[cajunfj40]

Hello bennelson,

Lot-driveable complete Volt for $2500? Good deal. Potentially driveable on a salvage title/liability only insurance, depending on regulations in your state. Use coro-plast for "aero-camouflage" over the ugly bits.

The following is grossly over-simplified, and all based on "stuff what I done read on the interweb" plus my own experience busting knuckles in and under plain ICE cars and 4x4 trucks.

FWD pickup is doable, with all "major" Volt systems intact. If you want an S-10, you'll need a 4x4 frame and front suspension - probably easier to convert another truck than to modify yours. Remove the S-10 engine, transmission, transfercase and front axle. Mount the Volt engine/transaxle assembly so that the differential on the transaxle is where the front differential used to be on the S-10. Custom CV axles will be needed to go from S-10 front hubs to Volt differential. This gets done on engine swaps in FWD cars a lot, so there are places that do that sort of thing.

Drive the Volt around, unplugging things one at a time, until you've pared it down to the bare minimum to keep it out of "limp home mode" and not setting a Check Engine Light. Major things to unplug are the Volt airbags and pretensioners - hopefully all you'll get is an airbag warning light. Braking system is a bit harder - you need to know the minimum number of sensor inputs it can live with and still get regen. Up to you whether you want to retain tracton control and ABS from the Volt, too. Stability control will not be reliable in the transplant - the vehicle dynamics are all wrong for the programming - so if those systems are too tied together, you may need to trick one or more sensors to prevent the stability control from monkeying with braking/acceleration.

Probably use the S-10 steering column, may be able to splice the Volt EPS system into the steering shaft somewhere to boost a manual S-10 box. Might need to adapt a steering angle sensor if separate from the EPS unit/to keep the Volt stability system happy.

Safety systems will be interesting - can't use any of the Volt airbag or pretensioner stuff, as it is chassis-specific and will not work right in an S-10. Might be able to hide the Volt airbag warning light and ditch that stuff - you'll need to unplug it and test-drive to see how the Volt responds/complains. Up to you if you want to figure out how to make the "seatbelt warning light" work, or just short the Volt switch.

If you use an airbag-equipped S-10, keep the S-10 safety wiring intact, with all sensors in appropriate locations, and figure out how to feed it the right amount of power the way the S-10 did. Best to pick a 1998 one - best crash test of any S-10. NHTSA.gov will give you the rundown on results by year.

For the rear axle, you can leave the S-10 one in place, with the pinion free-wheeling. Otherwise you'll need to get a "beam axle" made up that will accept rear S-10 brakes and wheels. Alternate - use that huge DC motor to power the S-10 axle when you want extra launch power.

For lighting, splice S-10 "end connectors" in place of the same Volt ones. Stuff like headlights, turn signals, brake lights, etc. should be straightforward. Might be a bit tricky for door open chimes, power locks, etc. - may need S-10 stuff for some of that.

For HVAC, you'll need to figure out how the Volt system works compared to the S-10 system - does it run air through the heater core then the A/C core, are there separate paths, etc. It "should" be possible to use the Volt compressor, condenser, receiver/dryer, valving, wiring, etc. with the S-10 evaporator core, heater core, blower motor and ductwork. Could also try and figure out how to cram the Volt ductwork under the S-10 dash.

For the dash, you'll need to figure out how to put the Volt gauges in there. Up to you if you want to include the Volt entertainment system and HVAC controls, or just use the S-10 control switches wired appropriately to a mixture of Volt control systems and S-10 mechanical/duct systems. May need to figure out how to light the Volt airbag and seatbelt warning lights from S-10 systems if you are retaining S-10 safety systems. Otherwise remove the bulbs from the Volt gauges and put in your own lights for the S-10 systems you retain.

Hide all the rest of the Volt stuff where it will fit. You can decide whether to use S-10 ignition key or Volt ignition key - the former requires hiding the Volt transponder and antenna somewhere under the dash and hooking up the right wires to the S-10 switch, the latter requires figuring out how to mount the Volt stuff on the S-10 column.

Either adapt the Volt fuel pump to the S-10 fuel tank, or fit the Volt fuel tank - should be plenty of room without a driveshaft. Note that there are emissions lines and stuff that, if not connected, will probably cause a Check Engine Light and grief.

Volt exhaust, cut and spliced and rerouted to fit the S-10 chassis, keeping lengths between O2 sensors, engine, and catalysts the same as in the Volt.

Volt radiator, custom mounted.

Lots of work, but you'll learn a *lot*, and probably won't have to do any CAN-bus hacking or similar.