47-55.1 S10 experts, I need some advice............

[paintman]

So I finally found an s10 long bed, near me for sale for $350 (rolling chassis only). However I noticed what looked like the passenger side frame horn was cut shorter then the drivers side. I'm assuming this is going to cause some fab problems when it comes to mounting the rad and bumpers. What would be the fix for this.
Seems like it would be a pain in the...... to try an add some extension pieces onto the front horn to try and make it match the drivers side. Is it still worth $350 plus the hassles? Thanx guys!

[flyingdet444]

I do not think it will cause you any problems. you would have to shorten them anyway. The thing is when you notch out the lower valance for the frame horns, it will be uneven, but once the front end is assembled you will not see the notch. You might want to cap the horns off (as I did) to keep the crap out. Hope this helps.

[flyingdet444]

PS, You might have to work something out to mount the rad. core support.

[joedoh]

flyingdet is right, you can cut the passenger horn all the way back to the sway bar mounts, but the drivers side only to the steering box reinforcement.


looks like it has skymangs style rad mounts on it.


the bumper mounts will need a little fab, I usually cut my frame horns in an L shape to clear the pan/grille but leave room for bumper mounts.


NBD, carry on.

[MiraclePieCo]

I'd think that with all the fab you'll have to do to add body mounts, bed mounts, core support mounts, running board mounts, etc, that adding on to that frame horn would be a minor issue.

[dsraven]

kinda looks like it had a truck on it already so the question I would ask is why is the truck not still on the frame? change of plans or frame is bent and the PO found out after the project was almost done?
like miracle eluded to earlier, if you got what it takes to do a frame swap that little frame horn thing will be a piece of cake.
do a frame check for straight and sag etc. if all good then you decide if you wanna do the project

[paintman]

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to look at the frame today. Yes I do have the fab skills but, having never done an s10 swap i thought there might be something that I was not seeing that would cause an issue. The add says the mounts for a chevy cab are already on the frame so apparently this is a project that got stalled, or the guy realized he was in over his head.

[dsraven]

maybe a good idea to look through the s10 swap forum and see what is involved before you go look see. could be a few things in there that are important to know. the front frame horns need to be modified anyway to accept a rad support and a bumper so whether they are cut off now or not wouldn't be a huge deal anyway, as long as the rest is good and not a hatchet job. take a tape measure with you and check if the frame has already been modified and possibly not quite right.

[joedoh]

this is great photo because you can see how straight the frame is.




nice 90 degree angles on all the crossmembers. I dont think you will have a problem with bends.


i tell everyone, mounting the body is the easy part, you can have a cab and clip mounted in a weekend (starting from a mostly complete ad and mostly complete s10!) if that is your goal. its the "everything else", motor brakes pedals steering, that takes the time. i know from your other threads paintman, you have the skills to finish it.

[paintman]

Thanx Joedoh! My only problem would be the fact that I am doing a Dodge. So I am assuming there will be alot of differences in the mounting positons of things like motor mounts. Probably the cab mounts will need to be re-worked.
My other concern is the fact that i will be using a mopar engine with those hokey front sump pans, so clearnce of the cross member may be an issue. I was only able to find one build of a Dodge on an s10 over on youtube and it looked to be a little cobbled together.

[gigamanx]

Heck, I'd go for it! $350 seems a bit steep when I bought an entire running registered S10 for $1000 when I started. You can haggle with things like the bushings and suspension needing replacement, what looks like rust on the existing mounts. Worth a shot

[paintman]

Thanx for the responses guys! Unfortunately the owner sold the chassis before I could come and get it. He told me to meet him at his house at 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Just when I was to jump in my truck and drive out to his house he called me and said someone with a trailer stopped buy and bought it. Oh well! For some reason out here in Jersey S10 are like gold. Not many regular cab long bed come up for sale and when they do they don't last long. Also, most sellers seem to know that they have something the street rodders want and jack the price up way high. At this point I guess I will stay with a stock frame.