62 c10 chassis swap questions

[62stepside longbox]

I have been offered a 86 s10 for free! The body is not the best but that's not what I care about. It has a 4.3 that hasn't been started in a while and had a 5spd in it. What complications would there be swapping the body to the chassis? Hooking up the steering? Body mounts? Is it worth it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Nik

[TJ's Chevy]

The body off your 62 is WAAAAAAAAY to long for that little S10. lol I'd take the S10 and make that my DD and have the 62 for weekends.

[62stepside longbox]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

The body off your 62 is WAAAAAAAAY to long for that little S10. lol I'd take the S10 and make that my DD and have the 62 for weekends.

Would it be closer to fitting if I was to make my truck a short box? One of my friends has short box bed sides for sale.

[Captainfab]

I wouldn't even consider a S10 frame swap on a full size truck. I know the AD guys do it, but I wouldn't. The '60-'62 trucks are the only ones I would consider doing a frame swap on, but it would have to be a '63-'72 frame. And it would have to be done legally so there were no issues later on with having a frame with a different VIN than the body.

[joedoh]

Ive done it. I used a 4 cylinder 98 S10. I had a fair amount of rust in the floors and wanted the HVAC so I used the s10 floor and firewall too. It was good with the 4 cylinder and would be great with the 4.3. the longbed s10 frame is just right for a shortbed 60-66, mine was standard cab short bed s10 so we moved the axle back 10 inches and used a longbed driveshaft. The track width was narrower, but with 2" wheel spacers didnt look terrible. like captainfab says make sure you have documentation on the donor parts.

here it is as a 1962 with wheel spacers, the original incarnation.



I didnt have a title to the 62, only a bill of sale, so the DMV wanted to title it as the 98, the title I did have. not out of necessity, only out of sheer convenience on their part. I found a 65 big window instead and did the swap a second time.

link to the most recent work is in my signature.

[OldChevy61]

Why not just put the 4.3 and 5 speed in the 62? Seems a lot easier than trying to make all that fit.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by OldChevy61

Why not just put the 4.3 and 5 speed in the 62? Seems a lot easier than trying to make all that fit.

That would be one Slow ride. lol

[verdell]

Originally Posted by TJ's Chevy

That would be one Slow ride. lol

Actually, the 4.3 vortec is pretty stout. It would surprise you, trust me. I drove one for years. It would do ok in a short bed pickup.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by verdell

Actually, the 4.3 vortec is pretty stout. It would surprise you, trust me. I drove one for years. It would do ok in a short bed pickup.

I have one in the 47. with the weight of that truck its like a portable tire melter.


cooper I get what your point is, but consider:

a 63-72 frame will cost more (a lot more if you want a disc 5 lug shortbed) than a free s10.

the picture of mine above is of a stock suspension s10, so it gets lowered, highway gears, and disc brakes all in one step. if you swap in a 63-72 you may still want some or all of those things.

[TJ's Chevy]

Originally Posted by verdell

Actually, the 4.3 vortec is pretty stout. It would surprise you, trust me. I drove one for years. It would do ok in a short bed pickup.

I take my words back. lol

[rpone605]

What's wrong with your chassis that you are considering doing this?

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by 62stepside longbox

I have been offered a 86 s10 for free! The body is not the best but that's not what I care about. It has a 4.3 that hasn't been started in a while and had a 5spd in it. What complications would there be swapping the body to the chassis? Hooking up the steering? Body mounts? Is it worth it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Nik

I wouldn't do it myself. Those s-10s have steering boxes way out front in the way of radiator/core support. Besides when you get done you really have a "re-bodied S-10" with classic sheet metal , Not a 62 C-10.
Sometimes free isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe get the S-10 for free and sell it to buy a 63-72 frame. you can buy a long bed frame for a couple hundred bucks.

