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i want to fix up my 1953 gmc pickup and i ahev heard many different ways to start like putting the body on a new latter type frame. what do you think

That depends on how bad your truck is. Photos would be a great help.

I think if you want a later vehicle ride you should just buy a later vehicle. I like old trucks the way they are. One exception, I love my power disc brakes. But I also love my 6 cylinders, standard shift, stiff bouncy ride.

If this is your first truck project it will be faster and easier to get what you have running and driving than it is to swap the body to a later frame.

I vote for fix it and drive it as is, then decide if you want to make changes and do them gradually.

Grigg

Theres nothing like the sound, smell,and feel of a old truck. So if its the look you want,why not put a old body on a new chassie. If you like it thats all that counts. Haveing fun building it. Is the rush. Have fun with your ride. Be proud if it works. Just 2 cents. Floyd.

I agree.

I own a '53 GMC 1/2 ton. When I bought it I researched S-10 frame swaps while getting the truck driveable in the mean time. Now I've FULLY redone the brakes, the wireing and replaced the spring shackles and bushings. I drive this truck almost every day. I love it the way it is. I wouldn't do a frame swap unless my frame was completely shot or I planned to race the truck. My only plan now is to replace the rear end and trany for better highway speed and drive it. Only problem is, I can't stand the thought of not being able to drive my truck for the amount of time it will take to replace the rear end and trany If I did a frame swap I might not be able to drive the old girl for a year or two. I don't see the fun in that.

Also, as Czechman suggested, show us some pictures. I'd be interested in seeing what you've got.

My thoughts are that a lot of people wreck these old trucks by swapping to a new frame. My cousin bought a 40,000 mile 53 jimmy. He was not honest with himself when he bought it and as a result has spent a ton of money to wreck a low mileage survivor truck. These trucks ar getting rare.

You can buy frames already setup for these bodies for hotrodding, but it will cost. You can also get a pile of parts with a title for short money and put the pile of parts on the new frame. I don't see the reason to part out a survivng truck when cabs, beds, running boards and fenders are so available.

1953GMCpickup: These frames may be old but they are tough as nails unless they are just plain rotted away. Even then they can be patched depending on the damage.

I am not suggesting you do one or the other. Just take a little time to make a decision you will not regret later. With the money you spend "converting" the truck to a different frame and the other "things" that pop up, you can spend that money on "modern improvements" for your vehicle and still keep it beening mostly original and yet nice to drive. I'm speaking here of perhaps disc brekes and different differential for todays road speeds which it seems to me you want.

In the end...its YOUR truck and you do like the rest of us and make it like you want it. Just think about it and make you a plan and proposed cost....then at least double it. When its on black and white it looks a little different!
Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide. We are here to help either way you decide to do it.

I've never seen anyone at stovebolt contradict that sentiment, so it's up to you, and you wont be judged for not following any advice here...

Knowing the current condition of your truck, ballpark of what you spent on it, and ballpark of what you still want to spend, and end up with, will help get you more applicable advice...


If your after a modern drive with an old truck skin, and the starter truck you have now is a refurbishable survivor, you might get advised to sell what you've got, and start with the chassis/drive train you want, (one that is compatible...) and shop around for body parts... your gonna have to spend some money for a showroom look, you can get by on the cheap if you are OK with a rougher looking sleeper on that modern drive train... There are fiberglass reproduction hoods and fenders if you want to factor that in...

Me, I'm with Cletis... I like old vehicles that are real. Assuming your truck is refurbishable, this is how I would start, (its what I'm doing with my 53, in fact...)

1) Tires that hold air... got to be able to roll the truck around, not worry about losing one while you're under it, or having to fill it up when it's not convenient... It's going to be a while before you need tires that can take highway speed or go a lot of miles or get good traction in the rain, so you dont need to spend big money on 4 new ones... but you need some workable shoes on the feet...

