2003 Chevrolet S10

[sullen cypress]

THIS is my piece of shit Chevy S10. Dumped on me by my mom because she bought it, got burned, didn’t have the time, money, or skill to bother with it herself, but she decided to give it to me since I’ve been talking about wanting a small pickup for years.

She has a 2.2l 4 cylinder engine with 0 issues, far as I can tell her frame isn’t rusting away, and all the lights work.

She does however have quite a few issues with her body

Rear window has been replaced and improperly installed

Windshield has a really bad crack spanning 3/4th of the window, feels like it’s got problems on the interior side too, tho no leaks

[inner pivot]

HOLD on.

[sullen cypress]

As you can imagine by the carpet on the dash, the old foam dash is solid and shattered

[inner pivot]

First thing.

U gotta do.

[sullen cypress]

What’s up

I got a lot of first things I need to do

[inner pivot]

Get it off them ugly wheels, n I am sure the tyres are rough.

Scroll on marketplace until u find something u like really anything will fit as long as it aint like huge keep in mind u may have to get adapter's.

Small bit of rust should be easy to fix.

Not rust, I mean the part thats missing some on the body.

Windshield's typically are not expensive.

[sullen cypress]

Actually tires are not in the worst shape, but I hadn’t yet gotten to that part of my rundown yet

Since you want me to talk
About them tho:

[inner pivot]

Okay.

[tough remnant]

GG @inner pivot, you just advanced to level 2! Chat more to level up and earn top roles!

[inner pivot]

They dont look bad.

Actually, from the first picture they looked terrible.

They are fine.

[sullen cypress]

Tires are not in the worst shape, they will do in the short term (short term things strictly just taking me to work and back)

Mid term, as in by December-January I hope, I want to rip all these old Steelies apart, strip them bare, repair and restore them. I’m envisioning a crome finish with with restored black-yellow caps for the hubs. I also need to buy a 5th steelie and do the same to it as she doesn’t have her spare anymore

And buy some fresh new nice maybe slightly larger tires

Gotta have the truck look after all

[inner pivot]

Okay I think that's an amazing idea.

What is all wrong with interior?

And does it have factory radio?

[sullen cypress]

I’ll get there Zappy I’ll get there
The most immediate issue is the battery, I believe the alternator is dying as this battery just dies at the drop of a hat, so bad I’ve now installed a maintainer to get me through the month. It probably doesn’t help the old battery was shot and so I bought the cheapest replacement advanced auto parts recommended. By the middle of September I’m going to replace this with a far superior battery and replace the alternator with a 200 amp version I think

I wanna get a beefier than OEM alternator and a top of the line battery cause I wanna add a bunch of modern amenities and stuff

[inner pivot]

For sure, I personally think you have a good plan for it all out and I wouldnt mind seeing the truck 1-2 year's from now.

I also have an s10, 2003.

I have it LS swapped, and stage 2 cam.

I dont have a crazy amount of experience meaning I am in highschool on top of that I payed shops to mainly do any work in the bay besides easy stuff.

[sullen cypress]

In the long term, so when I get my taxes back in February or march, I wanna buy a fresh AC as it doesn’t work, very sad, but since I ain’t taking this but 1 1/2hours a day tops (mostly in the early morning and at night anyway) it’s a low priority

[sullen cypress]

That sounds so based

[inner pivot]

Lmao, my AC doesnt work as well.

[sullen cypress]

Alright, so since you asked Zap, imma get to the interior now

[inner pivot]

Must be an s10 thing.

[sullen cypress]

Bad luck for ACs with me fr

[sullen cypress]

It wouldn’t be so bad if this bitch’s AC didn’t go out too. My house AC even acted up twice this year

Interior tho!

[inner pivot]

Where are u located?

Tennessee?

