Project Log for Jon’s Mud Truck
Feb 15, 2011
Went out to Orlando, and came home with the following:
$300 – 1979 GMC Sierra frame w/ 1986 Blazer axles under it, 3.73 gears. Locking hubs (steering still attached, all the way to the steering box, fuel lines/shocks everything else in place still), wheels/33″ tires
$20 – 4×4 700r4 (needs case welding on 1 of the transfer case bolt holes, not a big deal)
$50 – 208 Transfer case
$20 – HEAVY receiver hitch
$10 – SUPER heavy/custom steel rear bumper
This is going under my 86 s10 reg cab long bed body. Hopefully will have some swap pictures this weekend. We still have to measure and figure out how much we are going to shorten the frame.
Hoping maybe I can trade the s10 roller frame for some decent tires to put on this thing.
This is the 1979 GMC Sierra Grande frame (unsure if it is 1500/2500 though)
Feb 19, 2011
Today, Arlo and I got the frame cut apart, rolled together, then welded back up. Took almost 4 hours, 2.5 hours of that was welding/grinding/re-welding. I think I will have Joel weld the plates in place, since although I have yet to have a weld fail on anything I have welded, I would just prefer that someone else did it for me.
Tomorrow: roll the frame out front, finish grinding a weld or 2, flip the frame on it’s side to ensure the bottoms are welded appropriately. Then remove the body from the s10 frame and at least onto the other frame so I can put the 79 in the driveway and the s10 frame in the back yard.
On the up side, had nothing go wrong today, only tripped a breaker with the welder once. The frame came out exactly where we wanted it to go (luckily I measured before we started cutting, and found 2 places that measured exactly the same side to side), within 1/32 of an inch.
The uncut frame.
Lines for cutting marked
Cutting along the lines
Split apart
Both sides cut
The frame split into two pieces
And after some welding and grinding, it’s back together.
Feb 20, 2011
Got the cab on, bed on and front fenders on.
Had a couple of problems today; got the body mounts taken off the 79 frame, so I could get the inside of the frame welded up but after welding the inside of the frame, it seems where I ground the welds down, the cuts are showing through. I don’t know if Arlo’s welds didn’t penetrate far enough or what, but either way it is not a big deal. I am going to cut the section of frame that was cut out and weld them on to ensure the frame is strong enough. I would rather go WAY overboard than have something go wrong.
Also, we triple checked our measurements to ensure everything was straight and square, but when I measured out the 16″ being removed, I forgot to subtract the metal from the Z cut so the frame actually ended up being 4″ shorter than I intended on it being 
so to center the tires in the wheel wells, we opted to cut 5″ from the cab end of the bed. I don’t care about the front being cut, but a frame will be required to tie the 2 sides together after we get the body mounts welded together. It’s a mud truck, haha. Also, thinking after we did the cuts, I should have moved the cuts forward so that it stayed away from the spring mount (you will see in the pictures), but I figure it will be fine since we are plating it back in.
Had the truck roll backwards off the jack stands while taking the cab off, crushing the jack stands and coming within 1/16″ of hitting my brother’s Z28 which was parked behind it. 
Neighbor has a picture of the gap, I will see if I can get it from him. I’m pretty sure we have pictures of the crushed stands, but if not, I still have them outside.
Planning on getting the motor/trans/transfer case in on Saturday so I can get the transmission cross-member built and then start on the body mounts Sunday.
The cab off from the ’86 S10 has gone…
.. and found a new home.
Now the bed moved and it looks like a truck again!
Here’s another picture of it on the frame.
Disastrous crushed jack stands after the S10 fell on them.
Another shot of the carnage.
We needed to cut this much out of the bed to make the wheel wells match up with the wheels.
Cutting….
… and more cutting ….
…. and more cutting on the bottom of the bed.
Back together after cutting and the wheel wells line up with the wheels now.
February 28th
Didnt get as much done as I would have liked to this weekend, but life calls and projects get pushed on the back burner. Not a big deal though. I did manage to get the body up on some wood so I could start leveling and centering the body, after a while of fighting with it, I think it is pretty close to where I want it as far as height goes. I think I will have Joel help me finish centering the body, then comes time for body mounts. Until then, here are a couple pictures from yesterday.
Saturday March 19 – Sunday March 20
I will get pictures this upcoming weekend, when I finish the BIG update that is upcoming, but for now I figured text would be enough.
After slacking for the past 2 weeks, I finally did some stuff this weekend, however between fixing my lawn mower and it threatening rain all day Sunday, I didnt get as much done as I would have liked. Anyway, I ended up getting the cab mounts welded to the frame and bolted to the cab, and got the bed leveled out ready to mount.
This upcoming weekend, little different speed; build exhaust for the Trans Am, install Flowmasters on the Silverado, build bed mounts for the S10, pull S10 body off to finish welding mounts/box frame/gussets. Hopefully Sunday I can get the frame stripped and painted (orange!). Stay tuned, Sunday night there should be TONS of pictures!
