I'm gonna pick up an 87 S10 4cyl. motor, an a 5speed gearbox from the half off sale at Pick N Pull tomorrow. Does anyone have any experience runnin this set up in a roadster? I'm plannin on putin it in a 34 frame with a severly sectioned modified body roadster. It seems like this could be a killer setup. Not a ton of power but super light.The motor has a crossflow head on it.I think Isky still has a cam for it. This motor looks exactly like the Pontiac Fiero motor. Is it the same?Should I get the rear as well? I know it would fly down the highway with it. Just wunderin if anyone has any thoughts. I know it isn't traditional and all,but I figure I could beat the piss outta this set up without hurting anything.I like to drive my hot rods like I just stole em!
Basically the same as the fiero motor. The block casting is different for a rear drive motor. It is a direct decendant of the old Chevy II four banger, and is based on the 230/250 six tooling.
Somebody had a listing on the MTFCA website this week trying to sell a '27 roadster powered with one of these Iron Duke motors. The scary thing is-- it is running the wooden spoke artillery wheels and apparently the only service brakes it has are Rocky Mountain brakes (auxiliary outside brakes)! How's that for a Death Rod (tm)!!
Also want to plan on makin an intake to run a couple 94s or 97s, an one long pipe down the driverside,open so I can pretend I'm drivin a midget.
By the way, there was a yellow modified based off of a '26-27 roadster body without the turtledeck in an early issue of American Rodder. I don't remember if it was the cover car or not, but it did have the girlie with it on the full two-page spread! It was running the Mercruiser version of the 2.5L Chevy (or Pontiac) Iron Duke four banger. All of my AR magazines are in storage or I'd dig through the stack for you...
***uming the bellhousing pattern is the same and the trans input shaft is the right length, it should be a nice combination. You could run an S-10 rearend as well, the 4x2 version are narrower than 4x4. It is not a real strong rearend, but with a 4 cyl it should have plenty of strength. Only potential problem with S-10 rear is the bolt pattern is 5 on 4.75, so it probably won't match what you run on the front. If you are running an old Ford front end and want to match the old Ford pattern, get a Ford truck 9-inch. Sure it's overkill, but the bolt pattern will match. Easy to narrow if needed. I love PnP half price day, complete rearends for $49 with core charge. WTF is a core charge anyway at a junkyard, besides a scam to get more money! I still go because the deal is still good, but it kinda gripes me. On a very related note to your idea. I had a friend back in KY that had a 29(?) tudor sedan with a S-10 engine and 5 speed trans, using the suggested truck 9-inch rearend. He ran 35 wires and juice brakes and drove it everywhere. Even ran it down the drags one night and won a trophy. I think it was about 20 seconds quarter so not fast. I think his 4 cyl was a slightly older one that was a Japanese engine though, such as out of a 82-85 range maybe?
Yes, the very early S10s were still holdovers from the Chevy Luv days. They used the little Isuzu engine. Not too great of an engine. I think it was only used a year or two before they switched over to the 2.5 GM engine. I've only seen one of the Isuzu powered S10s still on the road in 12 years of working as a mechanic. I worked as a mechanic for the post office for a few years. All the little mail trucks use S10 drivetrains. The 2.5 engine is a good one and will take some serious abuse.
There is a HOST of speed parts available for the 2.5 litre GM four banger! Pontiac made trick factory heads and other racing equipment, and the aftermarket supported it pretty well in the early to mid 80s as well. Tough and reliable, you can hardly go wrong with 'em!!!
Thanx for all the info! I'm gettin ready now to head out to P n P.I wanna be early so no gets to it B4 me. I will get beck with the results. Larry
Got 2 S10 5speeds for 175 bucks. I was gonna try an get the 4cyl motor, but lost interest. Funny thing, at of all the wrench an socket sizes I needed, nerly every bolt was 15mm, the only size I didn't HAVE! That ****ed I had to borrow the tools. I think I'm gonna just bolt the T5 up to my 235 sixbanger an run that instead of the 4cyl. I had an engine buildrr tell me all the bad things about the late 4 bangers, as far as rebuilding an strength go. So I gues the 235 will do, will have more power as well.
The tailshaft and shifter housing on those are very popular,and in some places hard to find.The V8 guys use them to move the shifter forward for clearance on the seat.
The Jalopy Journal