[sullen cypress]

Alabama, also a video going over the interior is uploading now

Regarding the rear window, it’s not broke but because it is so improperly installed in just gonna get rid of it too, replace it with a window that has a slider door and properly install it

The truck’s bed has I think an aftermarket drop in bedliner, I’m going to replace it eventually with a spray on, which leads to my ultimate plan for this truck, and why I wanted chrome wheels:

im planning on repairing all its bodywork and spray painting it a yellow raptor liner, the bumpers, grill, all that good shit won’t be, but the rest will be made yellow and durable. The bed will be given a second coat of raptor liner Black, and I’m going to add a bunch of nicer touches, like refinishing or replacing all the lights replacing them with LED daylights, getting new badges, installing a backup cam, the whole 9 yards

One other issue I found is that the suspension is very shit, unsurprisingly due to a rebuild after 22 years on god’s green earth. That’s going to be done by December or February

[inner pivot]

Alright so with my s10 my dash was dry rotted to shit it broke into multiple pieces when I put a water bottle on the dash replacing it wasn’t bad I had bought a new dash for like 130$ replacing it wasn’t really hard just a little bit time consuming but I had some problems like clip’s when it came to mine.

Headliner I have never done before but I have heard it’s simple just time consuming now I’m not sure what u can buy head liner for or anything like that.

For the electrical you have best luck to take that thing to a shop, once u fix most of the main issues I messed with my electrical one time and ended up with my wind shield wipers turning on when I turned on my headlights ( Yes I have day running headlights ).

[sullen cypress]

I’ve got a scan on her and it’s sad too the airbag system, instrument cluster like I thought, and every single sensor to do with the wheels and suspension have issues with me

[inner pivot]

Body isn’t really hard once again something really time consuming trying to get it perfect.

[sullen cypress]

Mine has daytime running lamps too

[inner pivot]

My airbag system had problems.

[sullen cypress]

I’m gonna fix all the cracks and fill it all in, then cover it with one of those nice plastic covers

[inner pivot]

Now It was just a censor.

[inner pivot]

How the seats looking?

[sullen cypress]

I think mines just a sensor too, but the on/off switch needs replacement too cause it broke off

[inner pivot]

Are they in good conditions?

[sullen cypress]

Seats are just fine actually

[inner pivot]

😂

Wanna know something crazy.

[sullen cypress]

What’s that

[inner pivot]

Mine just broke off 2 days ago.

So now I will have to replace a part of my dash.

[sullen cypress]

Rip

[inner pivot]

I was doing a burnout.

[sullen cypress]

Wait the dash part broke?

[inner pivot]

And caught traction.

[inner pivot]

Il take a picture.

[sullen cypress]

With mine the dash itself is fine, it’s just the switch that broke off

[inner pivot]

Including the clips.

The piece it broke off thankfully is like 70 bucks.

[sullen cypress]

Holy shit

[inner pivot]

And I may have to buy a new clip or something for that airbag to stay in the dash.

[tough remnant]

GG @inner pivot, you just advanced to level 3! Chat more to level up and earn top roles!

[inner pivot]

😂

I was astonished when it happened.

I was thinking maybe the clip was broke before but I never noticed it good enough.

I have never actually caught traction besides that one time doing a burnout so my whole truck started shaking.

And that’s how that happened.

[sullen cypress]

I hope today but probably not idk I’m gonna post more here as I’m gonna be replacing every last fluid and filter and spark plug and everything in this truck

[inner pivot]

Replace the fuses.

Please.

Every fuse in the fuse box and the interior fuse box.

[sullen cypress]

Fuck, I just realized I forgot to buy a turkey baster and/or brake fluid kit

[sullen cypress]

What happens if I don’t

I can I mean, it probably ain’t that much cost, but sounds serious

[inner pivot]

Nothing.

Just always good to do I feel like.

[sullen cypress]

I’ll consider

[inner pivot]

Fuses are not serious thing.

But could maybe fix some thing’s.

It’s really cheap.

And even if it doesn’t fix anything.

[sullen cypress]

Wouldn’t it only fix things if the fuse isn’t working

[inner pivot]

Always good to know u have new ones.

[inner pivot]

Yes.

But like I said.

