'50 5 window.....s10 swap

[rhodog77]

Well, after months of reading almost every single thread on the forum, Its time to start mine in hopes of getting as much advice as possible. This is my first frame off build. My father and I, along with alot of help, built a '54 chevy, subframed with a '78 camaro with a 305. That setup came out really nice. Wanted to try something a little different this time around. Wanted to say thanks to those who have given tips and advice already, especially
"jeffs51chevy".

Now for the good stuff. I got this '50 5 window and entire front sheetmetal for $400.00. The cab is in pretty good shape, except for the floor, its shot and of course the corners. Both an easy fix. The hood is perfect, front fenders, inner fenders and grille are in decent shape. All the glass was there expect the front windshield pieces. The doors line up great and open and latch really good.



My donor frame is a 1991 longbed std cab, not running. The motor had a shredded oil pan and a golf ball size hole thru the block, very ugly. Anyway, the frame is in really good shape.

[IMG]http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss255/rhodog77/1950%20chevy%20s10%20swap/stocks101-1.jpg



Thanks for looking at my thread. I cant wait to start the swap. I am getting everything together and hope to do the swap in the next few weeks. I got my mounts and bushings fabed up, looking for a motor right now.

[pgf545]

Looks like a great start. There is quite a few S-10 swaps going on so you should be able to get good info. Have Fun

Bernie

[1950 GMC]

Looks like you are in roughly the same spot as me in regards to the progress of your build. Have a few questions for you though. Are those new body mounts from Jeff51's design? How high will the cab be from the chassis, and do you plan on doing any mods to the floor pan because of the cab heigth? One last question where did you pick up the new cab bushings from? I just subscribed to your thread and cant wait for the updates. Keep them coming with pics.

[rhodog77]

1950 GMC,

yes they are the redesigned mounts from Jeff. He has been a ton of help. The cab should sit about 4.5 inches of the frame in the back and about 4 .25 inches in the front. Not Sure what the plans are for the tranny hump. I will fab that up once I mount the cab. I will be putting in a whole new floor so not a huge deal to fab over the hump. As for the bushings, the spacers are stock s10. I just cleaned them up and picked up some new hardware at home depot. The bushings themselves are from jegs.







well worth the money if you ask me. Some of my bushings were in decent shape but I went ahead and got a whole set. It comes with radiator bushings as well. There are 2 sizes of bushings in the jegs kit. One size for the radiator and the front mounts and one size for the rear mounts. I am not using the ones for the rear. I think they will tilt the cab to far forward. I will be only using the front cab set and the radiator set. Makes it easier too. All 4bushings/spacers sets are the same size.

The stock s10 top spacer fit perfect into the cab mounting channel. It should be a pretty easy mounting process. Buy a "GOOD" hole saw (2 inch 1/8 size) to cut thru the top of the mounting plate.

[1950 GMC]

Thanks for the quick response.

[1950 GMC]

What did you use to clean up the spacers? They look brand new good job.

[rhodog77]

garrett,
I scrub them down with hot soapy water and a wire whisk brush to get all the gunk off and then hand sanded them down with 80 grit sand paper. A little primer and paint and they came out like brand new. Cut my brake pedal assembly down today. I have to weld a straight Braket to the pedal assembly to the mount to underside of the dash. I think it will match up really nice.

[c10addict]

Subscribed!! Nice work!! Im getting ready to do the same... What thickness steel did you use for the mounts??

[rhodog77]

c10 addict,
The mounts are made from 1/4 inch steel. I had them bent up based on
"jeffs51chevy" diagrams. I welded them up, not pretty, but strong. I have less than 100 bucks in them total. Much cheaper and more fun that using the AD or EZ swap kit.

[c10addict]

Originally Posted by rhodog77

c10 addict,
The mounts are made from 1/4 inch steel. I had them bent up based on
"jeffs51chevy" diagrams. I welded them up, not pretty, but strong. I have less than 100 bucks in them total. Much cheaper and more fun that using the AD or EZ swap kit.

I have Jeffs plans... I was just wondering how thick.. I was going to use 1/8 inch.. Thanks for the info.. Check my build thread... Its under project Poison Ivy.

