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It looks like the 1978 to 1986 Monte Carlo is a good place to start for independent front suspension and road gears in the rear end, but I'd also like a fuel injected V-6 engine. I saw a 4.3 liter in a 44 Chevy PU the other day. He said he gets 26 mpg. Buying all the new bolt on aftermarket stuff can cost a fortune. You can pick up a good Monte Carlo on ebay for next to nothing. Any thoughts on what car might have the 4.3 V6 fuel injected? Thanks.

http://mcpheter.com/51_Chevy_PU.jpg

Hampton VA - Nice place. Used to live between Chesapeake Ave and the hospital.

The Monte you are specifying there is called a G Body. This model line includes the regal, cutlass, malibu,grand prix, etc of the same years. The front track width is a very good fit for the AD series trucks but the devil is in the details. Unless you like a challenge like me, I would suggest using an IFS kit on and AD truck. The engine and trans from you donor can work fine and the 4.3 is a good candidate in this day of high fuel costs. The problems that present themselves with the G body subframe/clip include steering box interference with radiator/core support, need to fab a new core support crossmember, mechanical fuel pump clearance, motor mount locations, and I am sure I could remember more but some I have tried to forget. If you want to see how that modification goes you can view the pictures in my picture trail album or go to http://www.enjenjo.com/frameclip.html.
If you are not mechanically gifted or demented then this mod is probably not the way you want to go.
The rear axle for the G body cars is right at 58 inches and is a bit narrow for use on our trucks. The 70-81 camaro/firebird rear axles are the typical GM offering used.
My suggestion would be to use the 4.3 fuel injected drivetrain, a 10 bolt camaro rear axle with 3.08 gears, either a TH350 or a TH200-r4 tranny, and a IFS kit up front. The rear suspension can be leafs, 4-link with coil overs or even trailing arms and springs but again fabrication/modification are needed in all cases.
Have fun with it but make a plan.

Cbaymac,

I have a good story~when I was in the service to survive I worked at the Wythe Esso gas station on (Kickotan) Road in Hampton owned by Dwight Stalls. Probably not there anymore. Every afternoon this girl with big lungs used to get off the bus and would start a slow jog around the corner, knowing full well what she was doing to the drivers on the road. This one day she gets off the bus, starts to run and this driver passing by was stareing so intently that he drove straight missing the corner and crashed into the Carvell Icecream store. Keep your eyes on the road. Lots of good memories from my days in Hampton, and Buckrow Beach.

Cbaymac,

I think you can find those 4.3's in most Astro vans, and alot of the S-10 trucks and blazers.

It appears from Houston's perspective that the Monte Carlo swap is pretty extensive.

Have you considered an S-10 swap. There have been a few discussions here lately on that topic. You might be able to pick one up with the 4.3 already in place and have alot less work to do.

Here's something related I saw on E-Bay the other day.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/S10-...mQQcategoryZ33586QQitemZ8003599915QQrdZ1

Looked kind of neat.

I didn't notice when I posted it, but maybe you can just swap them, a yellow truck for a yellow truck?

Great replys, thank you. Sorry I missed the gal with the big lungs. I'm about a mile from that gas station. I really like the S-10 complete truck idea. Yellow for Yellow swap not bad either. My delema now is if I go that route I'd be better off selling mine and starting over with just a bare body with a run out drive train. Thanks for the photos.

I had a 2002 Jimmy with a 4.3 that got 17 mpg at best. I now have a 2003 Safari van (AWD) with the 4.3 and it gets 11-14 mpg. My 62 c-10 with the original 235 averages between 17 and 20 mpg. FYI

I think the gearing has more to do with mileage than anything.Your rearend gears and tranny.I am running a 350 V/8 bolted up to a 700R4 overdrive tranny,and 3:90 rearend.I get 20 MPG with it,course I drive it sensibly,follow the speed limits etc.No burnouts.If I had the same setup with a 350 or 400 turbo tranny and 3:90 gears I would be lucky to get 14 MPG.Yes there are a lot of tricks to get an engine to get better gas mileage,but start with the gearing then tune the engine.If you can drive 65 MPH and are turning 2000 RPM or less you will get good gas mileage. Tire size enters into it also.

The S10 swap seems like the best way to go if you want all the perks (disc brakes, air, power steering, IFS, V6 or bigger motor, new rear and trans, etc)

I suppose a fellow could chop all that stuff in and spend all that time collecting parts and trying to get stuff to line up.. but why?

The $1,000 price tag on the "kit" seems a little steep.. but my guess is if you're handy enough with a welder to splice in a whole new front end on your AD chassis, you could probably make your own "kit" for alot less.

I could not agree more. Does anyone known what the measuments of an S-10 long bed are compared to the 3100? Looks like an exact fit. Next, leather seats and electric windows :o )

I think the longbed reg cab S10 is 116 inches,
give or take 1/2 inch. If you have to lengthen
or shorten it, I love the S10 frame due to all
of the straight rail. Buy a rusty or wrecked S10
and carefully unplug and cleanly dissconnect
every thing as you diaassenble it. You will
probably need to move the enging back, but maybe
not. This is my first frame swap and as I said,
I really like the S10 Frame. I'd like it better
if it were thicker. Mine is a 1991. They may have
strengthened them when the body style changed in
93 or 94. Have a look at my project in my tag-
line below. Always happy to help if I can, but I'm
learning as I go. My objective is to keep it cheap
and create a driver that gets decent milage and is
easy to find parts for. The 2wd S10 rear isn't quite
wide enough. The 4wd rear is 4 inches wider.
Houston54 is right. "Make a plan".
Cheers
Mike V

Some of the best advice ever offered anywhere!

Some of the problems with the G-Body swap will be true with an S-10 also. The issues with steering, radiator and mounting the front sheetmetal might be a little different but still must be dealt with.

Frame and suspension swaps are a lot of work!