[inner pivot]

^

[sullen cypress]

True, I never thought of that

Imma make a checklist of shit I need to do now before I resign this thread for the day

[inner pivot]

Replace/check

[sullen cypress]

In no particular order:
Replace Windshield
Replace Rear Window
Replace Grill
Replace Battery
Replace Alternator
Replace A/C Compressor
Buy a Spare wheel
Restore Wheels
Buy New Tires
Buy a Ram Bar
Rebuild the entire suspension system
Repair Dashboard
Replace Headliner
Replace door hinge pins
Restore all lights
Install Backup Cam
Instal Dash Cams
Instal Rear View Mirror
Restore body

[inner pivot]

Do u have heat just not blowing cold?

[sullen cypress]

Yeah, the Compressor I think is broken because it doesn’t spin, could perhaps be a fuse thing tho, so I’ll get to that when I get to that

I assume it’s not an fuse thing tho, cause the truck still revs up some when I turn the AC on

Like it’s trying to compensate for the AC’s draw

Idk

I am learning everything

This is all new to me, as my stuff has all started to break down I’ve started buying up tools and stuff to repair everything myself to save money

Like today on the block I need to do all the fluid and filter and everything changes to my car and on Tuesday imma install my new ac compressor onto it

I am guided by this server, YouTube, and the need to make my money go far lmao

[untold tapir]

Check to make sure it has freon in it, the AC compressor will not kick on if there isn't enough R134

[sullen cypress]

Oh damn I didn’t think of that, I’ll try that along with checking all the fuses too just to be sure

[untold tapir]

Try filling it with Freon, if the compressor kicks in then you can diagnose leaks or anything else broken, if the fuse pops then you need a new compressor more than likely

AC systems are a pain youre gonna enjoy it lmfao

[sullen cypress]

I am sure of it, I already gotta rip my car’s AC out to replace it as it finally died after a couple years of pain

[sullen cypress]

I tried to replace one of my tires yesterday as it is looking a little dry rotted, didn’t notice it at first but unlike the other 3 it’s definitely older and different, but to my luck I couldn’t just swap a had tire onto it and hold for a few months, oh no no that would
Be too easy

As it turns out, these tires, 205/75R15 Vehicle Tires, are all but unused today and I had to order a brand new replacement due tomorrow arrive Monday

Great fun

Also in my hunt for a new tire yesterday I took the tire off (was driving a different vehicle for my errands that day) and discovered I have drum brakes!

I know drum brakes on regular vehicles are old and antiquated but I think imma keep them for the funnies

It is after all a very old truck

If anybody is reading this, I got 2 questions for future reference

The Maybe Dumb Question: I can paint drum brakes right?

The not dumb question: What size tire (going up in size preferably) is common, looks a little beefier, and can fit on these stock Steelies

[nova trellis]

yeah u can paint drums

[nova trellis]

no reason to fix what aint broke, my suburban still has drums in the rear. drums work fine

[sullen cypress]

Words to live by fr

[nova trellis]

real

[sullen cypress]

I got great news everybody:
I’ve gotten to the point I can drive her without stalling her and mostly without feeling like I’m destroying the transmission

I haven’t stalled her in 2 days

[sullen cypress]

Today I replaced the broke tire, can’t work further on her today or tomorrow but Wednesday I’ll finally have the time to spend a few hours giving it a full inspection and tuneup

[sullen cypress]

So, I came out to do maintenance on the Chevy at long last, I changed the brake and clutch fluid, and I was gonna do the coolant but I have discovered that it is a common problem that people’s radiator caps just get stuck

That’s so fucking cool

Gonna add that to the battery tray as need to replace

Ok

So

I can now understand just how serious the issue of my oil pan leak is

Not that it’s leaking, but that I’m gonna have to dismantle half the front and just to drop the oil pan

On the plus side, I can say with some certainty that it’s NOT leaking from the rear main seal, but I might just wanna gut all of this anyway just because I need to anyway

I already have to rebuild the front suspension, I already wanna rebuild the shift linkage, I already wanna replace the clutch

Now I know I have to do it just to solve the oil leak crisis

I also believe I see where the exhaust leak is coming from, as this whole section is soot black, while the rest of the exhaust system looks pretty secure, tho old and rusty

Photography can’t capture that this looks worse in person

Where the RTB is extended out

I think the oil leak is primarily over here on the passenger side e

You know, other than the mud and surface rust, this truck looks pretty fucking good for its age

A couple extra days of sanding and painting should fix all this rust

[ruby bobcat]

I kinda like those wheels

[sullen cypress]

I do too! Factory steelies

[ruby bobcat]

Yep

[sullen cypress]

Imma try to paint them chrome, restore the hub caps too

[ruby bobcat]

Oh you don’t like the black?

