The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk swapping parts

Hi guys... wondering if anyone can advise me on a direction I'm considering for my 65 chevy 4x4... I have a chance to acquire another newer chevy ... it's a 81 4x4 owner says its a 3/4 (i had at one time a 79 4x4 1/2 but traded it for a 350 and a HD tranny) I am thinking that I can use transfer case and axles pretty easily however my next idea is to use the a/c unit and also the complete wiring harness. Would also consider swapping the power steering components however I'll have to analyze the situation carefully before proceeding. Is this a smart idea? Has anyone else gone this direction on their trucks? any advice is greatly appreciated.

The frames are similar designs so it would seem that with some fabrication skills the axles and transfer case are likely doable. You don't say what either truck has for a transmission and that might comlicate the transfer case swap.

Things like the air conditioning and wiring harness are more cab specific and you would need to be prepared for a lot of work.

Be aware that the wiring in an '81 is now 26 years old and may already be on borrowed time. The insulation can become brittle and start to breakdown starting at 20 years. While you can swap that harness with some work it may be smarter to buy a new restoration or hot rod type harness instead.

I'll go with Oldsub on this one. You'll want new wireing for sure. You might be able to use some of the air conditioning parts, like the compressor and the condenser, but the wireing should be replaced with new.
On the axles/t-case, any reason you want to change them? I'm suspecting that it's for a better gear ratio, right? Installing them into your existing chassis shouldn't be much of an issue, they're very similar. You will need new driveshafts as the later t-case is not the divorced type like the original. 1 thing to be carfull of though, 1-around '81 was when GM started to use lighter duty axles in their 3/4 ton trucks, it could very easily have the corprate 10 bolt front end and the 9 1/2" semi floating rear end. Not that these diffs are waek, they're just not as strong as the earlier Dana 44/ 14 bolt full float combo. Especially if you plan on running large (over 33") tires.
If it's a heavy duty 3/4 ton, that's much better. They have the full float rear and the Dana front.

Thanks guys... that gives me some direction I can go with on the 65... I'll post some pics as changes happen... the way this crazy weather is going it may not be anytime soon.... thanks again

Good luck Bowtie65 !!

Go #20 !!!