I have the option to buy an 89 s-10 2wd pick up with an extended cab. The body is in good shape..No rust and such. It has a major exhaust leak, and I can't hear the engine running that well. I am really interested in buying it but can really "hear" the engine running with the eshaust leak. The guy wants $700 for it. Is that worth it? Of course I want to try and get it for much cheaper.. Let me know what everyone thinks...

I need input..

thanks a lot

Dan

 

I don't get the 327 part of it. They never had bigger than a 4.3 liter V6. If someone shoehorned a 327 in there I would buy it for the novalty. I can't say that I have EVER seen an 89 S 10 that wasn't rusty. But I live in the heart of the rust belt.

 

Yes, the person that had it before me put the 327 in it. Putting a small block in s-10's is nothing that is too new. I live in the northeast and seeing that it has no rust is kind of surprising to me as well. I am just thinking of using it as a cheap daily driver while my 86 z-28 is garaged for the winter. Also getting my hands on a 327 would be pretty cool and have a few possibilities that I could use it for.

What does anybody else feel?

dan "COOTER"

 

be cautious whenever buying someone else's project. you don't know what the guy screwed up in htere, look it over REAL careful.

 

Thanks ukrain, any other ideaS??

dan?

 

s-10 v8 swaps can be done well or they can be real hack jobs. I've done one before, theres a few things to look out for.

The biggest is cooling, take the truck for a long enough drive to make sure that the cooling system is adequate. The stock radiator is NOT adequate. Drive it for at least 30 minutes at slow speeds, or let it idle for a long time. If it was done "right" the radiator was probably moved up some to make room for a mechanical fan.

See if the firewall is hacked up. You can do these swaps without cutting the firewall, but it's tricky. Alot of people just take out the torch or hamme and go at it. You might just see some clearancing around the distributor, thats nearly impossible to get around.

If it's a mechanical fuel pump check to see what they did to make room for it. If the frame has been hammered or notched and re-welded, ok. You dont want to see a big hole cut out there with nothing in it.

Check the clearance around the steering shaft to make sure its not hitting the manifolds/headers.

 

Well I checked out the truck again today. I couldn't drive it because the tranny cable was not hooked up to the carb. Also a belt was missin from the water pump and it had the small s-10 radiator in it. It sounded to run ok..Does anyone think this truck is worth $500? let me know and thanks to cfabe for a lot of good info...

dan

 

I'd pass, sounds like it would take over $500.00 to make it street worthy. Like which was said before, I wouldn't buy someone else's project unless I trusted who did the swap. We have 2 guys at the shop that have done 350 swaps into S-10s. One is even a vette tpi motor. They are fine for hot rods, but are way to problematic for daily drivers. These guys sunk a lot of money into these trucks. I'd get a S-10 with the 4.3 V-6 that was well maintained as a daily driver. These things arent cheap to convert over and it sounds like this one was done half ***. Good luck!

Jay

 

Sounds like a passer upper to me..

You donbt want to get a winter driver that you have to be fixin all the time.....

 

Hey-
Thanks everyone, I have decided with your help I will pass it up. Like everyone said it will take money to be streetable. Thanks again for helping me make a wise choice.

Thanks

Dan