over to an old 40' semi-truck box that was lying on the ground and being used for a storage shed. He opened the door and we made our way to the back. Sure enough, there was a mostly disassembled '56 F100. It was hard to see in the dark, and mostly obscured by the various body parts; hood, fenders, etc, that were piled on it, but sure enough, it was indeed sitting on an S10 frame. Rich told me that they do a lot of car projects there (I could see that) and that the S10 frame was a popular swap donor for many of them. He said they were easy to do and rode great. This was a nice thing to hear.
I considered happening upon their '56 project, 100 miles away from my own '55, yet right where I came to be standing, as a cosmic sign of reassurance*. Clearly the car gods were smiling upon me. On my way out of his long driveway, I passed some old vehicle carcasses lying off to the side. Could that be? Yes, it is, another S10 frame. He wasn't kidding that they were into them. Has the manual steering box too. The one thing about the truck I bought that was unsuitable was that it has power steering. I need manual. I ambled back to the house and summoned Rich. Was he interested in selling me the manual box? I gave him $20, and another $20 to ship it. He assured me that he would send it out this week. How easy was that? The one thing I thought I'd need to be scrambling about for, I find on the way out. Done!
* This seems to happen to me often. I will go on a long trip, and finally get out of the vehicle, just to be standing in front of some incredibly coincidental thing. Drive 100 miles to where I've never been before, get out, and BAM, some cool thing, right there. No other examples spring to mind, so a bit of a let-down there.
I took a cursory look at the S10 the next day. I tell you, for the $50 for a new fuel pump, and half a day to pull the tank, this would be a nice little driver. If I was ever going to (wimp) out and abandon the F100 project, this would be the time! This would be a perfect electric vehicle conversion candidate just as it sits. It didn't help that I saw an S10 at the tire store that morning that was done really nice; pure white paint, lowered all around, camaro IROC wheels. Very similar to the one I had years ago.
If I was just going to do a straight S10 conversion, I swear I'd be half done by now. Probably be strapping in the batteries next weekend. These look like a perfect platform to convert. If anyone wants me to do a conversion for them, and you like these little trucks, let me know. Looks like it would be so easy it would not even be a challenge.
Anyway, it didn't take me long to realize that I might be temporaily satisfied with a straight S10 conversion, but it was really not my dream. It was not what I had planned and envisioned myself driving. The biggest appeal of doing the electric vehicle conversion was the old truck aspect of it. How cool would it be to drive this '55 everyday? No, how cool would it be to drive the '55 as an electric vehicle every day?
I'm back on track.
Rich asked why I didn't seem particularly interested in the details he was mentioning. I told him that as nice as the truck was, I was going to use the chassis and some other parts to re-frame a 1955 Ford F100. He said his brother is in the process of the same exact thing on a '56, and that we could look at it. What an incredible coincidence. We finished strapping the S10 down, and exchanged cash for a title and keys. Done. Just the way I like these deals, easy and fast.
We strolled over to an old 40' semi-truck box that was lying on the ground and being used for a storage shed. He opened the door and we made our way to the back. Sure enough, there was a mostly disassembled '56 F100. It was hard to see in the dark, and mostly obscured by the various body parts; hood, fenders, etc, that were piled on it, but sure enough, it was indeed sitting on an S10 frame. Rich told me that they do a lot of car projects there (I could see that) and that the S10 frame was a popular swap donor for many of them. He said they were easy to do and rode great. This was a nice thing to hear.
I considered happening upon their '56 project, 100 miles away from my own '55, yet right where I came to be standing, as a cosmic sign of reassurance*. Clearly the car gods were smiling upon me. On my way out of his long driveway, I passed some old vehicle carcasses lying off to the side. Could that be? Yes, it is, another S10 frame. He wasn't kidding that they were into them. Has the manual steering box too. The one thing about the truck I bought that was unsuitable was that it has power steering. I need manual. I ambled back to the house and summoned Rich. Was he interested in selling me the manual box? I gave him $20, and another $20 to ship it. He assured me that he would send it out this week. How easy was that? The one thing I thought I'd need to be scrambling about for, I find on the way out. Done!
* This seems to happen to me often. I will go on a long trip, and finally get out of the vehicle, just to be standing in front of some incredibly coincidental thing. Drive 100 miles to where I've never been before, get out, and BAM, some cool thing, right there. No other examples spring to mind, so a bit of a let-down there.
I took a cursory look at the S10 the next day. I tell you, for the $50 for a new fuel pump, and half a day to pull the tank, this would be a nice little driver. If I was ever going to (wimp) out and abandon the F100 project, this would be the time! This would be a perfect electric vehicle conversion candidate just as it sits. It didn't help that I saw an S10 at the tire store that morning that was done really nice; pure white paint, lowered all around, camaro IROC wheels. Very similar to the one I had years ago.
If I was just going to do a straight S10 conversion, I swear I'd be half done by now. Probably be strapping in the batteries next weekend. These look like a perfect platform to convert. If anyone wants me to do a conversion for them, and you like these little trucks, let me know. Looks like it would be so easy it would not even be a challenge.
Anyway, it didn't take me long to realize that I might be temporaily satisfied with a straight S10 conversion, but it was really not my dream. It was not what I had planned and envisioned myself driving. The biggest appeal of doing the electric vehicle conversion was the old truck aspect of it. How cool would it be to drive this '55 everyday? No, how cool would it be to drive the '55 as an electric vehicle every day?
I'm back on track.
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