The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun frame swap

Hey all; I have a question for the forum. I have a 46 Chevy 1 1/2 ton wrecker. It is a great ol peice of history in the area where i live. My question is, i have found a 1985 Chevy C30 ton dually with a strong running 350 in it. I am considering moving the cab, front clip, and wrecker to a modern running gear, with good brakes and so on. The frame in the 46 is rough, brakes do not work and engine will not turn. I really want to get the old truck driveable, and the 85 seems to be a good option. What is the opinion of the forum? Thx Wreckerman!!

Is anybody aware of a power steering system for a 1941 1 ton long bed?

All steering components are 1941 stock but is powered with a small block Chevy 350.


Thank you,
Dave Murray

Wreckerman,
I also have a 1 1/2 ton '46 but mine is a grain truck. I'm considering a similar project but my concern it how much the front tires are going to stick out from under the fenders. I saw one on ebay a couple of months ago that had been put on a later frame and the front tires were sticking out a couple of inches past the fenders on each side. I haven't gotten serious about this yet but I think that any frame newer than '59 will give you a track width that's too wide in the front. Maybe they can be narrowed up but I haven't done anything like that. If and when I get to this project, my plan is to use a '59 1/2 ton frame that I already have and put a small flat bed on it. If I run across a 3/4 ton TF frame I might use that so I can put some 8 lug wheels on it to help fill up the larger wheel opening. I think I can get power steering kits for those. I'll be interested to see what you come up with. I've got plenty of time to change my plans if something better comes along.

You are right width will be a problem unless you use a stock frame or narrow a later one.

I ended up having a custom rearend made so I could get 3.73 gears and larger brake shoes.

I wanted to keep it as stock as possible.

1.5 ton trucks normally have 22.5" wheels(20" originally), so anything smaller is going to not fill up the fender, and look different. GM made at lease 4 different fenders I have seen, some were full width, large tire size. Came on school buses, etc., look around, might be lucky.

People have cut a fender down the middle, vertically, added a properly curved piece(2 directions) in the middle, welded it back to gether-lots of skilled bodywork required.

the truck does have 20" rims on it. i am so confused i do not know what to do. I have contacted several folks about different Chevy ton trucks, All are from 66" to 72" center to center across front tires. the 46 i have is 57" across. I considered going to a more modern running gear. I hear lots of horror stories about the old 6 cylinders, slow in traffic, overheating etc. maybe if i go with a later model. i can just remove the front fenders and go from there. man am i confused, has anyone ever ran into something like this? HELP! Wreckerman

I'm confused too, not sure what you're really trying to do?
Don't worry about horror stories, there are as many if not more good stories to offset them.
To start figure out what you need/want and try to explain it and why.

Grigg

I have a 46 on a 72 1 ton frame works great streched mine 5 ft and runninh a 17 ft wedge bed I would post pics if I knew how

Since I do not know how to post pics If you want to see pice of mine go to www.hyattclassics.com and click the gallery tab and you can see mine I have used it fo 15 years works great

I hate seeing old trucks get modernized. They can be done nice and clean and not looked hacked up but it takes considerable amounts of time, money, engineering, and fabricating. However if you do decide to go through with the project you will have to consider a few things.

* The 73-87 square bodies have a drop center frame that will stick way below the cab

* 73-87s have a wider track width

* The firewall will have to be clearanced to have enough room for the V8

* The '46 pedals hinge on the floor. In order to utilize the power brakes and split master cylinder the brake pedal will have to hang from the firewall.

* You will either need to fabricate a clutch linkage, convert to hydraulic, or if it's an automatic buy a floor shifter ($$$$)

* The small block V8, power steering pump, power brake booster and master cylinder will take up considerably more room in the '46 engine bay. Everything must be carefully laid out beforehand.

It can be done with careful planning (and deep pockets) however I would opt to keep it as original as possible. In the end it is much easier to stick to stock than attempt a project of that magnitude, especially if you want to get it on the road quickly. I'm not trying to be Billy Buzzkill but I would hate to see you tear apart then give up halfway through the project. You could also consider transplanting the motor and tranny. That solves the running problem and if you make new crossmembers instead of hacking up the old ones it can always be converted back to original later.

just my .02

I don't know what the front track width is for the '72 but the pictures on hyatt's site show the issue with the front wheels sticking out past the fenders. It's a sharp looking truck but I want to try to keep my front wheels inside the fenders. I just bought a '60 1 ton rolling chassis that I want to try to use for my project. The manual shows the front track width to be 62". I think that might work okay. Also, the frame should be narrow enough for the cab to sit straddle of it without too much modification. I'm sure there'll be some fab work but that's the fun part to me. I'm not too crazy about making lots of changes either but I think that there's nothing wrong with taking a 1 1/2 ton grain truck that's headed for the scrapper and making something that you can drive around in. No too many people interested in driving 1 1/2 ton trucks to Wal Mart. If I stay with my current plans I'll put in a 292 six. Don't know about the transmission yet but it won't be an automatic. I hope to have a drivable truck that looks original. Definitely won't be a belly dragger.

I swapped my frame for a 1978. My truck is an AD 1 ton. So there is a differnece in wheel spacing but you can check out my photos in my signiture to see how I did mine. Frame swaps are not for everyone. I have seen several on this site that use the original frame but use donor parts from 73-87 trucks to get better running gear up front and in the rear. Look around you will see lots of info.

I have to agree with Swamp Yankee. It's not good enough for a truck to look old. What makes it really great is when it feels, sounds, and smells old. These old trucks will go down the road just fine, as long as you're not in a hurry. I used to carry all kinds of tools in mine, because I was paranoid it would give me trouble. After a couple years without ever once being stranded, I realized just how reliable this old stuff is. My old truck is worn out, and ready for a rebuild, yet it starts right up, and runs like a song every time. If everything else I own was as dependable as my '49, I'd be in great shape.