Scrap metal from a Chevy S-10 truck?

[zbadone]

I have a wrecked Chevy S-10 pickup truck and was wondering what kind of scrap metal can be pulled from this vehicle that can be turned on my mini-lathe and or be used in other projects?

i.e. axles, leaf springs, etc...

any suggestions or ideas?

[RobS]

Unfortunately, you won't find much useful metal in a car/truck. For your lathe, you'll want basic low carbon steel which will machine easily. You'll also want shapes that lend themselves to a lathe (round).

Fasteners will mostly be heat treated making them a bear to machine. Springs are heat treated and not round. Sheet metal isn't useful on a lathe. Frame is good material but not good shape. Axle shafts are a possibility, not sure it they're heat treated. Spindles are probably heat treated. Most engine and transmission shafts etc. are heat treated making them far too hard to cut on a small lathe.

You might head to a scrap yard and see if you can cut a deal on trading your wreck for a collection of more useful metal [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Just how mini is your mini-lathe? I have had a Unimat mini-lathe for decades. It is good for building parts that are so small that salvaged auto parts too small to consider as raw materials for a regular sized metal lathe are well within what you can turn on it. I have the same reservations regarding hardness for many of the parts. Although you could draw the temper out of the springs etc. the barter/exchange idea might be a more productive avenue. The valve stems and various portions of the engine might be potential raw materials if annealed.

I would be looking for a way to trade for aluminum scrap which is far friendlier to a mini lathe for just messing about. I have built some decent working model aluminum canons in .22 and a brass mortar in .75 that shares a single cavity round ball mold with my .75 cal muzzle loading flintlock smooth bore pistol.

Any interest in foundary work? maybe if you melted it down and poured it up in clay molds to get ingots of the correct size for your lathe.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[zbadone]

My mini-lathe is a Homier 7x12.

The engine is one that I rebuilt, a 1969 327cu that I crammed into the Chevy S-10 P/U. I let my son use it while he sold his Mustang and looked for another car to purchase. Some lady pulled out in front of him and he t-boned her. I think I might be able to rescue the engine, it took a direct hit on the front bumper, pushing it into the engine, no cracked block that I can see, will do a tear down to see if any internals survides the hit.

I was looking to use the easy stuff to remove, leaf springs (not for the lathe), axles (for the lathe projects).

I do melt and cast aluminum, if the transmission is toasted, I will used it. The cab and the bed got buckled, drive shaft and transmission has been moved to one side, but not external damage.

[egon]

Ohh - a 327. Just a tad of modification and who knows.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[bgott]

There is lots of stuff you can use off of that truck. You can machine the axles if you anneal them first. Heat them up to non- magnetic and then bury them in dry sand or vermiculite until they cool and machine away. The springs, coil and leaf, are good for knives and chisels. Go to www.anvilfire.com and then go to the 21st Century on the drop down menu and they have a junkyard steel chart. Another good resource is a book, The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander G. Weygers. This guy made all his sculpture tools out of junkyard steels. He was also into building shop tools out of junk. It's an interesting read even if you don't want to do any blacksmithing. I found my copy through www.abebooks.com.

I just went to your home page and see you're into metal casting. Go to www.abana.org and check out the affiliates. I'm sure there is a blacksmith's club in your area that you could join and pick up a few pointers on working that junk. Since you already pour metal and machine some you might as well beat on some, too! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]