[62stepside longbox]

Thanks for the responses guys, I looks like I better stick to what I have

[joedoh]

haha I read through the responses of people who HAVENT done it, and they dont match my experience having done it.

the 4.3 has more hp and torque than the original inline 6 and almost as much as an original 283. even my 2.2 truck wasnt embarassingly slow, kept up in traffic just like a normal truck and cruised the highway without getting passed more often than a basketball. if it has an overdrive trans you will be lightyears ahead of anything you can do to your stock motor and trans.

I am not sure what cooper is talking about with the steering box, but mine was well behind the core support. I used a box from a zq8 s10 that had a faster ratio and borgeson u joints that replaced the rag joint, it was super responsive.

however, oldchevy61 has the right idea. put the 4.3 and overdrive in your truck, if its fuel injected even better. I did my swap because I had a wrecked s10 and a blown apart 62 swb. Mine was definitely not just a rebodied s10 although some small minded guys sometimes said that. It didnt bother me at all, they were happy driving their modern vanilla white refrigerators (camryaccordaltima).

Traditional hotrodding wasnt all about guys with Ardun heads on 32 roadsters. (I read somewhere that the total production of Ardun heads was in the low thousands with most of them sold to companies with milk trucks!) but today unless you have a 32 with ardun heads and a beehive oil filter, if you use a common motor that isnt a v8 (blasphemy!) you are a second class citizen.

somehow the modern traditional hot rod guys have forgotten that the old days guys were always modifying their old cars with stuff that was commonly available and inexpensive. I see it today too, a lot of projects follow the same easy formula, dropped or bagged suspension that bolts in, motor that bolts in, wiring that plugs in. I like the problem solving parts of projects, figuring out the end goal and working towards it without stopping when you hit a snag. some people dont, they like a phone number or email to ping when something doesnt fit. it takes both kinds in the hobby of modifying.

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by joedoh

haha I read through the responses of people who HAVENT done it, and they dont match my experience having done it.

the 4.3 has more hp and torque than the original inline 6 and almost as much as an original 283. even my 2.2 truck wasnt embarassingly slow, kept up in traffic just like a normal truck and cruised the highway without getting passed more often than a basketball. if it has an overdrive trans you will be lightyears ahead of anything you can do to your stock motor and trans.

I am not sure what cooper is talking about with the steering box, but mine was well behind the core support. I used a box from a zq8 s10 that had a faster ratio and borgeson u joints that replaced the rag joint, it was super responsive.

however, oldchevy61 has the right idea. put the 4.3 and overdrive in your truck, if its fuel injected even better. I did my swap because I had a wrecked s10 and a blown apart 62 swb. Mine was definitely not just a rebodied s10 although some small minded guys sometimes said that. It didnt bother me at all, they were happy driving their vanilla white refrigerators.

Traditional hotrodding wasnt all about guys with Ardun heads on 32 roadsters. (I read somewhere that the total production of Ardun heads was in the low thousands with most of them sold to companies with milk trucks!) but today unless you have a 32 with ardun heads and a beehive oil filter, if you use a common motor that isnt a v8 (blasphemy!) you are a second class citizen.

somehow the modern traditional hot rod guys have forgotten that the old days guys were always modifying their old cars with stuff that was commonly available and inexpensive. I see it today too, a lot of projects follow the same easy formula, dropped or bagged suspension that bolts in, motor that bolts in, wiring that plugs in. I like the problem solving parts of projects, figuring out the end goal and working towards it without stopping when you hit a snag. some people dont, they like a phone number or email to ping when something doesnt fit. it takes both kinds in the hobby of modifying.

You are correct when you state "people who HAVENT done it, and they dont match my experience having done it." I havn't put an s-10 chassis under a c-10. I put one underneath a 41 Chevy coupe and this was my experience and I faced that problem.

Sounds like it is doable.

That said the OP can take the pros and cons and decide for himself if it is something he wants to do. I myself really don't care. Not my truck.

The beauty of this board is the wealth of knowledge and experience that is freely shared. If someone says do or don't they are "only giving their opinion". Nothing against yours or anyone else's just theirs.

All that said, I still don't think the hassle is worth it with so many 63-72 frames available. JMO