[sullen cypress]

Not personally no, but imma be repainting them anyway cause they are sad and rusty and one is chipping paint

[ruby bobcat]

I think if you change the color you should do silver. That would look really good

[sullen cypress]

Perhaps

That’s the backup if I can’t do chrome

[ruby bobcat]

Yeah I need to repaint the wheels on my wagon but luckily I have full wheel covers to hide them

[sullen cypress]

I don’t have that luxury

Tho, I do like the tiny hub caps

They are a nice accent

I bought a ni e place for my tools to live :):)):):)

[ruby bobcat]

Yeah I do too

[sullen cypress]

So, I’ve priced it all out, about 2 weeks of spare time and $2500 or less and I can rebuild the front suspension, rebuild the shift linkage, rebuild the clutch assembly, drop the oil pan, just do literally everything that’s mandatory to get this to a good standard

Gonna take a couple months to save it up, but by early November I should be able to get started on this mess

Once all that is done I can start working on the fun shit, like upgrades and body work

I knew that American parts are cheap, but i would have never guessed that this would all be that cheap

[sullen cypress]

I did further research, high end I think I can fix the oil leaks, rebuild the front suspension, stop the exhaust leak (replace the entire exhaust system really), rebuild the front and rear brakes, rebuild the shift mechanism, and restore the wheels for $3000 or less

Depending on how much less I do, cause this is the high end of everything I could do at once, just really future proofing everything

After this all I’d have left is body work and cosmetics and upgrades

Oh, I guess I should probably include another $300-500, I’d wanna buy an impact wrench and drill and angle grinder

Idk why, I assumed all this would cost twice as much

[placid flume]

I've got almost the exact same truck sitting on my land if you need any special parts let me know

[sullen cypress]

Do you have its original radio and a steelie?

And does that original radio have a cassette player

In fact, does it have the bonus accessory dc outlets (bottom of the dash passenger side)

Or even is it a 4 wheel drive?

Or the fog lights

And it’s dash switch

[gusty egret]

Aye is it a 4x4, if so how much to ship the transmission crossmember, i cant find any anywhere for the 4wd version

[tough remnant]

GG @gusty egret, you just advanced to level 2! Chat more to level up and earn top roles!

[placid flume]

I can send you pictures of it. It’s RWD and the drive shaft is sheared off of the rear end but everything else is still good

[sullen cypress]

No 4WD tho? I wanted to ask if I could buy the whole front end parts off you and convert mine to 4WD lol

Send me pics of the parts I asked about. I’d be curious if you got them, I’d love to buy them off you if they are functional, especially a steelie, I need to buy a 5th wheel to replace the truck’s long lost spare

[sullen cypress]

So, I’ve been crunching numbers this morning on my rebuild project, and my extremely high ball estimate is it should cost me no more than $5700 to rebuild everything mechanically wrong with my truck, this includes basically everything rounded up to its nearest 25 or 50, and the possibility that the transmission could need some new parts, which I factored in the price of a total rebuild (according to my local shop’s high ball estimate)

I also included some other parts and bits that I’ve found need replaced, and a couple nice things I’d like, I’ve also decided since I’m gonna be ripping the whole engine out, I may as well replace every single last gasket instead of just the oil pan gasket and rear main seal, so I deleted those and added the high ball price of a gasket and hardware kit

I probably won’t even spend more than $3500 really, especially since I probably just don’t actually have to do some of this stuff, but I wanna play it all safe and factor the possible cost in there too

Also, I promise for real real real this time, truck general maintenance and the hunt for the parasitic draw is coming this Saturday for realsies this time

