Thread: Project LQ4 - V8 S10 - Sold.

Can't you zing the nub off the water pump to give you more room?

You aren't use the clutch fan.

I remember back in the day, everyone was using the fans out of some 80s Bonneville iirc. That might have just been for the first gen s-10 though.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

why not try the fans on the out side? like pushers. looks to be room there.

Eh... I don't think so. Probably less than 1-1/2" between the condensor and radiator. Plus they work better as pullers. That way the shroud directs all the airflow (in theory) through the entire radiator. When using pusher fans, you only get airflow through the area directly under the fan. An 11" circle, or two 11" circles.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

A single skinny fan could work too

Maybe. I'd have to research the CFM #'s. It'd have to be offset to miss the W/P snout.

but you'd have to buy one

Yeah. Not looking to spend more on this. I'm already in too deep compared to everything else. Plus, I'd have to fab a new shroud. Something I could surely do, but really don't want to.

I know if you can find like a volvo fan or ford fan, they are 2 speeds and rather skinny.

We'll see what happens with my current Engineered Cooling Products fans. I'm working through some QC issues with them right now. How they handle it will determine what I post...

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

i had a pair of 16 inch pro comp fans iirc on my 03 gmc. . they kept the temps one degree cooler then the clutch fan.

If only I had that kind of room. The sacrifices we make to shed two tons of steel.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

Can't you zing the nub off the water pump to give you more room? You aren't use the clutch fan.

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that "nub" is where the pulley presses onto the pump shaft. Even the cars with e-fans have that same nub. It's just not threaded.

Originally Posted by Slick2500

I remember back in the day, everyone was using the fans out of some 80s Bonneville iirc. That might have just been for the first gen s-10 though.

I've seen people mention Taurus, Camaro, Mark VIII.... Just depends on how creative you are I guess. I'm not sure any of those factory fans will flow enough air for me though.

I did a tad more looking into it, people who seem to have issues with the pulley coming off will weld the pulley to the shaft.

So I guess in theory you could weld the pulley on and remove some of the left over shaft to give you room but we aren't talking alot of room here.

You may be better off just moving the radiator in slightly like you already said.

Originally Posted by BrandonHall10

Might even involve moving the condenser in front of the core support to get the required depth.

Yup. Little bit of cutting to make room for the lines to pass through, and the condenser was right at home on the front of the core support. Mounting it should be pretty straight forward. A couple little shelves, or feet welded to the bottom of the support with a ledge to hold it up and in. Then I'll rework the latch bracket to hold it down and in. A pair of tabs on the left and right will locate it side to side.



Might involve a trip to Industrial Metal Supply to grab some thinner gauge sheet stock. Or a trip to the junkyard. Maybe I can find something that's close to what I need and just rework it a little. Be a whole lot easier and quicker than building something from scratch.



Gonna have to pull a rabbit outta my hat here...

A few thoughts come to mind but I may have missed something along the way. Electric water pump? Smaller condenser? Is the engine as far back as it should be? Blah blah not much help. As a body man I gotta throw a flag on your vertical support... careful how you mod that. The latch position must stay intact and you mustn't lose any rigidity there. Needing to replace a smashed windshield and hood plus hinges would be quite a buzz kill. The point where vertical hood latch supports meet core supports is often overlooked but there's a lot of stress on that area during normal usage. Just bear that in mind.

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

A few thoughts come to mind but I may have missed something along the way. Electric water pump?

More money.

Smaller condenser?

More money.

Is the engine as far back as it should be?

Pretty much. There's really no adjustment in the BRP mounts. Even if there was, the right head would be into the AC box.

Blah blah not much help

Not true. The comments get me thinking, and I like the input from guys with experience.

As a body man I gotta throw a flag on your vertical support... careful how you mod that. The latch position must stay intact and you mustn't lose any rigidity there. Needing to replace a smashed windshield and hood plus hinges would be quite a buzz kill. The point where vertical hood latch supports meet core supports is often overlooked but there's a lot of stress on that area during normal usage. Just bear that in mind.

I appreciate your concern. It would be very easy to just hack away on that bracket to get the needed clearance, and not give it a second thought. I have a rough idea of how to add to bottom of the latch bracket so it reaches all the way around the bottom of the condenser to attach to the bottom flat of the core support. Should be at least equal in strength to how it was before. I think you'll like it. If you look closely in the last pic, you can see where I wrote down some reference measurements I took before disassembly. I tried to plan ahead so I'd have something to come back to.

As far as getting a different WP or condenser... It would be far easier, but I'm trying to avoid "custom" components simply for the cost. The stuff I have works, I just need to make it work. If I was running car accessories OR didn't want AC, there wouldn't be an issue, but I want my cake and to eat it too. I have a cut off wheel, a welder and Google. Anything's possible!

On a side note; Progress will probably come to a full stop for the next couple of days. My mom and dad are coming down from Michigan to visit. Pretty stoked to hang out with the people that gave me life.

Well, their flight was delayed a bit so I got some garage time this afternoon. Here's what I came up with for the condenser support. Just some 1" flat stock welded to the bottom of the core support.





It looks a little better with some paint.



Working on the latch bracket





Next step is to chop out the section that hits the condenser.

I would be slightly concerned with strength, not in the resistance to breaking but in the resistance to torsion, if that makes any sense to you...

I know it's tight down there, but can you fit some form of triangulation on that angle iron, to keep it from flexing back and forth or twisting? It wouldn't need an insane amount, just maybe one next to the large cutout, a decently sized triangular support could fit on the right side, at a 45° to the portion that sticks out slightly. Then it would just be small triangles on either side of the bolt holes on the top portion.

