2003 S-10

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

Tonight I finished the brake pad install. All but the break in at least. The outside pads on both sides were getting a little low but even more critical was the cracking I noticed on both outside pads. Not a good scenario at 115 mph. So I'm glad I changed them out. Hopefully after the break in they'll function at least as well as the old set did.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

Today I finished a couple week long and slow journey to get my battery moved into the bed of the S10. In the process I found out my current battery was already 7 years old, so before I started I ordered an Optima Red Top battery. But at the end of the day, the move went well and according to plan.
Before the battery move, I was able to chase a clay bar all over the paint, give the truck a good coat of wax, and get the inside of the rims all cleaned up too.
Only thing left to do before Spring is a quick interior detail and I'll be ready to go.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

The S10 had developed an intermittent water pump leak. Normally it would only happen on a cold start and quick shut down. I drove it for awhile after one of these leaks and it didn't leak a drop. But after a few occurrences, I figured it wasn't going to heal on its own.
Sunday I spent probably four hours total doing the replacement. It would be a much quicker job, but the throttle body's large size requires me to grind the heck out of the top of the pump, and even a little more of the intake manifold.
It was the original pump to the motor so it had about 85k miles and was 23 years old and the last 15k miles were pretty rough. Hopefully the new one lasts at least 10 years.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

After I installed the water pump, I was naturally watching the motor run while looking for leaks. While this was happening I noticed my harmonic balancer had a small wobble to it. I looked into it, and it appears that this is a common LS1 problem and they do eventually separate themselves, so today I'll be ordering a new factory replacement and an install tool. I may even order a puller, but I have to check inventory first to see if I have one that will work. I doubt it though because of the big metric bolt.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

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Since there's not too many people changing LS1 harmonic balancers in S10s, I could only gain prior information about Corvette swaps and hope for the best. With that in mind I bought a harmonic balancer puller and install tool for that job.
The first problem was getting the extremely tight (240 ft lbs) off without being able to keep the motor from spinning. After impact guns, strap wrenches and long breaker bars with bars on them, it was the old hammer and offset wrench that solved the problem. About 10 quick whacks with a small sledge and it came loose.
Next up was the puller. That went pretty smooth, but I did have to put the longer rod in midway to get the balancer off completely.
Next came the installation. I was immediately set back as the installation too was too long to get lined up in the center hole of the crank and hit the bottom of the radiator. Not wanting to cut too much, I ended up cutting it twice before it would line up, then I was worried the shaft would be too short. But it turned out perfect.
Once I got the pulley basically bottomed out and the crank starting to turn again, I had to figure out how to get the bolt to that lofty 240 ft lbs mark again. With a strap wrench and the torque wrench, I was able to make the wrench click at 150 lbs, and was able to get the bolt to turn just a little more on the way to 180, but couldn't get it to click. So I was close. So to finish the tightening sequence, I went back to my wrench and hammer for a true precision measurement, and whacked it four times solidly and called it a day.
I went for a drive and it seemed all good, so I'm going with it. Hopefully that's all the maintenance it needs this year.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

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Pictures...
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

A sad after-effect of installing my new balancer is that I now have a tiny leak from the front seal. I didn't replace it because the one that was on there was replaced 15k miles ago when Hutter did the cam swap. Unfortunately there's something different with this balancer that's not agreeing with the old seal. I'm going to keep an eye on it to see if it gets better, worse, or stays the same. Eventually I'll have to replace it I'm sure. The good thing is that I know the whole process now and have the correct tools, so when I do it, I'm hoping it's only an hour job instead of three.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

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Follow up to the balancer leak: it's not leaking now. Must have either just taken a little time for the seal to wear into the new balancer, or there was just a lot of lube on the balancer when I installed it and eventually it all ran off.
About a week and a half ago I took the S10 in to Paul Carson for an A/C recharge. After the head swap last year, I never had it recharged. Today I took it to Euclid to run an errand and was able to drive with the A/C on in total comfort. It really will freeze you out.
This is really the first time I've driven this normally with the air on since I put it together. I was trying to think why I didn't before the head swap, and it's because the tune was so bad with the air turned on that I never used it. The truck would drive almost 30mph with my foot off the gas before. When they did the heads, I had him retune it for better driveability and it's good now. Not 100%, but over 90, and that's good enough for me.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

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The muffler started rattling real bad at the track last night. It's a lifetime warranty Dynomax dual 3" in and dual 3" out with a built in X pipe. The top of it has four spot welds on it and two of them are now holes.
I removed it tonight and already have a new one waiting for me at Summit. I'll probably pick it up tomorrow after lunch.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

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Yesterday afternoon was a trip to Summit with dad for free muffler replacement and some new bandclamps to make replacement later much easier. Last night it got installed. It's a little quieter and doesn't rattle, but quiet is still a relative term here.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

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This weekend the S10 got a fresh Mobil 1 oil change after about 2400 miles and plenty of passes at the track. I gave it a full grease job too.
I flipped over 70k miles last weekend without realizing it. I'm also four years into this engine swap also, and have almost 17k miles on this combo. Time flies!

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

Since the motor now has almost 85k miles, why not rebuild it... OK, there's nothing wrong with it, but this winter it's going to get this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-LS-5-7L-LS1 ... SwgCpcWwi8

Trevor is ordering the parts up this week and sometime in December I'll pull the motor out and take it to Hutter's for the upgrade. It's also getting a cam upgrade good for another 15hp or so. Not a bigger cam, just a better profile he tells me so I can use my existing valvetrain. I am looking forward to the big bump in torque that should come from the compression and cubes. I just looked at my dyno sheets and I was 362hp at about 6800rpm and 314 ft lbs at 5700rpm at the wheels, after the head swap and headers were done. I'm really hoping to be over 400hp and 370 ft lbs when it's done. It's 37 cubic inches and roughly a whole point bump in compression from 9.8 to 11.0 with a new cam kicker, so these seem like realistic goals.

With heat coming from Dave and Tony, I figure I better get a jump start... The reality is that I'm just looking to be in the 11's all the time and be under 11.5 when the weather is cold. And hopefully all without using my lightweight wheel package. Beyond that I need a cage, and that's probably not going to happen in the little truck.

-BP
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TireSmoker
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by TireSmoker »

SHOTS FIRED!!

-Dave
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wxo
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by wxo »

TireSmoker wrote:SHOTS FIRED!!
Whooo Hooo! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!! :mrgreen:
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Basement Paul
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Re: 2003 S-10

Post by Basement Paul »

I have some new rubber for next season. Both are rears. M/T drag radials and Riken Raptors like on the TrackBird for longer street stints and storage. These are the only 300 treadwear tire in this size 245-50-16 I could find. Everything else is higher and WAY more expensive. I was hoping to get a 255-50-16 like my drag radials, but everything is $160+. These Rikens are $100ea delivered to my door. For tires that will most likely dry rot before I burn them off, I couldn't spend more. Plus I know they will take the abuse as shown from the Firebird.

-BP
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