I have had a very hectic life recently, but it helps that now I’m on normal pills (vyvanse)

Yipeeee

(It doesn’t help I’ve gotten very comfortable with just plugging the damn thing into the wall lmao, I love this trickle charger so much infact I’m even planning to permanently install one just above the gas intake because I love its utility)

Oh, I actually forgot, I will probably also replace my battery and upgrade my alternator when I do all this too, so add $500 more

This bitch finna be BULLETPROOFED

too bad I won’t have the time or money to make it look pretty until as late as Fall 2026, I just got too much else I need to spend money on

Unfortunately, I need a reliable car, not a pretty car

Also, an update on my driving: I’ve gotten so used to driving it now that I haven’t stalled it out in over a week, and that time only happened because I wasn’t paying attention in the drive thru as I was getting my breakfast before work

It’s almost kinda fun to drive it, I look forward to when it shifts better and looks baller

(I still prefer the brainlessness of my automatic tho)

[sullen cypress]

Doing some final bits of planning out since imma be doing a lot of painting of stuff during this first phase of the truck rebuild

Wheels being white sounds weird I am sure, but I believe in it

In this first phase imma be painting everything im tinkering with, so I’ll be painting the engine, transmission, engine bay, wheels, brake calipers and drums.

It’s gonna be funny cause this means for upwards of a year imma be running with a half finished truck, the internals and wheels/brakes will be perfect, then imma come back to the exterior after like 8 months, then finally I’ll do the interior by like, this time next year

I just don’t wanna rip it all apart all over again to do all the painting and shit later, so imma be doing it all in phases

It’s gonna be like wearing a fresh $100 pair of shoes with fresh pairs of socks and underwear, but wearing a shirt and pants you pulled straight from a dumpster lmao

[sullen cypress]

Imma start buying up parts within the next 3 weeks, so I’ve started amassing eBay and Amazon listings for what I need, so far imma be spending pretty far under my maximalist budget, maybe $4,000 once I include new tools, possible transmission rebuild, and unforeseen cost?

[sullen cypress]

(I forgot to use my brain, I need tires and a new battery, which increases this to almost $2,900)

[ruby bobcat]

White bedliner could be cool if you're going full on creamsicle

[sullen cypress]

That would be true

I’m almost scared to tho

Infact, I’ve already scaled back to leaving the engine bay the stock black, and decided on the handles being black as well

I did tho change the parts attached to the engine like the oil pan and valve cover to being white

And the differential cover to be white

I just don’t know if I’d be willing to go full creamsicle

[ruby bobcat]

There's a guy on here with a WIP creamsicle Chevy

[sullen cypress]

Update:
Stuck at work today, wasn’t able to diagnose anything yesterday, life is hell, HOWEVER I did remember to bring my tool box to work today and have done some diagnostics of the electrical system

I still can’t find a short, either I am doing something wrong or there flat out isn’t a consistent short in this system, furthermore I have found further issues with my truck:

I found my AC system’s issue lies in the connector between the Compressor and the Wiring Harness, the connector is loose and causes the compressor to stop receiving power, probably gonna need to wire a new connector on since it looks pretty sad and old and cracked

I found why my Washer Fluid Pump isn’t working. I’ve heard the pump working when pressing the button, but no fluid ever sprays out, finally tested it with the hood open and found the washer fluid hose is destroyed, causing fluid to be pumped just everywhere inside the engine bay, so imma be replacing that hose

I’ve added a plastic welder and a couple different automotive wiring kits to my list, only about $75 total and it will enable me to fix any issues I run across, I suspect there’s probably plenty of other minor issues in the wiring harness, not to mention there’s probably issues in the dashboard I’ll find next year when I start rebuild phase 3

Also, due to rising cost and the fact I simply don’t need to do it yet, I am pushing the new tires+wheel refurbishment to Phase 2 of the Rebuild

This first phase will just focus on the engine bay, front suspension, brakes, and exhaust system

Other than the fact I may need to replace a bunch of sensors scattered around the truck, I don’t believe there’s any further issues to repair, the only possible remaining surprise I can think of finding is the potential of rear axel seal leaks

[sullen cypress]

Turned the truck on this morning and it ran rough as fuck for the first 4 minutes, runs great now tho after it warmed up.

