Nick's 1997 GMC Sonoma build thread

[Ted's Owner]

Nice! Any parts you're looking for in particular?

There was a few that I was looking for, but I came home with...

I had a very productive day at the junkyard. I picked up four '94-'97 S-10 five-spoke wheels with tires, a '94-'04 S-10/Sonoma steel wheel with a tire, a passenger's side mirror, a driver's side headlight, a 3rd door upper latch, an air conditioning vent, a brake pedal pad, and a tailgate bezel (didn't fit.) for $148.40.



My brother also got extremely lucky and he got a bench seat in almost mint condition out of a '97 S-10 regular cab for $25. He's going to try and retrofit it into his '99 S-10 extended cab with a 3rd door.
I do have a picture of his truck that I can post if requested.



And the PO of the truck was a smoker. I don't smoke and I don't like the smell, so I bought:

I also picked up some white lithium grease for the hinges on the truck.

I've already Febrezed the whole truck, put the Febreze New Car air freshener in, and sprayed the Ozium New Car scent air disinfectant spray. I'm planning on vacuuming it out, steam cleaning the carpet and seats, and cleaning everything on Wednesday.
I'm also planning on picking up some oil change supplies and a serpentine belt tomorrow. That'll also be done Wednesday as well, as well as washing the truck provided the weather allows.

EDIT: I also ordered an 'Under Construction' decal last night that I almost completely forgot about.

 

[MiketheDyke]

Wow nice finds! It really sucks that the PO was a smoker. The smell must drive you crazy haha

Sent from my phone

 

[Ted's Owner]

Wow nice finds! It really sucks that the PO was a smoker. The smell must drive you crazy haha

Sent from my phone

It does, but that Ozium stuff is so strong that if the smell is still there tomorrow, I'll be surprised.

 

[Charly[horse]]

Wow, disappointed that you sold the teg. Hope you stick around and continue to show us the truck though Looks like you are doing good work to it already!

 

[Ted's Owner]

Wow, disappointed that you sold the teg. Hope you stick around and continue to show us the truck though Looks like you are doing good work to it already!

Yeah; I am a little bit disappointed, too. But, I needed the cargo space more than I needed the Integra, so I bit the bullet and traded the Integra for this. He got the better end of the trade, but I'm going to have a lot of fun with this.
I'll definitely be sticking around.

 

[Charly[horse]]

Good stuff, I'm subscribed to see your progress!

 

[Ted's Owner]

Good stuff, I'm subscribed to see your progress!

Awesome. I can't promise that'll it'll be updated this often all the time. I just got lucky so far.

 

[Ted's Owner]

So, I took my truck to an exhaust shop today because it had an exhaust leak. I thought the exhaust leak was in the y-pipe (it's pretty banged up.), but it turns out that there was an incomplete weld on the catalytic converter and a small leak behind the catalytic converter. So, I had the catalytic converter cut out and replaced with a straight pipe.

The reason that there are two different tubes welded here is because the exhaust shop accidentally cut one of the o2 sensors, so I got a new one for free and they put a new o2 bung on in a different location.

Here's the cat. The honeycomb was completely blown out or removed at one point, so it wasn't really doing much in the first place.



There is still a slight exhaust leak, but I know where it is and it's not directly facing the cab, so it's not a huge concern. But, new exhaust will be before tires because the piping is about shot.

 

[Ted's Owner]

After some thinking, some researching, and some calculating, the exhaust will not be done before tires. At least, not this paycheck anyway. This paycheck, I'm going to work on getting the spare wheel cleaned up, painted, and dressed up, ordering a new spare tire for it, then getting an oil change out of the way, and a non-A/C serpentine belt so I can do an A/C delete and sell the A/C components on Craig's List.

 

[R13]

If the a/c works why delete it? If you ever sell it it will be more desirable.

Sent from my toaster

 

[Ted's Owner]

If the a/c works why delete it? If you ever sell it it will be more desirable.

Sent from my toaster

I don't need it, and it's extra weight. Plus, it's extra money I can put back in my pocket and towards the truck.

 

[Ted's Owner]

I got a few more things done today.
I took out the blown dash speakers, ghetto-rigged aftermarket tweeters, and jump seat out. The dash speakers were JL Audio Evolution's (how do you even blow those?) and the tweeters were Kickers. It sounds so much better without them. The dash speakers will be getting replaced eventually, but it'll due for now.

I took the jump seat out because I don't see the purpose in having a seat that small. It shaved 22 lbs. off of the weight.



Also, my fuel gauge quit working today. So, now the temperature gauge and the fuel gauge don't work. It may be time for a new gauge cluster...

 

[Ted's Owner]

I bought some Castrol GTX High Mileage 10W-30, an ACDelco oil filter, a Dayco non-A/C serpentine belt so I can do the A/C delete and replace the belt, and I just ordered a new gauge cluster out of a '97 S-10 with the floor shifted automatic. The cluster only had 117k on it and it was $45.00. I also ordered the twist locks to do the LED cluster light conversion and a pack of blue LEDs.
I'll possibly do the oil change, belt, and A/C delete on Saturday, and the gauge cluster and bulbs should be in sometime mid-next week.

 

[Charly[horse]]

Just curious, how do you know it is the cluster and not something else that is making those gauges not work?

 

[Ted's Owner]

Just curious, how do you know it is the cluster and not something else that is making those gauges not work?

Research. The gauge clusters tend to go out after they get a ton of miles on them. The cluster in it has 258k on it (truck has 156k-157k) and neither the temp gauge or the gas gauge works. Plus, it's out of the wrong truck. It's out of a '95 S-10 that was column shifted. The one that I ordered is out of a '97 S-10 that was floor shifted, the cluster only has 117k miles, and it has a 90-day warranty. I'm going to clean the connections with electric contact cleaner before I install everything.