You might not see it yet, but I know how much that piece will flex once you cut that offending section out. There's a lot of differently angled bends in that piece, most of the ones that lend it rigidity along the bottom are in the way of your condenser. There needs to be the same level of rigidity after the cut, which is why I'm telling you now that it needs lots of little triangles. It won't be as pretty and sleek and smooth as everything else, but if it stays like that the hood latch will twist out of that support, or just rip that entire support apart if it's given a chance to flex and bend. You really don't want to have to come back to this.

You did make it much easier on yourself by putting two 90° angles where the new metal joins the old stamped sheet steel.



EDIT: I took another look at the pictures you posted, particularly the side profile of that support. In my mind I drew a line between the top edge of it on the left, and the edge of the angle iron you have welded on. Include the space between the edge of the angle iron and the top mounting holes.

If, IF you can go over top of the latch mechanism, DO IT. get as much material there as you can fit. I may seem a little crazy right now, but I've seen 10g steel twist and crumple like it's tissue paper, just by being put under torsion.

Ok. I think I've expressed my concern sufficiently. I would hate to see this majestic beast of a project meet an untimely end.

Originally Posted by WarStryker13

I would be slightly concerned with strength, not in the resistance to breaking but in the resistance to torsion, if that makes any sense to you...

I know it's tight down there, but can you fit some form of triangulation on that angle iron, to keep it from flexing back and forth or twisting? It wouldn't need an insane amount, just maybe one next to the large cutout, a decently sized triangular support could fit on the right side, at a 45° to the portion that sticks out slightly. Then it would just be small triangles on either side of the bolt holes on the top portion.

You might not see it yet, but I know how much that piece will flex once you cut that offending section out. There's a lot of differently angled bends in that piece, most of the ones that lend it rigidity along the bottom are in the way of your condenser. There needs to be the same level of rigidity after the cut, which is why I'm telling you now that it needs lots of little triangles. It won't be as pretty and sleek and smooth as everything else, but if it stays like that the hood latch will twist out of that support, or just rip that entire support apart if it's given a chance to flex and bend. You really don't want to have to come back to this.

You did make it much easier on yourself by putting two 90° angles where the new metal joins the old stamped sheet steel.



EDIT: I took another look at the pictures you posted, particularly the side profile of that support. In my mind I drew a line between the top edge of it on the left, and the edge of the angle iron you have welded on. Include the space between the edge of the angle iron and the top mounting holes.

If, IF you can go over top of the latch mechanism, DO IT. get as much material there as you can fit. I may seem a little crazy right now, but I've seen 10g steel twist and crumple like it's tissue paper, just by being put under torsion.

Ok. I think I've expressed my concern sufficiently. I would hate to see this majestic beast of a project meet an untimely end.

Don't over think it brother. It'll be fine.

Okay. Now I'm satisfied with how the condenser is mounted/secured. It's held in top to bottom and left to right. Next step is securing the bottom of the grill/hood latch bracket.

Condenser is mounted and everything clears. Now I can try to wedge the radiator in the back side.

Radiator is recessed. Now I need to figure out how to support/secure it.

i got faith in ya. or idj will show up and tell ya how he'd do it lol

the gp just has 2 rubber feet on the bottom and top corners have 1 bolt and a arm keeping it from flapping. Cant get any easier than that.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

i got faith in ya. or idj will show up and tell ya how he'd do it lol

I think I have it pretty well figured out. The bottom of the radiator has kind of an upside down "U" shape, so it'll just need some sort of post with a rubber pad to sit on. That will locate it front to back and side to side. I should be able to re-work the old shroud to hold it in on the top.

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

the gp just has 2 rubber feet on the bottom and top corners have 1 bolt and a arm keeping it from flapping. Cant get any easier than that.

This thing ain't no Grand Prix. LOL

Nothing done to the S10 today. Had to take the old K10 in for an emissions test. Paid Pima county my $12.25 ransom. Took longer this time than last. The "inspector" had to wait for a supervisor or something... I asked what the deal was. He said, a lot of the testing places had been failing secret random quality checks, so now they have to have two sets of eyes on every inspection. What a joke. The whole emissions testing system is a joke. /endrant

Anyhow... I'm pretty impressed with the numbers from the test. Amazing how clean this old truck runs.



How is that even possible...?

Fib the test with a mixture of E85 huh?

95 and older here are exempt , 06 and under commercial are exempt, 25 and older, also testing is free 9 more years for the gp come on baby!

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

Fib the test with a mixture of E85 huh?

I'm not sure "fib" is the right word. That would imply a cheat of some sort. I met/exceeded the standards they set on a test that they control, and I did it by following every guideline they have. There's no rule against using alternative fuels or fuel additives. #greyarea

Originally Posted by ItHurtz

95 and older here are exempt , 06 and under commercial are exempt, 25 and older, also testing is free 9 more years for the gp come on baby!

Brand new vehicles are exempt for like 5 years or something like that. Maybe less. IDK, I'll never own a brand new vehicle.
'96 and newer get the OBDII check. No MIL and a good gas cap = pass. Usually no visual.
'95 and older go on the rollers and get sniffed. Under the CO and HC limits and have any gas cap = pass. Usually a visual.
All "Heavy Duty" trucks go on the rollers regardless of age. Probably a visual.

I'm thinking, because the S10 is a '97, I'll get the OBDII only test. A lazy inspector would be nice also.

I agree with you emissions testing is a joke, it's also such a waste of time and money. So glad we do t have that stupid bull****.

Sent from a galaxy far far away.