Project Luxury S10

[Jrs3800]

I have to say its was a really nice driving truck... Free of quirks... It was quiet inside.... It was really a nice and clean truck... Just like Dan would have it.. Very clean at that..

The 4.3 was a little lacking, but thats due to it being a torquer motor designed to haul and pull... It takes a little to motivate those large 4.3 internals too... Its an overall great little truck... Ice cold AC... a freaky 6 speaker factory stereo... Its an odd S10.. I love the color tho...lol

[wjcollier07]

Torquer motor indeed. 245 lb-ft @ 2800 RPM...and peak HP at only 4400 RPM. When I punched it, it sort of felt like the result of flooring a diesel engine. Oh, you're definitely moving forward, but its not a thrust feeling, just a definite force. Makes me like it for the same reason I love diesel trucks.

[LeSabreUltra]

Thanks guys, she's been a good truck to me. Going to turn out to be an awesome trip truck before long too. Well, except for the gas mileage, lol!

Looks like I'm going to have to scratch the AC power inverter idea. Current budget won't allow it. Plus I'm not entirely sure how often I'd actually use it. So I think I will work on a USB charger for my MP3 player after all. Also looking into the possibility of additional interior entry lights as mentioned earlier. Found a great source for them online, good prices too. Right now I'm thinking two on either side in the front illuminating the footwells, and two in the rear on either side to illuminate the space (and stuff) behind the seats. The LED's are 5 millimeters in diameter.

Looks like the dremel is going to have it's work cut out for it soon.
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[LeSabreUltra]

Well, the console is here (and in sort of) but it's not all happy days just yet.

Here's how it arrived to me.





Yuck!

30 seconds later:



I have a special cleaning process for things like that...

After prepping it I started dying it. No in process pics of that. Here's the finish product.

I want you to take note. See the cap from the can of spray dye lying next to the can itself? Notice just how much darker the cap is than the actual console with the dye on it? I had to go get the cap and compare it myself cause I thought it was way too light.



Sure enough...



Holy crap. It's like my truck has a farmer's tan. I'm not too thrilled.

So now I'm weighing my options. I'm thinking about taking this to an upholstery shop and getting them to cover it in grey fabric or something. Except for the armrest, which will be covered in a more leatherlike material. I don't know yet. Either way, it's not done until it meets my standards. And this doesn't.
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[wjcollier07]

Woah. That's certainly a light cashmere. Those seats are already light enough for a truck, definitely gotta tone down that center console.

[LeSabreUltra]

Ugh, tell me about it. It gives me a headache looking at it. But at least my arm's not flapping around, for now.

I ended up buying another console that is factory grey. At least now that I have all the mounting hardware, I can be a lot less discriminate about what I buy. I wish I could have done that earlier. I decided that getting another console would be cheaper in the long run than trying to do anything else with this one.
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[Jrs3800]

Console looks good in there... Color is terrible... But man that Console makes the truck... Can't wait till we see the finished product...lol

[LeSabreUltra]

I agree Don, I really like the style too, just not the color. This console I just bought is the exact same style, just the same color as my interior, and automatic. You would not believe how hard it is to get those stupid mounting brackets! People don't usually think to grab them before they take the consoles out and put them up for sale. I wish I could have just gotten one like this to begin with, but oh well. Live and learn I guess.
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[Jrs3800]

Dan... The next thing you'll hear from someone will be " Man I didn't think the S10's had an option for leather ( awesomeness cool seats ) and a center console " !!!!

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Dan, your truck's coming along very nicely! I love the console, and know the correct one will make a world of difference for you!

[LeSabreUltra]

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I need it...this project is way over budget, lol!

Updates, finally.

Got the new console and started work on it. It's not mounted yet, but I've got a few of my accessories dremeled in and did a test fit.



Oh yes...perfect color match. Much more pleasant on the eyes.



What's a good use for a center console other than keeping your arm from flapping around loosely? Being able to plug power tools and other *shoot* into it.

This setup gives me the ability to power sand the *shoot* out of anything on the side of the road while baking myself a delicious pastry in a toaster oven. Because I totally could.



Switch for the AC inverter.



Plugs.

