The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1953 6100 Chassis Swap?

Hi,

I'm planning to do a RUSToration on my 1953 6400/6100 (Its a long story) while making it into a heavy duty rat rod. I want to keep it a big truck and keep all the cab and front clip intact with the original patina, satin cleared. Either way, its got to get lowered. I'm split between going two different directions:

1) Keep the original chassis and drivetrain (with an overdrive added). Everything works great right now....sort of, so why mess with it. I would channel the body like what tomc9770 did here:
51 6400 Body Drop
I like the notion of keeping the original drivetrain and Tom's build looks pretty awesome. The limitations of the suspension and drivetrain have me worried, especially down the road. I don't have a machine shop and parts are hard to get. My brakes are near new, but I have no idea where to go to reline brake shoes when I need it or if I'll be able to get other parts down the road. I'm not Jay Leno and I can't afford to have a dedicated employee to just make new parts that can't be bought for my obscure toy.

2) Get a more modern 1ton or higher chassis to swap the cab over to. I know I'd lose the big cool 20" 3pc rims, but I've seen plenty of trucks, especially COE's, done this way with larger rims and tires that seem to fit nicely, especially when the truck is dropped. A model chassis would open the door to me being able to get parts at the local parts places, and I'd be able to drive it more with the better suspension and higher top speed. My big issue here is I have NO IDEA what chassis is a good candidate for a AD body swap. I'm primarily concerned about the front suspension width. Is there a preferable large truck chassis for this body that would allow me to put the truck on air bags and allow the tires to tuck in? I'm OK with welding and fabricating body mounts and doing not-so-perfect sheet metal work, but I do have my limits.

Let me know what direction you'd recommend and why. If you pick number two, what chassis should I look for and why?

Wow, no info or opinions on this at all?

With your expectations I would think that option #2 would be more practical. Parts would be readily available and the chassis should be easy to locate. Most parts for the body mounting should be available or easily made. See a lot of these at the Streetrod Nationals.🛠

It seems you've outlined a few approaches, along with the negatives to each. It's your truck, you get to decide what to do with it.

There really isn't a good chassis to swap, the front axle on newer stuff is quite wide in comparison to the original.
Probably easier to keep original frame and suspension. Then if you desire different brakes or axle gears swap rear axle entirely and parts of the front axle to get newer brakes.

My opinion, just fix and drive for a while, less work, time, and money than what you have described, and probably just as much fun.
But I'm not keen on radically modified vehicles just so they look different for the sole purpose of looking different. I like practical modifications, ones you may not even see, that make an old truck work better as a truck.

Grigg

Maybe this thread should be moved to the HiPo section, there may be others there that could help with the modifications...

Mike B

I would agree with Grigg. Probably easier to just swap out complete rear axle and front spindle/brake parts. Brake shoes shouldn't be an issue to have relined. I go to Brake and Clutch in Seattle (near me) but they can't be the only ones in the US that reline brake hoes. I am sure there are places near you.

a quick google search showed these guys. http://industrialbrakeclutch.com/

they are in Morganville, NJ. Not sure how far away that is from you but it is a lot closer than Seattle!

I could move this to the hi-po section but, I think most in there are pickup trucks and since this is big-bolt specific, I will leave it here.

Thanks for the info guys. For now, I'm going to stick with the big bolt frame, considering that there isn't anything modern thats heavy duty and narrow enough up front to tuck inside the fenders. A 2ton with an s10 or crown vic front suspension and small wheels just seems lame to me.

I just wonder how these guys make car hawlers using these AD and COE bodies with tires tucked in nice and neat. Tons of custom suspension/frame work I guess.

as far as brakes go, Grigg did mention, "Then if you desire different brakes or axle gears swap rear axle entirely and parts of the front axle to get newer brakes.". He has done some pretty extensive writeups on swapping out pieces on the front end for newer stuff while retaining the original axle itself. You can always go look at some similar size motorhome or stepvan chassis and start measuring for overall width and go from there but, it is entirely up to you which way you want to go and how much old vs new to use on it!

They are making the car haulers by putting COE cabs on 1 ton dually chassis or motor home chassis. Heavy body modifications involved.🛠

Not sure I've seen one on a newer chassis with tires fully covered by the original fenders.
Either they don't worry about it and the tires are trying to escape from under the fenders, or they modify fenders.

I put a '37 GMC T-18 frame/tin on '94/'95 GMC axles, steering box, brake system and it worked well, front fenders are not attached to cowl tin, so with 1.5" spacers added to fender brackets(easy) I was able to adequitely cover tires easily. Old frame and chassis, modern running gear. Px for email.

Ed

Got pics of that?

You might also consider using, (if you can find one) the front clip, from a 47-54 GMC 400, 450, or 470 series truck. The fenders are quite wider on them, than the lighter duty 2 ton Chevy Big Bolts..

Px for email.

Ed