Ran a code scan and saw there was a pending code for a misfire, and 2 confirmed codes for the catalytic converter, so I decided to purchase the exhaust system kits sooner than expected, ill also try to clean up the mass air flow sensor tomorrow, and replace the spark plugs since I still haven’t done that yet

I should have a brand new everything from where the pipe meets the exhaust manifold to the tail pipe by October 5th at the latest, and hopefully all that together will make the engine happy

As a side note, I noticed that my transmission fluid temperature sensor must be broken

[tough remnant]

GG @sullen cypress, you just advanced to level 18! Chat more to level up and earn top roles!

[sullen cypress]

If this doesn’t make everything happy, then I’ll probably also add replacing the spark plugs boots to my front end rebuild

[sullen cypress]

As an update, I got my new cat O2 sensors in the mail yesterday, gonna get the rest of my new exhaust system over the next 2 days and hopefully will install them on the 2nd

I’d just like to shoutout this Type S brand fat power bank I bought from Costco, I’ve had trouble jumping my truck with jumper cables, with a shop’s like professional battery pack, but this tiny fucker just slams it back on from 0% signs of life in the first 1-2 cranks

and it only costed me 4% of the battery

(Started at 65%, forgot to charge it after using it a few days ago)

Speaking of the devil

[sullen cypress]

Today is the DAY

The muffler lmao, looks so much cheaper in person, I hope it atleast makes the 4 cylinder sound like a 6 so I can pretend to be cool, and not just sound like shit

(I only bought it because it was a cheap kit lmao, I saved like $50 compared to other exhaust kits)

[sullen cypress]

Me trying to figure out the size of the bolts by using the new bolts I got since they appear to be a similar size, I found it was almost a perfect fit with the 9/16, but too big for a half inch, that’s when I realized it is actually a 14mm metric bolt

So I guess I’m accidentally converting from imperial to metric now

[sullen cypress]

Ok, so, my exhaust pipe kit came with imperial, 9/16ths nuts

My cat came with metric, 14mm nuts

And my flex pipe that leads to the exhaust manifold came with nothing, and I don’t yet know what size nuts I need for it, other than it is half inch of indeterminate thread

I know for sure imma need some rust penetrant, possibly a torch, and probably an extractor set because the bolts in the exhaust manifold are well and stuck

And I may have stripped one of them attempting to remove it, but also I think I may have stripped the socket just as much, cause it looks very sad

[sullen cypress]

We’ll chat, I’m cooked

That’s what an original header looks like, to my suspicion, the old flex pipe connects directly to the header. No nuts

My header is fucked, all 3 bolts sheered off and are stuck

[sullen cypress]

I think imma need to remove the AC and Power steering pump to remove this

[sullen cypress]

I’d like to thank General Motors today for making the belt tensioner operable via a basic 3/8ths inch drive ratchet end

It’s extremely convenient and makes me happy in these trying times

[sullen cypress]

GOOD NEWS:

I was able to move the AC condenser without having to vent the system illegally into the atmosphere

Now to see if I can move the power steering pump without having to drain the system

(For legal reasons, I feel I should point out, I wasn’t gonna vent it illegally)

(I do indeed give a hoot and don’t wanna pollute)

[sullen cypress]

Alright, so I have some final updates for the day!

I was able to remove that bracket right there, it turns out that it is just a bracket, I was scared it was just a part of the power steering pump, but it’s not thankfully

With that thing removed, I now have full access to the exhaust manifold. I soaked it in multiple coats of penetrating fluid, and will soak it further off and on on Saturday, when I come in to do a ton of needed maintenance

On Sunday I’ll attempt to remove the exhaust manifold, hopefully it will come up without any fuss, setting me up for installing the new manifold when it arrives between the 6th-9th

On Saturday imma be replacing all the old spark plugs, the air filter, the fuel filter, and doing an oil change for the sake of replacing the oil filter (it’s oil leak basically ensures it always has healthy oil it it lmao, that’s the next project)

I’ll also clean the mass air flow sensor, dump some injection cleaner into the gas tank, probably do another brake and clutch fluid change since it looks gross again, and do a power steering fluid change

[sullen cypress]

NEW UPDATE!