Some other shots:







Please excuse my dirty floormats. They sacrificed their dirt virginity so that the rest of my truck could stay clean.

Anyway, there's still a lot to do. I still need to actually mount the thing, as well as hook up my electrical stuff and install my white LED entrance lighting in the console.
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[Jrs3800]

So Dan.... What RPO would that have if it had one?

Electrical equipment group, special console ?

[wjcollier07]

Holy crap, that is NOT the same truck.

Your black steering wheel and column is starting to stick out with all that cashmere interior.

And on a side note.. *dang* those seats look good!

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Nice! I like the look!

[harofreak00]

How many watt inverter?

[LeSabreUltra]

Thanks guys

It's rated for 3000 continuous watts, 6000 peak.

Don, I got to wondering something along those lines today while I was finishing up...next time I take it in for service, there's probably going to be a lot of wtf's as well as a general irresistable urge to flip the little switch going around the shop.

Anyway, as I hinted in the last sentence...it's done! It's been a hell of a day though.

To begin with, I go to start my truck this morning...clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick...etc. Great. Jump starting doesn't help. I take my Buick to work instead and after that I take the truck's battery to get tested. Rated at 650 CCA, my truck's battery was putting out a mind bending 18 CCA. I'm surprised it was doing anything. $80 and a new battery later, my truck is purring along again.

I set out to work on my console. I hadn't really planned on finishing it today, but once I got started I couldn't really stop. I got all six of the LED's installed, as well as the inverter, and everything between those things and the truck wired up and soldered properly. I was very busy.

Cut away a small section of the carpet and drilled my mounting holes for the bracket as well. Now it's mounted, powered, and everything.

However now we come to the next problem I experienced today. As I was wrapping up work, I set my camera on the truck toolbox. Naturally, despite mentally telling myself not to, I completely forgot it was there and took my test drive with it on the box. Of course, I didn't remember until I was miles away from home. I backtracked towards the house, and found it a few miles back where it had slid off the left side of the truck during a right turn. And it was intact! I stopped the truck, and was about to open my door when some random Lexus did a power slide on it. Samsung guts were instantly skooshed all over the road. Oh well, at least my memory card and batteries weren't in it.

So I had to take these with my camera phone because my real camera became road kill. Not because I'm trying to be all trendy and *shoot* with these awesome blurry pictures.



Oh yeah, floor spotlights. All the LED's are wired in parallel with one of the stock interior lights.



Random beer holder shot.



More lights.



The blue light means that the inverter is working. It also means the chick magnet is turned on. And that I have successfully launched a nuclear warhead. Plus it just looks cool.



Passenger's side. It also has two lights to help passengers see their ashy feet.



This is the backside of the console. I have two lights back there lighting up any stuff I might have hiding or living back there.



Closing shot.

So yeah, it's all in, mounted solid, and working great! It doesn't rattle either, this one (unlike the other one) seems to still have all of it's anti-rattle technology intact.

I'll get some daytime shots tomorrow, specifically showing the little chrome bezels for the LED's. I can't promise that they'll be much clearer though.
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[Jrs3800]

Looking pretty good Dan... You had some serious palns for that truck... Too bad we couldn't get the Typhoon Turbo 4.3 and parts for your truck... :sad5:

[LeSabreUltra]

Thanks Don, and yeah they had stripped that thing out pretty well, lol! Oh well, I'm not ruling out forced induction or a cam swap in my future.

Here's the daytime shots, they aren't much clearer but at least there is a little less mystery fog in them:









Still can't really see the chrome bezel around the LED, but oh well, it's there. If you're surprised by how well this picture turned out for a camera phone I am too.

My truck is starting to get that awesome leather smell now too.

Oh, and just for comparison again, here is a decent set of before and after shots. This first picture is from the day I brought the truck home, same as the one I posted at the beginning of this thread. All stock.



To this:





And I've still got more planned. Mostly adding power stuff. When I'll do that I'm not sure yet.
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[wake]

good god man...and people say i do alot to the interior of my truck

the way i figure it is..if you spend most of the time in that drivers seat why not surround yourself with cool stuff

[Jrs3800]

Dan those seats and that Console have made the truck... I am glad you were able to find those while you were down here.. Look forward to the other Mods..