Potential parts donor truck for my 62 C-10

[Vincenthdfan]

Hello all,

I have an opportunity to purchase a running and driving 1981 C-10 two wheel drive truck to scrounge parts off of.

It has a straight 6, SM465 tranny, power steering, power brakes.

$700 OBO. (Shown at bottom of this post)



Am I correct in my thinking that this would be an excellent donor vehicle to upgrade my mostly stock 62 C10 SWB??

I'm not totally certain I want to take my truck from being pretty darn original (I'm kind of a purist when it comes to nostalgia and vehicles).

But there is something to be said for having a nice driving and nice stopping pick up too!

What do you all think?

[Captainfab]

That '81 will give you power front disc brakes, power steering and a 5 lug differential. In order to convert to front disc brakes, you will have to install the entire front suspension, crossmember and all under your '62. It is best done with the engine removed. Now if you want to keep your nice 6 lug aluminum wheels, you will have to get a set of the aftermarket 6 lug rotors. However those will only work with spindles for the HD 1.250" thick rotors. You might check that '81 and see if it has the LD 1" thick rotors or the HD 1.250" thick rotors. The differential will likely have taller gears than the 3.90's that are likely in your '62 but it will be 5 lug. Although 6 lug axles could be swapped in.

[Vincenthdfan]

Thanks for the info Captain.

When I first got the 62 I immediately thought I wanted to 5 lug it front and rear so I could put American Racing Torque Thrust wheels on it...always liked the looks of them.

However, since then...the slotted wheels have kind of grown on me and I get compliments on them all the time so I may have a hard time letting go of them.

I'm kind of torn about just leaving torsions in mine and just doing rear drop springs and 2 1'2" drop spindles with 6 lug discs or going the Full Monty front end swap?

I do already have the whole front clip off because I took the tired 283 out to replace with a new crate 350.

If I were to utilize the rear axle from the donor truck, how much different is the width?

Welding new perches on is not a problem, I see you sell some for that purpose and I do plenty of welding.

Any idea how much taller a gear ratio an 81 like that may have in it?

Previous owner installed a World Class T-5 with S-10 tail shaft in the truck as well, but its kind of whiny...so that may be another item to consider as well.

If that 81 rear end was tall enough, I could put a standard 4 speed back in without strength worries.

Ugh, decisions, decisions!