Mini Bert! An s10... Maybe a ZR2?

[Dariusz Salomon]

I bought this 1998 s10 today. It is going to replace my 2006 silverado as a daily driver. I have now owned several gmt800 trucks and they just don't do it for me. I'm coming to the conclusion that anything newer than year 2000 is too new. They just have no soul - the rice cakes of the vehicle world.

Here is mini Bert parked by Bert.

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I agree with this statement-I feel that actually 90s was the best time for cars-they were reliable(even french ones) and quite economical and not packed with lots of unnecessary electronic gizmos that go wrong every other day. I hate this"we'll sell you biggest touch screen and other blinking lights to take away your attention from otherwise mechanical garbage that was designed by people who just finished school and are good with computers"culture.

 

[letitsnow]

Today I had to give Mini the Italian tune up.

Had to pull out into heavy traffic, and everybody was driving pickups. Usually I wait until I see a mercedes/bmw/lexus etc (because they are usually ********* anyways) and pull out in front of them, but it was all pickups... I didn't want to slow down a fellow truck driver, so I stomped on the gas. 230,000 miles and Mini lit up both back tires and hit 65 mph before anybody really knew what was going on.

Good times!

 

[letitsnow]

After using walmart 5w30 high mileage oil for 2 oil changes (6,000 miles) now, my previously leaking rear seal has pretty much stopped leaking. I never expected that to happen.

 

[letitsnow]

I gave it its yearly under carriage oiling today. That is a horrible job, but it is nice to be done for the year.

 

[letitsnow]

I added new (ebay) headlights and front turn signals. Had to take the left/right adjusters apart and file down part of the plastic casing to get them to work, same as every other cheap headlight I have purchased.

They work better than the stock headlights, and they were only $104 for all - so it was a good improvement.

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[letitsnow]

I have been playing around with the BCM wiring also. This isn't for everybody, but I hate things like the auto headlights, aux stuff staying on (for a period of time) after you shut the key off etc., so after studying wiring diagrams - I made some changes:

- I disabled the auto headlights, but left the running lights on (while the truck is running)
- Disabled the buzzer when key is in ignition
- Disabled aux (radio etc) on after key turned off

This has nothing to to do with the BCM, but i've also hooked the TCC up to a toggle switch.

In stock form this truck shifted really weird. The combo of a looser torque converter (for the v6), OD trans, and big (oem) tires - it was a mess. A BB tune made it better, but still a mess. The TCC cycled way more than I liked, so now I have control of that. It is a much better driver now. I typically drive it in 3rd without the tcc locked for anything under 70 mph. Over 70, I shift to OD and lock the tcc. All of the research that i've done says that the 4l60 is fine to drive unlocked in 3rd, but not unlocked in OD.

I am slowly getting control of this truck...

 

[letitsnow]

A few days ago I cut off the oem rear track bar. I tried removing the bolts, but of course, they were rusted into the bushings. It is hard to understand how bad of an idea the track bar on this truck was until you remove it - The truck handles and rides much better without it. You could actually feel the rear axle bind and then move (to the side) as the suspension compressed. I kept thinking that my axle was loose...

Track bars certainly have their place, but on the rear (leaf sprung) axle of this truck was not one of them. I could see a sway bar, or even traction bars - putting a track bar on this truck was dumb.

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[letitsnow]

Doing some small improvements on the interior:

The cd holder in the center console - It was too hard to keep clean + we have learned that stuff left visible, gets stolen, even outdated stuff like cd's...

I cut out the cd ribs and replaced with some hdpe scraps that I had from another project.

Here is what I started with

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Here is that piece removed and taken apart

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Here is that piece after cutting the ribs out with multitool

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Here are the pieces of hdpe plastic, cut to size

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Here are the pieces installed and the 2 halves snapped back together

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[letitsnow]

Reinstalled in the console

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Not a huge improvement, but it is nice to be able to keep that box clean. I set my phone and stuff like granola bars in there while driving. I started looking in there and thinking about the fact that I take my phone out of the dirty pit and then put it up to my face...

 

[letitsnow]

I had BB modify the tune so that the truck doesn't shift to OD until over 50 mph, and to keep the TCC locked (once it locks) unless shifting or braking. It still isn't perfect, but it is a good enough improvement that I've removed the TCC toggle switch. Having to remember to flip the toggle while daily driving this thing got to be a PIA.

I've now had Black bear modify the tune on both Berts. Each time, it only took a week (or less) from the time that I removed the ECM until the time that I reinstalled it. Shipped usps priority mail, from mn to id and back. That impressed/surprise me.