The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Swapping a '60 - '66 body onto a '73 frame

I really couldn't find the "right" spot to post this, so this will have to work. I've got a very rough '73 Chevy Cheyenne 20 LWB 4x2 with a 350 auto, air, power steering and power disc brakes. The body is...crap! The only good, salvageable bits on this are a super-nice hood, tailgate, grille assembly, front and rear bumpers, and the cab. Bed is useable for a rough driver, or for a trailer. Here are my thoughts:

The truck is a driver, but it's just too far gone to sink any money into. I'm looking to swap a '60 - '66 Chevy or GMC body onto the later frame. The fact it is a 3/4-ton with discs make this a good move, to me, so that the early body will have a later frame with disc brakes already there. Parting the '73 out of the good bits that would not be needed for a swap would be pretty easy. My concerns:

1) Do the body mounting points on the early trucks line up reasonably with the '73 frame?

2) Anyone know of a truck running around that has been built as I'm wanting?

3) I have a pretty good idea what my vision on this is, but if there is anyone with hands-on experience with this type of swap, I'd love to hear from you! Please PM me here, if you would...thanks!

2)

it is easier to mount the compenents into the earlier frame than to do the body swap. you will also keep the proper frame vin # that correspond to your registration. the front and rear ends are a fairly simple concersion
ron

Does the later front crossmember bolt in? And what about the rear suspension? If I find a 1/2-ton truck, it's actually gonna be easier to swap the bodies out, to me. A 3/4-ton would still require the disc swapped out. I'd rather unbolt bodies, I think. If I have title to the earlier truck, it retains the title. If it doesn't, in OK, you can run the VIN stamped on the frame. You have to have proof of ownership of both vehicles. Plus, there is always going the route of an "assembled vehicle" and get a state-assigned VIN on it. I'm not worried about that aspect.

what did I say in my previous post
ron

I asked if it bolted in. You stated it is a simple conversion, which did not actually answer the question in my second post. Which is probably moot anyway, since the body swap will probably be the way I'm gonna go, anyway.

very few of them are done properly
ron

Yep, its a whole lot easier to swap the front cross member and drive train from the later truck into the earlier truck. The beauty of the 60-66 trucks is that they readily accept the later more modern mechanical bits.

Having tried this in the past.... The body points do not line up all that well and it takes a lot of fabrication work to put that older body on that newer chassis. You have to switch out body mounts for the cab, the core support will need modification to fit right, and more.... It is far easier to swap the front cross member and rear end than to do the body swap. It's not quite a straight bolt-in, but it is close. You tend to need to drill a couple holes in the frame and auger one a bit to bolt in the cross member but that's typically it. A fraction of the work of trying to swap a body.

I installed a 1969 C10 body on a 1976 K20 frame. It took a lot of changes to make it fit. The wheel base is 4 inches longer and has to be shortened. the rise on the frame is under the cab instead of under the bed. To get the body to sit close to the right height i cut a section out of both sides of the frame and switched them side to side to move the rise closer to the back. I took the cab mounts off of the earlier model and mounted them to the 76 frame. I had to fabricate mounts for the radiator support. This being said I would do it again because I like the way it turned out.

what did you gain for all the work
ron

4x4

it is not that difficult to convert the orig frame over to 4 x 4 either
ron

I once saw a quote that said, "The best frame for your truck is the one that it came with."
But I would assume that only means the main rails and body mounts. I'm not against modifying, but know what you're doing or get some help. A lot of projects are for sale on the classifieds because people get in over their heads. These old trucks deserve to rust in peace or be given the proper second chance. I've done the body swap route (you'd better be a good fabricator!), modified and stock. I have also failed and contributed to the "projects gone wrong pile". They all present their own challenges. I'd put the new stuff on the old frame personally.

It's moot now, anyway. I sold the '73 donor truck. A kid up the street wanted it for his first project, and I figured "OK!". So, now I'm on the hunt for a complete truck, prefer '64 - '66, with a title and with or w/o a drivetrain. Now, I have in mind an LSx swap. A plentiful, reasonably-priced drivetrain that I can get 20 mpg out of very easily and have plenty of power.

I do appreciate your inputs towards a body swap. Learned quite a bit! After doing some measuring, the front suspension is indeed a direct swap from the '73- '88 trucks. Plus, I'd had to have drilled a few holes in the frame for the heavier suspension off the '73 to fit the early frame, had I gone that route.

So if one finds a donor truck, this is a fairly easy swap? I would love to do this to my '61 and ditch the torsion bars. Plus I would get disc brakes. That sounds like a fun swap.

Kyle