1986 Chevrolet S-10 Full Custom Show Vehicle Air Ride Bagged Minitruckin V8 S10
Description
Up for grabs is my full custom 1986 Chevrolet S-10 show truck. I encourage you to watch the youtube video ->
https://youtu.be/xrv8Mju0ET4
A little history.
I bought this truck in August of 1996 on my 16th birthday. It was bone stock down to the hubcaps. It started life with a 2.8 V6 and automatic transmission. It was originally black with silver at the bottom. I drove it through high school and college. I had a set of wheels on it and a black cherry with silver racing stripe paint job and a 2/3 drop on it all those years. I joined a car club and started going to some big shows. I soon got the itch to do a full blown show vehicle. My S-10 spent a few years in the garage. All of the work was done by me, my dad, and some friends along the way. The truck was painted by a friend of mine I have known since kindergarten. He is an ASE certified painter at a body shop. The truck was stripped to the bare frame. The frame was stripped to bare metal and painted.
Suspension is full air ride and the truck lays frame flat on the ground. There are 6 switches in the center console, 1 switch controls the front 2 bags and 1 controls the rear 2 bags, there is a switch to control each bag independently also. There are 2 air gauges in the center console with the switches. 5 gallon tank under the bed, 2 viair 460C compressors in the bed. 8 GC electric valves on the tank. They are 1/2 or 3/8. I think the fronts are 1/2 and the rears are 3/8. All fittings are brass dot fittings.
Front, Thorebecke/Suicide Doors upper control arms, modified stock lower control arms, Thorebeck/Suicide Doors bag cups, Slam Specialties bags. They are either 6's or 7's I honestly do not remember at this point. There are shocks on the frame behind the control arm. Some turning radius is lost but it's not terrible.
Rear, Thorebecke/Suicide Doors 3 Link, raised gas tank crossmember, behind and under the axle bag brackets, firestone sleeve bags, and shocks.
Engine/Transmission
GM crate 350. 290HP out of the crate. Every single thing that bolts to the engine was new when we put the engine in. It is the old style engine with a carburetor, no computer, etc. The carburetor is and Edelbrock 1406 600 CFM, it sits on an Edelbrock endurashine intake. There is a serpentine setup on the front of the engine from summit racing. Everything there is either chrome or polished aluminum. The headers are heddman, the distributor is a GM HEI unit. This engine was a shoe horn to say the least. The radiator like everything else was new when it was installed. It is a late 80s corvette radiator. There is not a fan shroud but I have never had a cooling issue. The filler neck for the coolant is challenging but manageable. The transmission is a TH350 Automatic. It was completely rebuilt by a professional shop before being installed. I had to have a custom driveshaft made. The rear end is the stock rear end. I have never done a burn out or hole shot. The rear end has given me zero problems. If you start doing burnouts and hole shots you may regret it.
Body
The color is a stock VW color from the early to mid 2000's. I think I still have the code somewhere. I shaved the bumper bolts from the front bumper and frenched a lisense plate box in too. The grille is from the later 91-93 GMC trucks. The core support is still the 86. I had to lower the headlights with some brackets. If you wanted to go back to the earlier style grille it would be a snap. The inner fenders under the hood were custom made to accomodate the air ride. The wiper cowl vents were shaved. I had to keep the wiper studs at the time to be able to pass VA state inspection. The wipers had to be present. The stock fuel door was shaved and moved to the inside of the bed. The rear of the bed was completely shaved and now has 41-48 chevy taillights and a frenched license plate. The stock mirrors were shaved in favor of motorcycle mirrors which are basically worthless for vision. I rely on the rear view mirror and common sense. The antenna was also shaved. There is a ARE fiberglass bedcover that is carpeted on the underside. I really like this cover over the others I looked at because it has body lines in it that match the body lines in the hood. The rear window is an old school Breezer. The center section comes out or it will also tilt in and suck a lot of air on the interstate. There is a storage bag for the window if you chose to take it out completely. The wheels are old school 16x8 Weld Racing, 225/55/16 tires. The body was stripped to bare metal before paint. There was one single rust hole in the passenger cab corner about the size of a pencil. That was the only rust in the entire body.
Interior
I fiberglassed the stock dash. The instruments are all white face autometer gauges. There is an alpine head unit, 2 speakers in the dash, 2 speakers in the rear corner of the bed and 2 alpine 10'' subwoofers in a fiberglass box behind the seat. There's an old school alpine v12 amp for the subs under the dash. Also there is a dvd player and 5 or 6 inch lcd screen. There's a power inverter hidden in the dash for the dvd player. It all works. The sound is piped through the head unit in to the speakers. The seats and seat belts are out of a newer model s10. In the bed, I put a false oak wood floor with stainless strips on top of the original bed floor. The battery is in the front corner of the bed.
Flaws and things you should know
The truck needs a front end alignment and two tires. This needs to be done immediately. I would plan on doing the complete steering linkage as well just for good measure. The two front tires are shot. The rear tires have plenty of life left. The front two fell victim to some nasty North Carolina pot holes and the resulting misalignment that my wife and I encountered to and from Mini Nats in Maggie Valley.
There is a slow leak in the driver front bag. I have redone the fitting on top of the bag and checked every fitting except for the air gauge in the center console. This is where I suspect the leak to come from. I did replace the outer tie rod end when I did the fitting. This leak is slow. less than 10psi an hour.
The speedometer reads 10mph fast at highway speed. So the mileage listed is actually less.
The fuel gauge reads 1/2 when it's completely full. It goes to Full when it's got 1/2 tank left, after that it's time to stop for fuel. By then it's time for food or bathroom anyway.
The truck has always been driven to shows. I have had it as far as 6 hours from my house. It has rock chips and a couple small dings here and there. Nothing major and nothing you would notice right away. The windshield is scratched pretty bad on the passenger side and the rubber around the windshield is showing its age. I would certainly replace the rubber and windshield when the time comes to re-paint the truck. A couple years ago the fan came off of the alternator at 65mph and did some damage under the hood and to the hood itself. The pulley was still tightly bolted down but somehow the fan must have came in two. I point this out in the video. The hood is also a little wavy. There is a crack in the passenger bedside over the wheel. This is also covered in the video above. The tweed in the interior is starting to yellow at a few glue seams. This is primarily on the door panels behind the arm rest and the edge of the dash. Both are not visible with the doors closed.
Sometimes the drivers seat belt will lock. It will happen if you tug it a little too hard. I keep a tool under the seat to fix the issue. it's a pain and I have never figured out why it does it.
The key can be removed from the ignition with the truck running. Also the left turn signal doesn't cancel itself.
I am sure I am leaving something out. I have done my best to be as honest and up front about everything with the truck. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. I will get back to you as soon as I can. You are also welcome to look at the truck in person. I am an honest man. You will get no BS from me. I ask you treat me with the same courtesy. Please be prepared to honor your bid.
I still love this truck. I know at some point I said I would probably be buried in it. The fact of the matter is I have found something else I want to build and my garage is flat out of room. The title is clear and in my name. Location is Radford, VA 24141. 5 minutes off of the interstate. The truck is garage kept 24/7 unless it's out to a show somewhere.
$500 deposit is due within 24 hours of auction close by bank wire. The remainder to be paid by cash in person on pickup or bank wire prior to pickup if you are using a shipper.
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