Project Worx

Been hanging around for a while & really like the "Pro Touring S10" format.

My name is Dan & I live in Port St Lucie Fla & I have a 2003 ext cab S10 4.3 ZQ8 that I got a couple years ago at a Chevy dealership in town that had it on the used car lot. When I saw it I was looking for a S10 to get around in & use as a shop truck for my jetski repair biss.

I drove past & noticed it was lowered & had some cool wheels & figured it would be more than I had & didnt want to finance anything. After looking & driving a few & they were garbage,I was heading home & drove past chevy it was still there so I turned around to go look at it.

Having owned a 89 & 94 S10's I knew a litlle about them...when I started checking it out I was suprised to see a rear swaybar,bilstein shocks & a huge front bar,figuring that someone had already been tricking it out. I took it for a ride & fell in love with it right away & knew I really wanted it.

I went home a started doing some research & learned that it was a ZQ8 something I had never heard about. I bought the truck a started my journey.......

When I got it home it had body side moulding & pin stripping & I removed them ASAP for a cleaner look & took all the badges off.

I really didnt run like I thought it should so I started working on that first,K&N filter,oil change to Mobil 1 synthetic & put some Seafoam in the gas & did the down the vacuum hose trick & it started running better.

The previous owner was a smoker & it reeked inside so lot of air fresheners & a complete carpet & upholstery cleaning helped a lot.

I really liked the ZQ8 wheels but a friend of mine had a set of Vette sawblades in his garage & gave them to me so I bought some spacers & installed them.

The engine was running pretty good but was def lacking something...

Started doing some reading here & over at the Planet & decieced to get a tune so I sent my PCM to PCM4less & they did a great job & it def ran a lot better but something was still missing....

About 2 weeks after I installed my tune I went to leave a customers house & it would hardly move !!!
I started by looking under the hood & noticed a LOT of heat & the exhaust was cracking & popping so I figured the cat took a dump. I went to the muffler shop & he installed a new hiflow cat but it still had the stock muffler. It ran a lot better but I went back next week & he installed & flowmaster muffler & that really woke the truck up !!!

My truck was now a joy to drive with crisp acceleration & lots of throttle response that was never there before.

On the way home from getting a gallon of 2 stroke oil at Wally mart one day I had the gallon on the front passenger seat & some jackbag in front of me jammed on his brakes to make a turn & the gallon hit the floor & the cap broke open & it dumped all over the floor board !!

I then bought some new carpet in black & installed it & got some Wet Okole seat covers for the seat because I was starting to put some bad wear marks getting in & out all the time.

The interior was originally light grey & I am changing the color by replacing the door panels,sill & pillar guards & a lot of other stuff with dark grey parts as I can find them.

Upgraded all the speakers & stereo system with a JVC double din unit.



A dash mat to protect the dash & replaced the broken defroster vent & also did the DTR light & auto light mods so I had control of the lights.

Installed some SS mirrors & LED tail & clear headlights & front turn signal/fog lights.

Got tired of looking at the shabby grill so I had it painted to match the body & a Sonoma hood....



I really wanted a roll pan but I have to tow jetskis so I got the factory GM pan & the hidden trailer hitch so I could remove the heavy bumper & clean up the rear.





Next for the rear is to relocate the tailgate handle to the inside & get the tail gate fixed from all the battle scars & repair where the badges were glued on.

really clean truck man, i hate those sawblades though. would you recommend seafoam in vacuum line? i did it to the gas but not the vacuum line

Thats cool, but I do get a lot of good comments on them & it looking factory.

Yeah remove your vacuum line from the power brake booster & put your finger over the opening in the hose & have someone start the truck,put the can close to the opening & slowly remove your finger a little at a time & let the vacuum suck in about 1/4 of the can & then just shut it off & let it sit for 20/30 minutes & then refire it & be prepared for it to smoke like crazy !!   

Drive it & you will see how much better it runs !!!

I do it to all my friends cars & trucks & everybody says how much better it runs.

My complete mod list as of today anyway.  LOL

Chassis/Suspension

Stock ZQ8 suspension
Front end completely rebuilt
ES poly bushings on all swaybars & links
UB Tublar upper control arms & PPM tall ball joints
JTR driveline alignment kit
FR steering joint
Goodridge SS brake lines
Slotted & drilled front rotors with powerstop pads
Hop shock
Corvette 17 inch Sawblades 275/40-17 rears & 245/45-17 fronts Hancook Touring Tires

Motor/Drive Mods

K&N air filter in stock box
PCM4less 93 octane tune
Aluminum distributor
MSD 6A Digital Ignition
MSD Blaster Coil
MSD Plug Wires
NGK Spark plugs
HD 2 row aluminum radiator
Spal dual 11 inch fans & controller
HD Trans cooler
Battery relocated to bed
HD Alternator
JTR Motor Mounts
ES Poly Trans mount
March UD Pulleys
Flowmaster 40 series Muffler
Mobil 1 oil & filter

Interior Upgrades

Dash Mat
Wet Okole Seatcovers
ACC black Carpet
JVC DD Stereo
Valentine 1 Radar Locater
Upgraded Speakers
DTR Light deleted
Auto Light deleted
Tinted windows
Console Shifter
Dark Grey Color change
Aluminum 3rd door handle

Body Upgrades

LED Tails
Clear Headlights
Clear Front TS/Fog Lights
Color Matched Grill
Sonoma Hood
Roll Pan & Hidden Hitch
Shorty Antenna
Tinted 3rd Brake Light
All Badge's & Trim removed
Street Scene Mirrors
RollnLock Tonneau Cover

A few more....







Hope you enjoy my journey & the pics as much as I do. 

This is my 3rd S10 & I think it is pretty cool & I am thinking about a 2 door Blazer for my next project.

VERY nice. I do tend to love the sawblades too.

Thanx

My 94 had Z28 wheels painted to match the truck (white) & my 89 had Corvette rallys.  I like factory wheels & try to keep a clean look to the build.

Sawblades are really growing on me as well actually.  I'm a fan of factory wheels too, there's something characteristic about them that isn't replicated in the aftermarket stuff.

I think most of the stock wheels are a lot more subtle than the aftermarket options, for the most part. It gives the whole truck and understated look that almost makes you have to look twice before realizing there is something special going on.

Starting to gather info & parts for a LS swap !!

There is a lot more pictures here..... Well done. I like the saw blades too...

Do I know you    LOL

Picked up a good deal on a Torsen/Zexel for $100.....

Def hooks up a lot better than the G80.