2) Brakes... You have 2 choices here... original or modernize to disc... I went with the original brakes, because the main "new" parts I needed to spend money on were brake lines, and for the most part, the same lines are going to be usable with the drum or disc brake setup... I had to spend $12 on 1 wheel cylinder, and $16 on a master cylinder kit, and a few bucks on a used distibution block... If I had needed a new master cylinder and multiple wheel cylinders, drums, shoes, etc, than I probably would have chosen to invest in the disc brake upgrade,instead of spending a fortune on the old brakes. As it is, I can still go with the disc brakes when I'm ready, and I'm only throwing away a very small investment... It took a lot of work, that I and my son enjoyed, and we've got very good brakes, but not a crippling amount of money invested in them...

3) serviceable wheel bearing/spindles, etc... Now that it can stop, you want to make sure it can roll without the wheels falling off... On my truck, I towed the truck home about 7 miles with a tow bar... stopped a few times to make sure that the hubs were not getting warm or hotter... I was lucky, and the bearings/axles rode nice and cool and were well lubed and still in great shape.

4) engine... Will it start, run? This part can be really fun... I wont cover the "how to" becuase I read through dozens or maybe even hundreds of posts here on the Bolt to figger our just what to do...

5) electrical system... You'll have to do ~some~ wiring or rewiring to get the engine running... ignition wiring and charging system, 12 or 6 v. are some issues you'll need to plan out at least to some degree to get the engine fully operational... You can probably determine if its going to run or not, before you invest in a 6 to 12 conversion... I went with 12v and an alternator. (I Got a chrome 1 or 3 wire 110 amp alternator on ebay for about $70, and am real pleased because it self-excites on the 1 wire hookup at pretty low idle engine RPMs, and regulates itself nicely after that.)

After the charging system, I am now facing a ground-up rewire... The PO ran 12 volts on a 6 volt system without any voltage converters, and the already brittle wiring is just too ugly and shot to bother with... I've got access to good wire stock without spending any money, so I'm laying in new wiring from scratch through some 5, 10, 15, and 25 amp blade fuses in a modern pair of 6 circuit fuse boxes... about $12 bucks for the boxes at Orielly's and $4 bucks for fuses at Harbor Freight... and a lot of work... It's not my first time to wire a vehicle thogh... I dont plan to write a tech-tips or how-to document, so if your wiring needs major work, you should look at buying a wiring harness... shop around. prices vary. high prices are easy to find... low prices for good value stuff, not so easy....

6) If your lucky, you havent spent to much money yet, have enjoyed putting a lot of work into the truck and can at least drive it around the block or the pasture... If you've got title/tags/insurance, then maybe you can drive it around a little more than that... Now you can decide if it has promise and you want to keep spending time and money on shoring up the front suspension/steering, and body work to make it pretty and water tight... Or if it's time to sell because its worth more now than when you bought it, even factoring in what you spent... but not factoring in your labor... that you wont get back in dollars, it was entertainment...

7] take it as far as you want...

A guy in town came up and started talking to me about my truck. Said he had a '54 in his garage he will probably never drive. He bought it off a guy who worked on it for two or three years trying to finish a frame swap started by a kid who destroyed a good running truck. He said he was looking for an original frame for the truck to put it back to stock. I think an S-10 swap would be cool but I don't have the time, the money, the shop, the tools, the money, the experience, the money, or the money

Whatever I do to my truck, I can usually have it back on the road in a day or two with little money spent, and then my wife can't complain about another one of my projects sitting around

Well, where to start. As a newbie, trust me, I know what you mean. When I bought my truck 5 months ago I wanted disk brakes, independent front suspensions (Mustang sells the kit), rear suspension, change of rear transmission, A/C, etc. etc. Asked like crazy here with no direction to go. Realizing I might have like $100 bucks a month, put my feet back on the ground. My two cents: Make your truck drivable if it is not. Drive around and to a priorized check list. Mine for example won't lock the left door, so: a) intall seatbelt so I won't fly out of the cab or repair/change stiker/lock. I have two lower back surgeries and lever shocks, guess what would be my next investement. And so on. What I'm pretty sure, is that guys here will help you out, very knowledgeable and friendly. Just pop the pictures and voila! Good luck.