Well, the first thing I'd want to know is which gear ratios did that particular T5 have and what rear end ratio are you going to use? Generally speaking the 4 cylinder S-10s used a first gear ratio of 4.03. Most of the trucks with a 6 cylinder had a first gear ratio of 3.75. Depending on what sort of rear end you get, your starting line ratio could be pretty good to disastrous. Example: if you get a rear end with a 2.73 ratio and a 4.03 first gear ratio, you'll have a starting line ratio of 11.09 and that's excellent. On the other hand if you get a rear end with a 3.90 ratio and the same transmission, your starting line ratio will be 15.7 and that will be really good if you want to pull trees out of the ground but not good for comfortable driving. You want your starting line ratio between about 10 and 12 for a pickup which is being used as a pickup.

The second thing I'd want to know is how you plan on safely steering and stopping a 1952 3100 with an LS engine in it? We've heard you say you want to be able to drive your truck at highway speeds. If that's your goal, and if you consider highway speeds as being 75 or possibly faster, nothing at all about the AD truck was designed for that. Not the suspension, not the steering and not the braking system.

Not trying to be a hard case, but the S10 (while never a great handling pickup) was at least designed to be able to drive at today's freeway speeds. Highway speed when the AD trucks were built was 50~55 mph and I've seen some AD trucks I would not drive at 50 unless somebody was chasing me with a gun. The last thing we want to see anyone do is create a dangerous situation for themselves and for other people sharing the road.

~ Jon
1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end