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Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 5:52 am
by GMJohnny
A guy on an Olds forum this weekend asked what guys were doing to keep their big blocks cool
in the summer months. The one guy said that he removes the rubber seal between the firewall and
the hood to let hot air out. It seemed like a pretty decent idea, and may work for you as opposed to
purchasing a cowl hood. It might be worth a shot to try this, it's free.

GM

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 6:30 am
by MostMint
Seems to me that if you want to experiment you could try driving it with the hood off to see if that gets the temps down.

In the race car we opened up the hood (mostly to relieve the pressure that builds up under there from airflow through the radiator) but it has the effect of letting hot air from the radiator out.

If the purpose of the new headers is better performance (and not cosmetic) you might consider wrapping those pipes. That should help the underhood temps quite a bit as well.

In the pic, the hood vents are under construction so the one on the left is done

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:56 am
by Basement Paul
Unfortunately, we considered wrapping the pipes before they were installed, but there's literally no room for that to happen, so we didn't. I looked into getting them coated, and it was going to be around $800, so I opted out of that since I knew I was going to be over budget.

Taking the hood off I know would cool it down a lot, since freeway inlet temps are 106 and idling is close to 140. I haven't looked at the rear seal to see if that would accomplish anything or not. It has one, but it appears to be a pretty small opening, and I'm not sure if it would help or not. I could drive and test just like I did to see what the outcome would be.

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 4:48 pm
by wxo
Rather than trying to take the heat away from the intake tract, maybe consider ducting cooler air from outside of the engine compartment. For example, something like this: https://www.tiresmoke.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t ... +kit#p8009
It has worked well for me.

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:09 pm
by Basement Paul
I've thought about that several different ways. My biggest dilemma is that any hole I cut, which is limited to just below where the air filter is now, goes right into the inner fender and directly in the splash zone from the driver's front wheel. This is one of the shortcomings of the S10 and how small it is. A 4-1/4" hole is HUGE, relatively speaking on the S10, leaving me with very few options. Even if I poke the hole in the inner fender, and go up under the front of the truck, that pipe will be seen from multiple angles, and I guess I'm willing to sacrifice a tenth or two to not look silly. On your TB SS, you would never know that your fresh air kit exists. That would be ideal, but most likely not realistic on my truck.

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:31 pm
by MostMint
If you piped a 2" line or two and gave it partial could that help somewhat?

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 5:57 am
by GMJohnny
How hard is it to remove the headlight assembly? The 2000 GS Regal was a piece of cake
and when I was at the strip, I'd remove it.

GM

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:43 am
by wxo
If you are concerned about splashing, consider this. On my truck, that conical K&N filter has been positioned behind that open grill a few feet from the road surface for 7.5 years now with zero problems. Nothing seems to affect it. Every once in a while, when I think of it, I take it off, clean it and re-oil it.

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 2:21 pm
by Basement Paul
I do take the headlight out at the strip when I'm trying to go faster, but it doesn't help the heat soak while I'm idling and doing my burnout, it only helps me at speed.

To what Walt mentioned... I don't have any space between my wheel well and the outside world, so if I drill a 4.25" hole, it will be right where the front of my tire is, and IMO, look pretty silly as it will almost touch the tire at full turn. The flat portion on your TB SS where you drilled your hole is probably 8-10" and not a part of the wheel well, mine is only about 2" there, so there's basically no flat surface to drill into, just wheel well.

I probably didn't mention, but a LONG time ago, I opened up as much of the core support as I could behind the driver's headlight, to help get fresh air in from behind the headlight. I'm sure that works, as is noted by the rapid drop in IAT as soon as I hit freeway speeds.

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:06 am
by Basement Paul
I talked today to Jim at JD Race about doing a gear swap for the S-10. Looks like I'm in for around $400 if I bring him the rearend. Seems more than reasonable. There's a good chance I'll pull it out this weekend and run it down to his place after work early in the week with hopes to have it back by next weekend. I would be going from 3.73 to 4.10 with hopes to get a couple tenths and help make up for my torque deficit. I love my motor, but it really is weak down low...

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 7:53 am
by Basement Paul
No big surprises and about 3 hour on Saturday afternoon, and it's out and ready to go. Everything looked like new inside, so I shouldn't be looking at any extra repairs. Hopefully I can drop it off Monday after work.

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 9:29 am
by Basement Paul
I was able to pick up the rearend on Saturday about 10am. $385 later and I have 4.10 gears. Another 3.5hrs and it was up and running. The break in period is a little tedious, but by this afternoon I should be able to get to putting some power down. The good thing is that all went smoothly and there's no weird noises or funny business. Hopefully the weather will hold and I can make a few passes on Wed.

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:08 am
by Basement Paul
Last night I swung by Hutter Performance to see Trevor to correct my speedometer after the gear change. After a few minutes, we were good to go. So the only thing I really have left to do is get the A/C recharged and run mid 11s.

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 7:19 am
by Basement Paul
Finally got to drive on the freeway with my corrected speedo. Turns out it's exactly what I thought it would be at 70mph: 2700rpm. In a motor that goes almost to 7000, that's a good cruising number. Pretty sure my mileage has gotten worse though (says Captain Obvious).

-BP

Re: 2003 S-10

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 8:34 pm
by Basement Paul
Since TRP shut down for the winter, I pulled my racing wheel combo off tonight and put the streets back on. The last time I swapped the tires out, I noticed the front brake pads were a little low. I had Powerstop pads on there before, and they worked well, but the number on the pad doesn't translate to anything they make now, so I'm going with these pads over the winter sometime:

https://v2.powerstop.com/product/power- ... m%20Models

I don't have any major plans, but would really like to make an effort to get the battery finally moved to the bed, install the new pads, and get the truck clay barred and waxed really well again. I might even change out the brake fluid to new, better grade while I'm doing it.

-BP