Today I scored the rear end for the project. A guy advertised a 2000 S10 rear from a 4 cyl 5 speed truck for $ 275.00 on Craigslist. I called and asked about the condition, said it was from a 50,000 mile truck and it was a posi. When we got there it was a 3:73 ratio, but not a posi. So I offered him $150.00 and after some hesitation he took it. A one wheeler if fine with me, that is what I ran under my 23 and it held up great.

When I got it home I pulled the back cover off and everything looks good inside, with no slop in the gears. It has 11-41 stamped on the ring gear, and after doing some dividing I confirmed that is a 3:73. I really like these S10 rears, nice and narrow, parts are cheap to rebuild the brakes, and only two spring pads to cut off before you weld what brackets you need to make it work for your application.

I also got the other front frame rail tapered, so now I can start cutting the rails for under the body. While I was doing all of that Dan was starting to install the wiring kit on his rpu. He got the dash gauges all done, and is only waiting for some disconnect plugs to arrive before he can start doing the rest of it.

Not huge progress for either of us, but progress nonetheless.

Don