The new adapter piece that advanced ordered to merge my new exhaust down pipes to the cat is incompatible, so the new plan is to simply saw the part I need off, since it’s in decent enough shape anyway, clean it up and restore it so it doesn’t continue to rust away, and then buy a coupler and a couple clamps to merge those two things together

New project for Sunday

[sullen cypress]

In the shop today with the goal of finishing up my prep work for my new exhaust parts and other maintenance I need to do, and it is a day like this I wanna send a big fuck you to General Motors

Why tf did they design the 2.2L 4 cylinder engine found in the S10 in a way that the spark plugs he buried in dirt and sand and rust bits over the years because the holes they live in do not fully get sealed by their boots

That’s just fucking stupid

Now, to be extra careful, I’m having to pick at this shit bit by bit until I get it all out just so I can replace my spark plugs

[sullen cypress]

I wonder if this is the culprit of my cold start misfires

Cylinder 2 (sad but ok) vs cylinder 1 (cancerous growth)

I wonder if these are the original spark plugs or not

I can’t tell by their brand, cause my research reveals that GM owns AC Delco

[sullen cypress]

So, I did get scared here, but I just compared the oil out of the truck to my car, which I know it destroyed, and the oil looks pretty much identical

So I assume this just the normal amount of metallic buildup on the plug

Also, FUCK whoever last changed this truck’s oil, I had to pull out the breaker bar and the head was also stripped

Thankfully I bought that stripped bolt remover socket set thing

[sullen cypress]

All 4 old plugs, circa idek, compared to a new plug I dropped and broke

Time to go to advanced and buy a new new plug, a new oil drain plug, and some restore and protect oil, gonna go expensive despite the oil leak cause I’m trying to baby the absolute shit out of this motherfucker

[sullen cypress]

Got a free oil filter with my purchase of 2 bottles of restore and protect, yipeee

[sullen cypress]

Alright, spark plugs are all replaced, boots and wells cleaned best I can, now I’m attempting to remove the old exhaust manifold, and I’m safely removing 1 of 8 bolts

2/8

3/8

Elite strats, half in wrench to half inch drive breaker bar

It’s a miracle I haven’t broken this damn ratcheting wrench, as much as hell as I’ve forced this specific 1/2 wrench through

4/8

Now for the even harder ones

5/8

6/8

I think imma need to reach from under the car to get the last 2

[sullen cypress]

The quest for the 7th nut has created a casualty, time to return to the drawing board

I was told old vehicles were EASY

THIS ISNT EASY

[sullen cypress]

They called me a madman

Also why tf is this a bolt and not a nut? I’m fairly sure it’s not factory, but I could be wrong

Either way, 7/8, 1 more to go and then the old manifold is free

[sullen cypress]

I FINALLY GOT IT FREEEEEEEEEEE

It took an hour and a half, but I finally got it free

[sullen cypress]

Found out why my oil drain plug was stripped

[sullen cypress]

Well, that’s enough for the day, all that’s left on the to-do list is to install my new exhaust system when I get the final parts, and to charge the brake and clutch fluid, and the power steering fluid, and the transmission fluid

This is gonna take me forever

God willing, I’ll be able to pick up and finish it on Wednesday

And finally have a truck again in time for my following work shift Thursday

[sullen cypress]

How it feels wanting to crank my truck up without the exhaust manifold

[sullen cypress]

Got my new manifold in, confirmed the new upstream sensor fits, I should have everything I need now, I just gotta put it all together

I would do it today, but I got a bunch of appointments I need to do so I guess I’ll get the truck back in operation on Friday

[sullen cypress]

New Header is ON

[sullen cypress]

Hello friends

I apologize I never made more updates, I was stuck for time and had a lot of unfortunate things happen yesterday, so I was just rushing bringing my truck online

