found a 91 RCSB S10 with a mildly built 350 w/ a turbo 350 trans. not too many miles on the body and only 3500 on the rebuilt 350.

bad points:

carbed
no documentation on the engine
some rust on the bottom of the doors
pads and rotors are supposedly going bad (no big deal)
and the speedo doesnt work

i can get a very good price on it as the guy has to get rid of it

1) what does it take to convert a carbed engine to EFI?
2) anybody good with guages and electrical stuff? lol

id like any opinions on if this is a good or bad idea too but im thinking it would be lots of fun

 

pics

 

here is the info he sent me

Its a 1991 chevy s10 with a 350 and a 350 Turbo trans. Mildly built. It has ported heads, the biggest cam u can put with a stock torque converter, Eldelbroke intake, holly 4 barrel street avenger carb, headers,dual flowmaster exhaust. I bought the truck in April of 03. The 350 that was in it was knocking so i had professionaly replaced with another 350. It has about 3500 miles on the rebuilt engine and 110,000 miles on the body. It runs and drives great.

-Exterior- the exterior is in good shape except for the rust along the bottom the drivers door and passenger door. it has a tonuae cover that has a little water damage near the front. the bumper has a little rust but could easily be replaced with a roll pan. It has weld racing rims. I have the 2 front runners but they just need new tires. The back tire tread is about 50%. I replaced the back window with a new tinted sliding window. 4 inch cowl hood ready to be primed and painted.

-Interior- The interior is also in good shape. I have Rci racing bucket seats for it but right now the bench seat is in. I got sick of my girlfriend riding all the way on the other side of the truck. But all the holes are drilled for the bucket seats to go right in. It has a Grant stearing wheel with a little rust. It has a B&M shifter and a 5 1/2 in Auto gage Tach with shift light. I also had a oil pressure and water temp gage mounted right below the radio. The ceiling cloth is falling down but could be easily fixed with some staples. There is no Speedometer cable but u can tell how fast your going by the tach.

-Engine- The engine runs strong. It some times starts a little rough but I think it just needs some new spark plugs and wires. Est hp around 300. It has a chrome timing chain cover, chrome valve covers and the engine is orange. Msd super conducter wires. The hose to the power steering is bent so it leaks a little power steering fluid but all u have to do is ajust that and its an easy fix. It has been parked in my back yard and garage for about 3 months. I have started it up and drove it around. It use to be my everyday driver until gas just got way too high. It leaks a little oil and it looks like it is maybe from the oil pan.

-Transmission- It is a Turbo 350, 3 speed. It shifts fine and has a chrome trans cover.

-Exhaust- Headers to dual flowmaster exhaust under the passenger side, cut off after mufflers

-Needs- it needs new front brakes and rotors, they are grinding really bad. The front windshield leaks some water on the passenger side only when it rains hard and is sitting still.so maybe some caulk could fix it, i don't know. It needs new spark plugs and wires. It needs new front runner tires on the front unless u want to keep driving it with the stock s10 tires and rims

-Included in sale- Rci racing bucket seats(blue and black), 2 stock s10 hoods(blue), Blue traction bars, 4 stock s10 tires and rims all with about 50% tread

-Reason for selling-I lost my job and I can't afford it, not to mention it had the potential to get me in trouble.. I orginaly paid $3000 for the truck and have since then put about $3000 in to it totaling around $6000. Like I said I lost my job and need the money super bad.

 

You can buy S10's with V8's pretty cheap. The EFI conversion will set you back some cash, but there are simple to install systems out there. Some only need power and ground, then the install. If you wereplanning on that though it may not be worth it. You could scavenge a TBI setup from a bone yard really cheap, but it will be a fairly involved install wiht running wires, mounting ecm, sensors, etc.

 

the guy is talking 1000 or so for the truck, otherwise i would buy a good S10 and a donor truck w/ a rebuild kit

 

For $1000 I might buy it. Part it out, or even make a driver out of it. My truck is carbe, and it is not soo bad. Electric choke helps. Remember, in the late 80's many cars still had carbs, and the started and ran fine. You could just do a 650, electric choke, and some minor stuff to make it road worthy, but it deffinetly sounds like a project.

 

main thing for me about carbs is gas mileage and in-ability to tune

i think 1k is pretty cheap for this setup, no? i cant find any v8 s10s that are cheaper

and i cant find a s10 body and a donor truck w/ a 350 for less than 1k

 

what do you get for mileage/power/times in your s10?

 

Mileage in the mid teens. It has trapped 116 in the 1/4, but with no good tims to show for it. Last time at the track I destroyed my clutch, so I am hoping for some real times this year. It used to be a daily driver and run 13's. I switched cams and carbs, and am going to a blown 406 this year. By the traps it has about 425 motor HP, as close as I can figure. Carbs are easy to tune. I usually tune by trap speed at first for jets, then 60 ft for pump cams and squirters. Idle vacuum for idle mixture.

 

what kind of trans do you have?

do you think the truck im looking at would be a decent daily driver w/ good performance? if i were to buy it i'd definitely consider going EFI and trying to get 20mpg. but maybe carbs arent all bad.. i just hate bad gas mileage and i watch my friend with an older impala having to rebuild his carb. that sucks.

i appreciate your input