The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 53 Frame Swap???

Hey guys I am trying to get some help on any info that ya'll can give me on trying to place the body of the 53 onto a 82 long bed S-10 frame. All of my begining measurements have indicated that the s-10 needs to be shortened 2" and it is going to be 2" narrower in the frontend.

Any tips that ya'll can give me on this progect would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance

Wasn't this answered before? Try this:http://www.usbodysource.com/Install%2047%20chevy.htm

hello, i have a project 54 on an S-10 frame and i'm not happy with it. it sets to low ,steering box is a problem, and the radiator support would have to be changed to use a small crossflow radiator.i'm not saying not to do this swap but i think an after market mustang 2 kit would be a better choice .i can send pictures of it if you would like to see it

S-10 is NOT the way to and easy upgraded truck. It is to narrow. The way the frame kicks up in the rear you will lose most of the bottom of the bed.If you have a good stock frame use it.Way to much work for NO gain. I have seen guys spend years building them.In the end they could have just hung a frontend and a rear end on it and it would have been done. Wish all these so called great magzines guys that have seen this swap so successful would follow one through start to finsh. It DONT work. If you have and old rotten stude or ih cab and want to build a truck from scratch and you dont have a frame well yah go for it .But even in that case you would be better off with 2 2X3 .250 wall sguare tubing and build your own frame cause thats how much engineering is involved. Dont do it!! there are probably 1000 old cars and trucks cut up right now that will never get finished cause of some article in a book.(yep seen half a dozen done ,but those guys could have built the frame from scap iron)Allway look at finished products at shows and stuff. DONT beleive what you read in rod books,most guys that write that crap in the rod books are Wannabees that do this to get free parts and labor for there rods. Very few really do there own work(there are a few,but not many) Now if i could only spell and use correct grammer.......................i could be a .................naw !!!!!! Be to easy

What Phat said..........AMEN!

I've done the swap and agree with Phat. It ain't worth it for a 2WD vehicle. The only reason I went with this swap is because I wanted to go with a lowered 4x4 (I'm swapping a full-time 4WD transfer case into it). If you want 2WD, seriously consider other alternatives like Phat mentioned.

For the rad, all I did was tilt it forward at the bottom and trim the sheetmetal under the grill. I had to raise the rear floor about 2 inches and weld new body mount brackets to the frame. And don't worry too much about the 2" difference in wheelbase, some folks actualy move stock the rear axle back 2" to get the wheels to sit centered in the wheel wells. If anything, the chassis is too wide at the front, and too narrow at the back, but it's close enough to make up with different offset rims.

The 4WD chassis has some good features that I like. IFS, acceptable front track width, lots of aftermarket stuff available, etc. If I coulda figured out a way to graft in the front crossmember from an S-10 4x4, I woulda done it. Then again, I had a lotta fun doing it this way, too.

Just grabbed a 98 s-10 wreck and its way to narrow(2wd) The front and rear flange to flange are about 54-55 wide. The frame is nice and straight on this newer one but it still kicks up way to much in the rear.So......you would be cuttin it of to fix. Interesting fuel tank.. I may try to see if it will work in another AD. But if you run daul exh it will have to be run all down one side and cross over in the back of the rear(the exh) or exit on one side. It looks like big tank. tranny is also diff has the bell on the trans. May just have to fix this one instead of choppin it up.

Hey Phat - if you're gonna fix it up, drop a stinkin' V8 in that baby!

I gotta respectfully argue with you on the front track width.. I got the stock rims up front on mine (6" backspace) and they fit great. I get the full turning radius and the tires are about 2" inside the wheel opening. I tried mounting some rims with 4" backspacing and there's no way I can corner without 'em rubbing. Mind you, mine sits real low, the top of the tire is an inch or two above the wheel opening. I'm lifting the front of the cab a bit while I'm doing the floor so hopefully I can use the 4" backspace rims (so I only haveta carry one spare). The tires sit pretty much flush with the wheel opening then.

For the rear track width, I just swapped in the 4" backspaced rims and it clears the inner tub OK.

Now, there may be some differences here - you have a 2nd gen frame, I used a 1st gen. 2nd gen apparently only use a 4" backspacing, I don't know if the track width is wider or not. And I'm guessing 'Burb running gear is the same as pickups.

Its a big NO NO in this area code.You would never get the thing reg. The emmission laws and crap pretty much make it not a legal peice to get on the road. Plus who the heck would admit to driven and s-10 anyway. i wish they did fit,maybe more guys would cut them up. My subaru wagon can haul more weight than this thing. I must have a diff kind of tape measure cause it is 54-55 flange to flange maybe 4X4 is diff?? Nope this one is gettin a new roof skin and a bed side and going to live at some one elses house.

Hey! *I* drive an S-10!!

It's a V8 S-10 4x4, does that make it all OK?

Wussy emission laws.. Always keeping us from "fixing" the stuff GM forgot to provide as standard equipment!

Not to drag this discussion out any more than necessary... I don't know where all my measurements got to, but I remember when I compared the front track widths, my S-10 was the same as the AD. I measured outside of the tires, not the mounting flange. Maybe it's a 4x4 thing, or maybe even a difference in models. Maybe it's all the ZR paint fumes I'm inhaling! I don't know if this pic helps at all, it's with the factory rims up front and 4" backspaced 15x8 rims in the rear.

[img]http://www.commerce.usask.ca/staff/hipkin/burb/images/glass0829_002.jpg[/img]

BTW - thanks again for the tips on the floor last month. It's coming along nicely.