Am I Crazy? Duramax S-10

I had a friend that put a small block chevy in a s-10...that thing halled ***,no tracktion,but fun to drive!...the fan was like 1 inch from the radiater...

Yeah they just showed something on spike (i think it was the new trucks) called S10K.
It's actually kinda common swap (V8 gas) anyways.
If you got the running train preferably a donor duramax truck you'd make out like a bandit.
It's an aweful lot of work; but it'd surely be one of a kind!

Here is a quick note on the difference in size. I just took a Big block out of a Farm Buggy we have and am working on placing an LLY in it. I had to move the radiator ahead 1 to 2 inches and had to drop the engine down in the frame about the same just to make it fit in the same hole as the Big Block. I have seen how tight small blocks are in S10's, and most of them have had to put in electric fans and do some body lifting. However I say fly at it and put some pics up for all of us to see. On the wiring side, I will let you know how our little shop project turns out in a week or so. I am suppose to get EFILive the first of next week so I can bypass all the Passlock junk. If anyone has any other wiring suggestions let me know.

Best of luck.

mattofferdahl9;1554386; said:

Hi my buddy has an 80 something standard cab short box S 10 that he did a frame off restoration on, its a rolling chassis right now with a lot of custom body work but no motor and he's thinkin about selling it to me for like a 1000 bucks. I am wondering if any one know if it is all posible to cram a duramax in there. I know there would be quite a bit of modification especially to the steering and front end and to accomidate the tranny but has it been done? I would love to try it but if any one has some tips or warnings I would sure appreciate it. I think it would be awesome to have and would get killer fuel milage. He said go gas but I dont want some noisy gas guzzeling pig thats a trailer queen.

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Sounds like a lot of weight coming down on that little front axle.I had a 4 banger Isuzu diesel in a '81 Chevette once--got 50-55 MPG! Something lite like that might be the way to go.

imo-the weight factor will be your biggest downside...on a note,the duramax,allison,will be way to heavy,for the front end of a s-10

NOt only weight but clearance, would def have to raise the truck way way up.

A philosophy my dad and I have, "a Cutting torch and a welder, you can make anything fit!"

I was joking with my dad about stuffing a LBZ/Alli into a c5 'vette.

An S10 is smaller than a Dakota but if Banks could put a fully built Cummins in a Dakota you should be able shoe horn in a Duramax. You will probably need to drop the motor, new axles and springs, extend the engine bay and probably do something to the cab. If time and some money were no object, you could do it. How about a rear engine S10?

MGlickLBZ;1554685; said:

An S10 is smaller than a Dakota but if Banks could put a fully built Cummins in a Dakota you should be able shoe horn in a Duramax. You will probably need to drop the motor, new axles and springs, extend the engine bay and probably do something to the cab. If time and some money were no object, you could do it. How about a rear engine S10?

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Axles - including the rear axle, because if even the HD gasser rear axle can't deal with the torque from a Dmax, imagine what it'd do to a little S-10 semi floating rear axle. So you'd probably need a rearend from a Dmax truck. And modded to fit the narrower S-10, it'd probably be all differential and not much axle

Lingenfelter stuffed a twin turbo 5.7L LS1 engine into a 2nd S-10. they mounted the radiator in the bed so the air2air cooler would be able to mount in the stock radiator's location. I also believe the Cummins that Banks stuffed into the Dakota was a custom frame/ fiberglass body. Kinda like their DMAX race truck. You could get a four wheel drive S-10 and mount the DMAX in the bed. Just a thought.

You could get a four wheel drive S-10 and mount the DMAX in the bed.

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Or why not mount 2 duramax in the 4x4 s-10. One under the hood for the front wheel and the other in the bed for the rear wheel. This way you will have a twin engine duramax s-10

if i remember right they basically drive the banks truck from the back seat cause of room.

if not making huge numbers a 4l80e could be used easily. then again ive seen 4l80e's hold 900hp!!! or maybe a stick

Yeah the Syclone/Typhoon guys are running the 4l80. Granted they are only 6 cylinders but some of them are in the single digits in the quarter mile.

well i obviously know the issue with building up the front end their are a lot of upgrandes for that front end to beef it up. I have a buddy who has a 502 in an s10 similar to the one im looking at. Cooling will be an issue and the getting the tranny in. I will definetly research it and talk to a lot of people before spending serious time or money we also have a 62 caddy we could drop er in. So if i find out the s 10 is more trouble than im wil do do with its the caddy or the 55 hearse. A built dana 44 or ford 9 inch will be sufficient for the power im gonna put into this thing will send pictures once we start this creation. Thanks for all the imput. Also ANYONE interested in a allison six speed tranny let me know cuz im buying a suncoast V soon and would rather sell my tranny to someone than get a core exchange.

Damn aint the duramax/allison setup almost as long as the S-10?

good luck if you decide to try the swap and make sure you post some pics...

No ffense but this really is starting to sound like an abortion gone bad.If you go ahead with this,yeah,it will definitely be a crotch rocket on steroids,but for practical driving because of size and weight,it's going to handle like a brick s***house.Years ago I sold my buddy an old 354 Hemi which he shoehorned in a '62 Falcon using a Studebaker Lark subframe.Talk about fast---this was in the early '70s--it would beat some stock Vettes but if Bill had to turn that wheel--UT-OH

S-10

I could be done. I had a 500" Pro Stock motor in a S-10 with a dry sump oiling system. It had to be stock front end for rules. You will need to cut the crossmember and move the rad. in front of the core support. You would be amazed at the room when you open it up.