Need a body for my frame

[Bill Ford]

It appears I have made a major screw-up on my current project. I have several 48-53 Studebaker Pickups and wanted to build a streetrod. So I started with a '77 Chevy SWB frame and shortened the wheelbase to 106" to match the wheelbase on the Stude. Overhauled the frame, installed a 6.0 w/4L80E, pump-in-tank, new 3.42 gears, etc. The chassis is ready to go.

When I get down to serious measuring to install the Stude body I find that the wheel WIDTH is about 3.5 inches to wide to fit under the Stude body. It appears that it would take 19-20" wheels to be able to get enough backspace to overcome the width problem. No Way!

Now I'm thinking of finding another wider body (older model Chevy) to fit the frame I have and leaving the Stude project for another day. I can restore the original wheelbase (117.5") with no problem.

The problem is I don't know what year bodies will fit the frame. I would like to put as old a body as possible on the frame. Can some of you guys tell me which SWB's will fit on the 77 SWB frame? Or tell me where I can find wheelbase/wheel width specs for Chevy Pickups? I can do a fair amount of body mount fabrication to make it work. I am mainly concerned about wheelbase and wheel width.