[FedLegal]

Originally Posted by studeclunker

There are a variety of ways you can handle this.

You can do a frame-over, that is to say, take the chassis out from under a Motorhome and put your cab on it. However, you will need to modify things a bit because that chassis will be set up for a Cab-Forward setup (COE). The advantage of this is you get a modern chassis and drive train (complete) and the outline of the classic truck. In Soviet California, the cab and VIN thereof are what the vehicle goes off of. Hence, though you have say a '86 chassis and motor, since the cab is a '66, you won't have to smog.

Or you can transfer the desired components of the donor chassis over to your original. I would transfer the entire drivetrain including the dual rear axle. They are designed to work together and that is a team you really would be wise to keep together.

Most motorhomes use some kind of Step-Van chassis. For instance, my 86 ElDorado has a Chevrolet Cab-Forward chassis (1 1/2 ton Step-Van). There are a lot of them out there that are now having trouble with leaking, siding and skirting coming loose and losing it on the road, etc... So people are looking to simply unload them. Very often one can find one of these with very low mileage and in excellent mechanical shape even though the camper itself is going to hell in a handbasket. They make wonderful donor vehicles, aside from having to dispose of the Camper's components. By the by, if the appliances work, they can be sold to help finance the project. In fact, with a bit of patience and careful handling, good appliances can sell for what you have paid for the whole rig in the first place!

really dont have the ability to start swapping cabs or chassis.