Just finished swapping engines in my S-10

[Mortis]

I was talking about this in another thread, and I didn't want to derail it any further than I already have just by me being there.....

So I bought an old Chevy S-10 Durango off of a buddy from work and less than two weeks after I got it, it developed a real bad banging and sure enough, a rod went.

Okay, so the rod went when my buddy stood on the gas pedal.... but....

So we yanked the motor out and spent the last week freezing our unmentionables off putting in a small block 305 V8 out of a Blazer, and used a manual transmission out of a Camaro.

It hauls BUTT.... I mean.... serious butt....

I'm a truck driver, so I REALLY have to watch my tickets, they go on my CDL even if I'm driving a car, but I hit it on a straight bit of road and it pegged at the measley 85 the S-10 will show with the pedal only a quarter depressed. I'm sure it'll crest 125 if I was that suicidal.

Having a bit of an overheating problem. I'm hoping it's just a thermostat and not the head gasket. It's not smoking, so we don't THINK it's the head.

Oh, and yes, we were smart, while the engine was out we DID replace all the bad seals to change, like the rear main etc.....

All in all it was a chore, but fun, I learned a bit more about engines, and 'winging' stuff. Mechanical skills are SO not my thing..... but I was elbow deep in this to the limits of my meager skills and if the weather had cooperated it would have been a ball.

[Hoobeedoo Bejesus]

I dropped a 305 in my '91 Toyota pickup. It was fun as well!

[WhiteHatBobby]

Nothing more fun than an old fashioned SBC V8 engine as a powerplant that goes into anything. Of course, the Obammy wants GM to stop making the cash cow because it isn't politically correct in a microcar world.

[Mortis]

Overheating problem fixed. Seems we didn't get all of the air out of the coolant lines..... d'uh......

It's actually hard NOT peeling out in this thing. I'm used to being a little heavy on the gas as I ease the cluth out, I just have to learn a new habit

[AmericanMuscle]

Overheating problem fixed. Seems we didn't get all of the air out of the coolant lines..... d'uh......

It's actually hard NOT peeling out in this thing. I'm used to being a little heavy on the gas as I ease the cluth out, I just have to learn a new habit


Awesome~ I love a motor-change story with a happy ending. Many safe miles to you, Mortis!

[ThrowCop]

< insert blown rod joke here >


Congrats, Mort. I haven't done that since I wedged a 454 in a '92 Firebird. :D

[Mortis]

It was a hoot listening to the fan bend....

We couldn't fit a shroud in, and it liked hitting the hood....

It's all better now

[ConstitutionHugger]

2 of the craziest engine things i ever saw were a guy put a 454big block in a VW bug! Every time he hit the gas it would pop a wheelie (like in fast & furious 1) so he had to ease on the gas.
THe other my neighbor wanted a 12 cylinder minivan, so he put 2 v6 engines in the back of it directly over the tires, that thing hauls ass!!

[ConstitutionHugger]

congrats on the engine swap btw!!!!!!!!

Now all ya need to do is change the heads and have a nice 350 in that puppy!

[johnrocks]

It looks like I gotta get a short block for my Ranger, spent way too much getting new heads a couple weeks ago, started out of town last week and heard the tick tick tick of a rod, had to rent U Haul and bring back on car trailer....what a nightmare!

[PeterGriffin]

It looks like I gotta get a short block for my Ranger, spent way too much getting new heads a couple weeks ago, started out of town last week and heard the tick tick tick of a rod, had to rent U Haul and bring back on car trailer....what a nightmare!

Just run it on gear oil and spend the money on starters.

[ScottFree]

I thought Dodge made the Durango.

[PeterGriffin]

congrats on the engine swap btw!!!!!!!!

Now all ya need to do is change the heads and have a nice 350 in that puppy!

You mean bore it .030 over :D

[johnrocks]

Just run it on gear oil and spend the money on starters.

:confused: Your talking to a mechanical idiot here , perhaps you can expand on this,;)

[johnrocks]

I thought Dodge made the Durango.

Now this I know since I was in the biz, they do indeed make the Durango.

[ScottFree]

Now this I know since I was in the biz, they do indeed make the Durango.

Me too. 25 years total, wiith 12 years in GM dealerships. I do not remember Chevy ever using "Durango" even as a trim package.
I wonder if he means S-10 Pick-up or Blazer with a Tahoe package? I personally had a 94 S-10 Blazer, 2wd, with the Tahoe trim package.

