"The assignment, should you decide to accept it, is this; take one 1996 S-10, a $3300 budget, a good helping of creativity and lots of elbow grease, and build an affordable, usable, fun, pre-runner."
This was the message I received from an
unknown source somewhere deep in the vast unexplored reaches of my mind.
(This voice speaks to me from time to time, but that's a whole 'nother
story) Well, I'm always up for a good challenge, and I just happened to
have one, slightly wrecked '96 S-10 and about $3300 at hand (WOW what a
coincidence!) so I accepted the assignment.
It was new and clean,,,,,,,,,,,, Then I added tires
& a bumper,,,,,,Then I crunched it! (click on pic for full
size)
First, I had to have a game plan, all tough assignments
have a good game plan. Here's mine;
1: Save money by using as many "stock" production
parts as possible.
2: Do as much of the work myself as I can, which
will most likely be all of it.
3: Have as much fun doing it as I can!
Second, I had to decide just how deep I
wanted to go with modifications. Well, since the front is wrecked to begin
with, I might as well go with a fiberglass front clip. If I'm going with
a fiberglass front clip, I might as well fab all new front suspension to
push the tires out into the wider fiberglass front fenders. If I'm going
to have a wider front track width, I guess I had better widen the rear
width to match, so a wider rear end is in order. If I'm going to have a
wider rear stance, I guess I better widen the bedsides to cover the tires.
Oh heck, why not, I'll just replace the whole bed with flared fiberglass
bedsides! Of course, I'll have to round it all off with the appropriate
"pre-runner" style front and rear bumpers.
Ok, so now I'm going to have a lot less
weight, what with all the fiberglass, and longer suspension travel, so
I just KNOW I'll be tempted to push it to it's limits, so I'd better build
a good cage inside the cab. Well, as long as I've got a cage, and tube
bumpers front and rear, I might as well tie it all together with an engine
cage, rear cage, and shock mounts.
Whew! This looks like it might get expensive
quick! How can it be possible to stay in budget? Let's take a look;
3/8/00- Update!!
Purchased
complete rear low mileage 10 bolt rear end with posi , spare posi unit,
and springs $300
Purchased BETTER, rebuilt 12 bolt rearend
with posi, trusses, link mounts, and shock mounts, $150!! (yes, I
now have a complete 10 bolt for sale with a spare posi unit, I'll let it
go for $250)
4/1/00-
Purchased shocks, (18" travel remote
rez coilovers) wheels and tires (6, 35" BFG Baja T/A's on 8" AR23 rims)
at the swap meet $900
Purchased 2, rebuilt 14" travel remote
rez coilovers (no coils) with dual stage springs from King Shocks
$400!! Then found springs for them for $200.
Fiberglass front fenders, hood, rear bedsides,
from Trailer Products, Hemet Ca.-.............................................................
$670 (done)
6 Bilstein 7100 series shocks, appx $150 ea.,
X 6 ...........$900 NOT!!!,,,,
$300 (done)
Got 2 3" threaded body 16' travel
remote rez Bilsteins ($100,
THANKS KREG!)
and 2 remote rez 16 " travel 7100
series Bilsteins ($200)
at the swap meet
Wider rear end with posi.............................................................................$300
(done)
4:56 Gears...................................................................................................$250(?)
Beard (or similar) racing seats,...................................................................$300(?)
Many, many feet of steel,............................................................................
$400(?)
4-15x7 American Racing Outlaw rims,.............................$360
NOT!!,,,,,
(done)
4 33x10.50x15 off-road tires (most likely BFG
AT).........$460 NOT!!,,,,,
(done)
Got 6 35x12.5 BFG Baja T/A's mounted on
5 spoke sluminum wheels ($600)
at the swap meet
Paint and supplies........................................................................................$200
"Nickel and Dime" type things you always forget
about..............................$300
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL........................................................................................................$4140
(revised
projected cost, after swap meet savings)....................................$3320
(?) indicates a best guess, meaning I have not checked on these
prices
WHAT!?!? WAIT, HOLD THE
BOAT! I haven't even started yet and already
I'm over budget!?!? OH NO!!!!!!!!!!
Well, not to worry. I may only have
$3300 cash on hand, BUT, I'll be removing
several good, sellable parts off the truck
which should generate more than the needed
revenue to repair the budget.
Let's have a look see;
Perfectly good complete bed......................................................................$800
Perfectly good right front fender..................................................................$50
Perfectly good hood....................................................................................$50
Perfectly good bench seat(if it wont fit
my Scout as a rear seat).................$50
Perfectly good rear end...............................................................................$250
4 Cragar 15x10 Street Steel rims................................................................$200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL........................................................................................................$1400
Amended budget..........................................................................................$4700
ALL RIGHT!! Looks like it can be
done!!! (with money to spare now!!!)
SO, thanks to the trip out to Ca and LeDucs
swap meet, I have al the shocks I'll need, all the wheels and tires I need,
my fiberglass, and I also picked up 5 good size lights for $40! And I managed
to lower the total projected cost by $820!
If you have any questions, or anything
for sale that you think will help, please e-mail me at
Cowboydj@qwest.net and
stay tuned!
GUN EDUCATION not GUN CONTROL!
PLEASE; TEACH your kids about guns, before they find out the hard way, because even if you dont own one, they may know someone who does.
I the mean time, you can check out my other pages;
My
Scout page
My
Wedding DJ page (I DJ on the side)
My
personal pics page
OR my fovorite links;
NRA
Rod Halls Hummers
Off-Road.com
(an excellent off-road web-zine, and the host of this site)
Sonora
Desert Scouts
Tom's
Big Sky 'Binders
Jim Weeds
Scout Page
Foutz
Motorsports