[nickp51chevy]

I had a similar experience, but it wasn't 500 miles away. I got a complete bed and running boards for $150.

[rhodog77]

Went and picked up my motor yesterday. It came out of a 1984 full size Chevy truck. I was still in the truck, so I got to hear it run and drive it around a bit. It is a 350 with a quadrajet. No smoke or hesitation at all, it ran very very quiet and smooth. I paid $400 bucks for it and the seller pulled it and had it ready for me. The motor is a GM/Goodwrench crate motor with 74,000 miles on it. I can't find the engine ID tag, not in the usally place??? Anyway, I will be ripping all the smog/emissions garbage off of it. Just want to get it in first, then I plan on pulling it and cleaning it and dressing it up.

[rhodog77]

Thought I would share. Today is my birthday. Check out what my pops gave me as a birthday gift. Correct State, County, Year and the "T" designation for Truck. Pretty Cool. Not sure if I will repaint it or not. Patina is kinda cool. Not a huge fan of the green though. Weather Premitting, I will be mounting the cab this weekend. Hopefully all goes well. Pix to follow

[OrrieG]

Cool plate, the Idaho 59 plate I am going to run is same color and has a T too. Is it the law in Kentucky that you have to have a raccoon tail tied to the antenna to run Boone County plates??? Loved that show when I was a kid and had the cap to prove it!

[estig70]

Originally Posted by rhodog77

Thought I would share. Today is my birthday. Check out what my pops gave me as a birthday gift. Correct State, County, Year and the "T" designation for Truck. Pretty Cool. Not sure if I will repaint it or not. Patina is kinda cool. Not a huge fan of the green though. Weather Premitting, I will be mounting the cab this weekend. Hopefully all goes well. Pix to follow

WOW, just realized you are a fellow Kentuckian. Looking forward to keeping up with your progress......................"SCRIBED".

Eric

[rhodog77]

Thought I would share. I set the cab on the s10 frame yesterday. I haven't bolted it down yet, just clamped the mounts to the frame and set the cab on the mounts. Very cool to see it start coming together. Will post more pix when I bolt everything together.



The front end is just sitting on frame to get it off the trailer. Starting to look like a truck though........kinda

.......OrrieG, and yes I already have my coon hat ready for my atenna. LOL

[1950 GMC]

Hey can you take some pics of the frame once you get the mounts welded up before you put the cab on for good? Thanks in advance. Looking great bye the way.

[OG 53 chevy]

truck looks good,gotta love that feeling of acclomplishment,iam not there yet,isaw your name on another site asking a guy curbie for copies of instructions from a s10 swap kit, if he was kind enough to send them to you,iam hoping youll be kind enough to send them to me,thanx i appreciate all

[Daniel U]

Cool!

[rhodog77]

OG 53,
Unfortunatly, I never received any feedback. Wish I could help. Do you need something specific or just some general questions. I learned so much thru this forum. You can find out everything on here, and everybody is willing to help with advice, pix, ideas and plans.

Garrett,

Will post pix once I get everything squared up and welded in. I hope to have cab mounted with spacers.....complete by this weekend. Im on vacation all week so I should be able to get quite a lot down. HOPEFULLY.

[1950 GMC]

Sweet looking forward to seeing some pics of the progress.

[rhodog77]

After measuring and measuring and measuring I got the mounts,cab and the front end all lined up. All that is left is to drill out the mounts and bolt the cab down. Will cut the frame horns down once I get the grille put together. Should have everything in and bolted down tomorrow. The rear section of the fenders is about 8 inches off the ground (no motor weight though). I think that the fender will end up being about 6 inches off the ground once the motor and tranny are in. Here are some photos of todays fun.





......and no the tape is not holding the fender together.....as my wife said. I used it as a guide for the wheel centerline

[1950 GMC]

Looking good...

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Subscribed. Nice work there. I'm eventually going to be doing the exact thing to my 53. S-10 frame (already have the longbed standard cab donor) and a center bolt 350 and 700r4 trans.
Thanks for sharing the pics and specs.

[BlueJeep]

Looks good. How high did your cab end up being off the frame and what size are your front tires to get 8" at the bottom of the front fenders?