OK, it’s not really blowed up, is just blown apart. Feels kinda like going backwards having all the major chunks setting around the shop, as it looked like a truck before, but, in order to create, there has to be some destruction.
I made some mounts for the sway bar and have that hung on the chassis. The crossmember being narrowed meant moving the mounts on the lower control arms outward an inch and half each side, but no clearance problems with the tires.
I made some mounts at the front of the chassis from 1/4″ plate, the bar clamps to these. They’re a little inboard of where the bar mounts were in the donor van, but since the bar itself is now (relatively) longer and mounts further out on the lower control arms, I’m guessing (hoping) it’ll all equal out.
The wiring isn’t going to be as hard as I’d initially thought, thanks to my buddy Ron Penny and a couple of great websites with LOTS of info about these LS engine swaps. Turns out, out of all those hundreds of pink and orange wires, only 5 have to be sorted out and wired up for the thing to run as GM intended. A constant hot, two switched hot, fuel pump, speedo and tach leads, all of which I’ve found, pulled and labeled. The fuse panel which originally mounted under the hood of the donor Silverado I can (barely) get under the dash by the steering column, and the ECM can go on the opposite side tucked up under the dash. This means I won’t have to take the engine harness apart at all, which will be nice. The “extra” fuses in the block I can pull the headlight circuit, tailights, turn signals, etc. from, as they’re already fused and tailed out. Should be just a matter of splicing wire onto them and running these to the switches in the dash. That’s the plan, anyway…
So, that’s where I am now. The truck has been reduced to several piles of big mechanical chunks scattered about the shop. It’s supposed to be warm this later this week, so I want to get the “Millusion” painted, and then I can start in on sandblasting and prepping the Diamond T chassis for paint. I plan on using tractor enamel from “Tractor Supply”, in International or Massey Ferguson red, whichever is closest to the color I want the exterior. Once that is done, I can start putting things together for good, and that will feel GREAT!
Cool McCool's Garage 