THE END OF A LEGEND. RIP lil red ridin' hood

[matthew john]

all good things must come to end. my first truck is getting crushed. 2003 s10 long bed.
went through 4 350 sbc's. i painted it , and put a 400ci sbc,changed the rear end,trans, fuel cell, new gauges.
ran it for a 6 months, last ride, septembe 5th 2009, was out on the highway, burried the pedal ,it threw a rod,put a piston in to the head,bent my frame. i thought i could save it so i parked it for a month. yanked the v8,bent the frame back, tried to temporarliy install a factory motor that i built up . i just got back from a trip, decided to work on , had to try and straghten the frame again, motor mounts wouldnt line up.frame is straight, its just twisted.so no motor will sit in it level. cant cut and weld a section of frame, never be strong enough to with stand the torque. i was just gonna swap the chassy for another one, went to get a recon permitt so i could take the truck to the shop on post. ( have to have a reconstruction permitt when pulling a body off a frame.) they said it was illegal, and that the truck is for salvage use only. apparently its like switching vin tags, real stupid. im not parting it out, not gonna let pieces of my truck live on , on some one elses truck. i cant keep it, so i having it crushed. with the rims and all. gonna let her die as a beautifull truck. i was to have totalled it , or got killed in it, thats they way it would have ended. woulda been a nice truck all smashed up . so thats how im gonna end this .
not gonna save the rims or nothing, just crush it like it is, and move on. all good things must come to an end.
this was my first truck, got it when i was 16. got my first ticket in it, got in my first wreck in it, broke my first bone in it.
this truck meant a lot.last 4 years went too fast!! the red paint got people to call it red riding hood.

[matthew john]

above are some of the pics of the last build, that was after i put in the 400ci sbc. Below is how the truck looks now , and how it will look when it is crushed (front bumper has been painted black!)












if the front end of a truck sags like this, do NOT use them coil spacers.(thats another story)

[vintage racer]

Yea right.Thanks for sharing that with us.

[matthew john]

dude, quit being a hater.

[matthew john]

hmmm.... the side view, i think i should have put on a hood scoop, put on bigger tires in the rear to fill in some of that space.
just possible ideas for the next one i guess

[vwjuice]

Who told you that you cat weld in new frame sections? All you have to do is weld in the new sections then weld some strengthening ate to the chassis over the area that was replaced. That's what a lot of body shops do and a lot of drag racers do it to reenforce the frames on their cars. No reason to let a good truck go down like that.

[bearrickster]

I dont know were you live but here in the states we just go to the junk yard buy a frame bring it home and rebuild the truck we dont ask anybody? I wouldnt let it go.

[Halgar]

I dont know were you live but here in the states we just go to the junk yard buy a frame bring it home and rebuild the truck we dont ask anybody? I wouldnt let it go.

Yup! If you want to keep the truck bad enough, there's plenty of ways to fix it up, authorities be damned!

[vwjuice]

Yeah your in Hawaii just get a new frame have it powdercoated and slide it under the body. No one will know the difference.

[matthew john]

thinking about it, scrap yard said wiring got to be removed, glass removed , tires off, no rims can be on it.

on the millitary post at the auto shop, you cant remove bodies with out a reconstruction permitt,. so when i went to get one they asked what i was doin, just told them swaping chassy for another, cuz its twisted. said its illegal, and that the truck is considered totaled. i could get a slavage title and make a tube chassis, or swap it. dont know what to do rite now.

[bearrickster]

thats wrong if you change the cab thats different the Cab has the Vin not the chassis. I use to work out of a base hobby shop they just want a little cash, then they will leave you alone. every hobby shop I have ever been to is maned by lossers! give a little green tell them to mind their own busness. if you dont belive me call the DMV. they will give you a letter saying its legal

[Diggley]

thinking about it, scrap yard said wiring got to be removed, glass removed , tires off, no rims can be on it.

on the millitary post at the auto shop, you cant remove bodies with out a reconstruction permitt,. so when i went to get one they asked what i was doin, just told them swaping chassy for another, cuz its twisted. said its illegal, and that the truck is considered totaled. i could get a slavage title and make a tube chassis, or swap it. dont know what to do rite now.

I'd get a second opinion from the DMV first. I know 1st hand of a few people who've kept a total loss and rebuilt it..legally. A frame swap would be the cleanest, safest, & easiest way of setting things straight. So what if it has a salvage title? There are thousands of dune buggies, kit cars, and hot rods on the road that owe their existence to a re-titled or salvaged vehicle. Worst case scenario would be that it's deemed an "off road only" vehicle and turned into a full/part time racer, providing you have a second daily driver.

[Der Kommissar]

Most states require receipt of parts purchased for the rebuild. That is the legal way. The PA DMV (which sucks) requires that you have a reconstructed vehicle inspected by an appointed station and provide proof of purchase on the parts. They then re-title it as reconstructed. The easiest way is to buy a frame and swap it in your back yard. Then only you will know.

[matthew john]

oh another thing, roll pans are illegal here. unless they stick out,so the tail lights dont touch the wall when you back up.

besides, get rear ended, real easy to bend the frame , and then insurance says its totaled... and all that crap.

ill see what i can do to rebuild. putting the body on another frame is no problem for me, could do it over the weekend by my self.
if i can get it transfered as a salvage title, ill swap frames , custom build the whole front end, fabricate mounts so i can get a big block in there bore it out, run a carbed motor, beef up the frame, get a shorter axel in the rear, tub the bed, put on some drag slicks.. all kind of good ideas are coming to mind. just gotta stop talking about it and get it done!

first i gotta diagnose my ram charger's 318. loss of power, burry the pedal she hesitates, dont run wide open . think its bad compression itll last me a while, but when that 318 goes out....in goes a 440

gotta do a shackle flip in the rear , put on my chevy van leaf springs, put on some longer leaf hangers up front, put on my 35's and done.

[wts873]

You can tell if your rings are bad if you are getting a lot of pressure ( sometimes oil) coming out of your PCV valve or valve cover. It might need a carb rebuild. If your main jets are clogged, you will have similar symptoms.
What branch are you in?
Our hobby shop when I was stationed in Cali had some real winners running it. They always thought they knew all about wrenching! If they did, they wouldn't be working at a hobby shop. It was hard for us to bite our tongue, as my friends and I were all trained mechanics. ( I'm a ASE master mechanic myself)