Just a few Q's before jumping into S-10/49GMC swap

[Daner]

Ok guys there's a few directions I could take this and was wanting some input before I started anything.

First off this is what I have laying around so far. 1949 GMC grain truck, 1979 Chevy motorhome with 350 and auto trans. I'm still looking for a suitable s10

First question: Should I stick with a S10 4.3l or tear the 350/trans out of the motorhome? Not sure what trans it is. Off at college atm.

Second question: I'm in ND so the 2wd drive s10's are somewhat hard to come by. How big of a can of worms is it to use a 4wd?

Thirdly: If I go with the 350/auto with trans cooler I would be tempted to use it to pull things... Would the s10 frame stand up to much pulling?

[NEWFISHER]

I can't speak from experience, but I have been following this thread and if you PM the OP , he may be able to answer specific questions to help. Good luck with the build!
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=526387

[Daner]

Ok looking at a 1989 4x4 s10 with a shot engine so if I purchased it I would use the 350/trans. As I understand it this will eliminate the transfer case interference with the cab and leave only the cv shafts/misc. stuff up front to deal with correct? I'm surprised nobody has any comments on this.

I've been reading build threads and that seems to be the findings.

[Daner]

And Newfisher thanks for the reply I didn't mean my last post to make it sound like you're a nobody :P I checked out that thread and reading it makes me think I can make it work.

[Maximus]

I have seen another poster having issues with the front hubs on the 4x4 s10's, something about them i think makes them not interchangeable with 2wd spindles? he torched off the axle shaft and used the 4x4 spindles.

may i ask... why do you want to swap frames?

modifying your original frame will be a much less complicated/time consuming project. especially on the fabrication end.

then again, im a firm supporter of the "use your original frame unless its wrecked/damaged" group...

at the end of the day (or year or two) your going to have a truck that handles like an S10... thats not that amazing in my opinion. Although with full airbag suspension im sure it rides nicer, but at the cost of all the modifications to the S10 frame, you could probably put that money in your frame and get a much cleaner result....

as a college student i would think a front suspension swap would be a more time-effective option?

[Daner]

Well primary reason for a swap is that the 1949 GMC in question is a grain truck. I don't have anything against grain trucks. We still use a chevy from the early 60s for odd jobs. But the 49 has just been sitting outside in the same place for 25 years deteriorating. I feel like money put into it would be best spent on an updated chassis. I live out in the country so any suspension mods or drops to the s10 I think are out of the question, especially since the lovely oil boom has chewed up and spit out the roads. lol

The only reason I would keep the original frame would be if I made it into a toy hauler. Which I don't really need since none of my cars/trucks are painted. It would be cool though. I don't plan on painting this truck either. It's a nice patina 5 window.

Some things are a little different from the pickups like the front bumper and shorter running boards. I was thinking of putting a stakeside type of bed on the back instead of a pickup box. Maybe cut down the original grain box and use that.

This a pic of one. Different color though.

[Atommik]

If you are planning on using the grain trucks hood and fenders, you may have a problem with the s10 swap. I believe the large trucks (1 1/2 ton and larger) have longer hoods and longer and wider fenders than an 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton pick up. Not sure how well it would fit up on the s10. S10's are already a little narrow in front and require a wheel spacer to get the width correct. That may be tough to do with the large truck fenders. Also the wheel opening size on the fender is quite a bit bigger on the large trucks. Depending on the wheel tire combo you are planning on, it might not look right. The cabs are the same on all the trucks.

[NEWFISHER]

I have heard of people using 88-98 chevy c/k chassis or even the older v series cab-chassis or p chassis motorhomes for frame swaps under the 1 1/2 ton trucks.

[Daner]

Lol Now you have me scrounging up info on my motorhome. I guess I should say it's a Lindy with a Chevy 350. Before now I had no idea Lindy was separate from chevy. There is not much info out there that I can find or remember about my particular one. It's a longer one, not sure if it's 20' or 22'.

We stopped using it maybe 8+ years ago. Went to move it out of the way and the engine wouldn't start. I'm sure the carb was just gummed up. Didn't have time to mess with it so it was pulled into the tree row. Engine cover under the dash wasn't put back in place so the interior suffered when some raccoons got in. It's not worth anything as a motorhome after that so it's up to me to repurpose it.

[Daner]

Yeah. Hmmm Originally when I was thinking about this I was just going to use the motorhome frame/engine and use the 49 sheet metal. I went out and measured the width of the frame and there was quite a difference so I didn't think it would work with the inner fender wells and stuff. That was a few years ago now. When I go home this weekend I'll have to do some figuring. This would probably be the most cost effective direction to take.

Thanks for all the thought provocation guys.

[Maximus]

cool project!
good luck on the measurements, glad you didn't buy the S-10 yet as you may find out it may not be your best option...

still may be able to modify your frame? no? anyways, good luck!

[booger1949]

i could see upgrading the motor an trans an slam that booger as low as u can get it for around there an keep the frame an rearend that would b one hot ride

[Daner]

I'll have to throw some pics of it up here when I get home since there seems to be some interest :P

Another thing I'm going to add is it has the 235 engine and according to my father it ran great and didn't burn any oil when he parked it. I'll probably get flamed for not wanting to use it but I already have 2 other running vehicles with i6's and want to do something different(in my case anyway) and have a little more power. I've done the refurbish stock stuff already in other projects so I want something I can do some modding/fabricating to.

[Midgets50]

ive got a similar truck, mine is a 49 chevy grain truck. i want mine to be 4x4 so im using the axles and tranny from a 79 k2500 GMC. my plans are to swap axles and tranny. i figured on cutting the frame down to whatever size i wanted. since im putting a flatbed on my truck the length doesnt matter. in keeping the original frame you don't have to worry about fabbing body mounts and it makes the fenders and everything(since they are bigger and hood is different) fit better
but thats just my .02 cents