As a roundup for what all I did: after successfully getting my flex pipe and cat on, I put all the other stuff I removed back and attempted to start my truck. It didn’t start, did a diagnosis and everything pointed to I broke the starter

Now, in retrospect, im not entirely sure I actually destroyed the starter, but I did forget to disconnect the battery and ended up dropping a wrench on it and shorting it, as well as I found I snapped the grounding wire that connected to it too, however the starter was already giving me issues, as I usually have to try to start the truck 2-3 times before it actually engages, I thought it was maybe the clutch safety, but it doesn’t seem it was. I got a new starter, repaired that ground wire, installed it, and low and behold my truck came straight to life

I ran a code scan on it, all engine codes are gone, and it’s only complaint is apparently the new downpipe cat sensor isn’t working, I’ll try swapping it with my other one I have, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll buy an actual quality replacement from the store

I didn’t end up replacing the downpipe sections since I found I did not have enough brackets to mount it, so it’s still running the stock muffler and tailpipe, but that’s all fine for now, I’ll get to it eventually

For now, the truck sounds almost whisper quiet compared to what it was, starts up better, and seems to just be running better in general with all the maintenance I’ve done to it

In another 900 miles imma run another oil change, as I have swapped to restore and protect to try to help the engine, so imma be doing frequent changes the next 3 times. Otherwise the truck restoration project is gonna be on hold again for a few months, as I try to scrounge the cash to get the stuff I need to gut and rebuild the whole engine bay, brakes, and undercoat the whole truck

Tho, given how life is going rn, I may not bother with it until next summer

I guess we will see

[carmine warren]

how about a kei

[sullen cypress]

No, I will not import a miniature truck from another country

[brazen palm]

hey man at least it has a front end and a back end

[brazen palm]

this is EXACTLY what mines gonna look like

[sullen cypress]

I’m glad you are getting enjoyment out of my thread lol

[brazen palm]

my trucks missing the front clip so like if ur getting rid of the grille lemme know

(not my trucks only missing piece)

[sullen cypress]

Imma be replacing the grill with another, I found I can buy new ones online, or maybe they are refurbished, idk

[brazen palm]

my little pos is getting a junkyard front clip and back bumper

happy crappy little truck

[sullen cypress]

Good luck getting by new seats, I tried searching and decided I’ll pull out the fabric, stuffing, thread, and needles whenever I finally get around to restoring the interior

Interior is my last phase of the project tho, cause it’s the least important

[brazen palm]

i like doing interior work ngl

i like doing sound systems the most tho

cuz then i get to see if i catch the truck on fire or not

[sullen cypress]

I’m very excited to do mine, but as this is currently and will be for the long term my vehicle I take to work, I will do the niceties last.

I wanna put in 4 high end new speakers, a Bose head unit, refurbish the entire existing interior best I can, mod in front and rear dash cams, backup cams, and a TMPS system

[brazen palm]

i took 2 of the 4 speakers out of a 2013 bmw x5 and ima take the other 2 out next time there isnt 50mph wind

i alr installed 2 andimajust splice the others in

[sullen cypress]

Cool

What color and spec and year is your S10?

[brazen palm]

plus 2 others my dad put in like 15 yeas ago

[sullen cypress]

My truck only has the 4 factory speaker slots, all imma bother using, I don’t wanna do too much modding

[brazen palm]

its that like metallic red single cab rwd 98 with an i4 but somebody painted it that factory gold color

[sullen cypress]

That’s weird

[brazen palm]

mine has 2 in the dash and 1 in each door but i just put the speakers back behind the seat

lol

[brazen palm]

its got those nice spiral wheels

these

[sullen cypress]

Cool

I am just gonna keep the stock steelies, good enough for me

As nice as imma make this truck, it’s still a budget build work truck

Nothing more

[brazen palm]

im gonna repaint mine in the original red

[brazen palm]

yeah same for me its just a daily

[sullen cypress]

Sounds nice

[brazen palm]

expensve as hell smh

why does paint cost so damn much

[sullen cypress]

Just do it yourself

[brazen palm]

i will

paintjust costs a lot