[PeterGriffin]

:confused: Your talking to a mechanical idiot here , perhaps you can expand on this,;)

Just a joke, but I've seen it done (by an automotive machinist no less) on an old worn engine with noticeable piston slap and rod noise to run it on 90W gear oil, the higher viscosity 'pumps up' the pressure so high it will take care of that noise for awhile. The problem, apart from threatening to blow out every seal, is that its so stiff on a cold start you tend to burn up starters pretty quick. He used to park it on a hill and compression start it to get around that. Not real practical advice :D

[ScottFree]

Just a joke, but I've seen it done (by an automotive machinist no less) on an old worn engine with noticeable piston slap and rod noise to run it on 90W gear oil, the higher viscosity 'pumps up' the pressure so high it will take care of that noise for awhile. The problem, apart from threatening to blow out every seal, is that its so stiff on a cold start you tend to burn up starters pretty quick. He used to park it on a hill and compression start it to get around that. Not real practical advice :D

I remember running my 74 Vega on a quart of 30w and 6, 1 pint cans of STP. It was the only way it wouldn't smoke.

[stoked]

Hey Mortis, good job. Bet you feel a couple inches taller already!!!

[gdoane]

I'd be concerned about the powertrain. If the torque is hotter than the driveshaft and differential and tranny can take, kaboom. The horsepower doesn't get to the road by osmosis.

[PeterGriffin]

I'd be concerned about the powertrain. If the torque is hotter than the driveshaft and differential and tranny can take, kaboom. The horsepower doesn't get to the road by osmosis.

Sounds like he took a T5 out of a Camaro, and the S10 already has a 10 bolt diffy. If the driveshaft pretzels, hey, go to Driveline Service and have one made for $75 bucks. Smoky tires cushion the blow to your drivetrain anyway.

[EmmanuelGoldstein]

I thought we were supposed to post in English :eh:

[gdoane]

Sounds like he took a T5 out of a Camaro, and the S10 already has a 10 bolt diffy. If the driveshaft pretzels, hey, go to Driveline Service and have one made for $75 bucks. Smoky tires cushion the blow to your drivetrain anyway.

The tow truck is going to cost more than $75 and besides, I live in Arizona. I practically ruined the asphalt in front of my GF's house with my F150 by turning the wheels with the pavement hot.

A 2008 Ford F150 is not a heavy duty vehicle, it's about as standard a truck as standard trucks get and this thing weighed so much that it made marks in hot asphalt just turning the wheels. I wasn't even hauling anything, I had two kayaks in the bed, a total payload of maybe a hundred pounds.

Peeling out isn't what it used to be because asphalt has become wimpy. If you peel out on the rubberized noise reducing crap that passes for pavement these days then you're going to be throwing junk into the windshield of the car behind you and more likely than not, that guy has a cell phone. He's going to call the cops and you're going to pay for a windshield because paving roads is just another job the government doesn't do right.

[mryukon]

Mortis, congrats on the swap. Years ago, my son and I swapped a 200 V-6 for a 305 H.O. out of a Camaro. It was 78 malibu 2 door, all said and done we actually made $250 bucks, and then a sold the car a few years later for a grand or so. We've been looking for another project car to get into, but nothing yet.

[johnrocks]

Me too. 25 years total, wiith 12 years in GM dealerships. I do not remember Chevy ever using "Durango" even as a trim package.
I wonder if he means S-10 Pick-up or Blazer with a Tahoe package? I personally had a 94 S-10 Blazer, 2wd, with the Tahoe trim package.

Looks like they did use the term Durango.:redface:
http://www.getnj.com/auto/messages/895.shtml

[Cold_War_Warrior]

I had bought a Hot Rod magazine to work some years ago and was talking to the resident car guru there about an article. They were showing how the average home mechanic could still hot rod their engine and keep it emissions legal.

My coworker then told me about one of his friends that would just remove the whole engine and put the original one back in when the inspection sticker was due for renewal. Once it passed the tests he would take it back home and re-transplant his hot rod engine back in it.

Hot Rod magazine didn’t discuss that option. :))

I guess you had to be there…I LMAO.

[ConstitutionHugger]

You mean bore it .030 over :D

We had a 305 that the only diff between it and a 350 were the heads, but that may have very well been an isolated case

[Mortis]

And yes, the tranny is a T-5 out of a Camaro