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46 chevy truck

I did a re-work on my 46 Chevy truck back in 2006. After driving it for a few years, I am ready to do some upgrades. It has been a long time since I have been on this site, so those that don't know me would never know that my first truck was a 1941. My first truck was a basket case. It was repowerd with a 327, turbo 400, open driveline rear end.

Now that I have driven my truck with the 216, I am going to build the truck I had 30 years ago. I have a 327 SBC, turbo 400, Mustang II front end and an S-10 rear with 3:73's on the garage floor. When the truck comes out of storage, these parts will all be installed.

Since I have been out of the loop, I am looking for the following input;

Steering Column....S-10 pre-airbag? What steering column fits in our 46 trucks nicely...besides the $700 customs?

Transmission...I have a Turbo 400 bolted to the 327, but after a long winter, I am thinking of upgrading to a 700R4 for the OD. If I use the 3:73 rearend, I am guessing my RPM at Freeway speeds will be up there. My mechanic friend tells me a 327 loves to run at higher RPMs and will be just fine.

Other than that, I should be starting work on this upgrade in April when the truck comes out of winter storage.

Engine, tranny and rearend prep will all be done by that time!

Input on a steering column and trans appreciated.

You are pretty close to the specs on my '40. I am running a 327 bored 060 over, cam, roller rockers, headers, with a TH350 trans and 3:42 rear gear in a 55 Chevy rear-end ( Posi ). At 70 mph she is turing about 2,600 / 2,700 rpm which is a little high. 3:73 is gonna be noisy on the highway, but great at a stoplight ! The 700R4 is a nice setup with the overdrive bringing the rev's down nicely. My steering column is from a '78 Chevy van ( tilt style which is nice in the tight cab ) I have a M2 front end with 2" drop spindles, power rack, and 9" Granada rotors with a Chevy bolt pattern, GM metric calipers. Rear brakes are 55 Chevy drum type.

i run 3:73 behind a 700r4 w/lockup and i turn about 1900rpm@65. 18-20 mpg (200hp 4.3v6) the engine doesn't matter, only rpm's.

daren

I'm doing a 42 on a s-10 and was wondering if the s-10 steering column will work

Thanks for the input all. I am drifting toward that 700R4.

I may try for a steering column on Friday at the U-pull yard. They have an 87 Van and LOTS of S-10s.

i am running a 350 with a 700r4 3.73 rear out of a s10 4wd[ they are 4" wider]with 235 70 15 tires in my 35 truck rpms is 2100 at 70 getting about19-20 mpg on the hwy. tilt wheel came out of a 84 reagal

I came across a website today that shows the rear axel width, wheel mounting surface (WMS) to WMS at 58.75 inches for a 94/95 Mustang. Same as the Granada/Monarch rearend that is a good fit. Other websites say they are 60 inches wide..too wide for me.

Anyone ever seen a Mustang Rearend used in a 40-46 truck?

I have a S-10 column in my 46, along with the S-10 seat and pedals. The truck is on the S-10 frame and I used as much from the S-10 as possible.

I had to cut the weld on the mounting plate on the S-10 column and move it up the column. Depending on where you have it go through the floor and what seat you're using, it may be too long for some, but it was perfect for me.