49 GMC Pickup

[05snopro440]

How did you deal with the S-10 frame kick on your car? That's the main reason I wouldn't try to use the S-10 frame for a car. How did yours work out, did you lose much trunk or rear seat space?

[99 to Life]

oh yeah, these are def getting harder to find, I just seen a guy post some parts, frame etc and said he was gonna scrap but hate to do so. i can't stand when people do that, just hang onto it and someday its gonna be much more valuable. The scrapping industry is a joke, its just killing old stuff and all this metal goes to china anyway and comes back diluted as can be. Well I decided I want as much reliability as possible since this would be a family cruiser. I can sell off the front clip as I'v read all those parts are interchangeable with corvettes up to 63' maybe. My buddy sold off all his parts from his 54'. I might do a custom IFS on it if I don't find a clip. I don't wanna sink too much money into it, but it is going to be painted and done up right. I just wanna get it done for my lady so when we get married we can drive that. Its all stock right now, not running, but in really good condition, just need a few patches. it sat in an ohio barn for years.

[99 to Life]

not trying to clog you up, but yeah 53-54's are just awesome. I'm going metallic pink bottom with white roof. not sure on a painted or chrome grille and bumpers. might shave the rear door handles. wide whites and I want fender skirts but the lady doesn't like them, but I'm building it, so its getting skirts.

[Billys68SS]

Originally Posted by 05snopro440

How did you deal with the S-10 frame kick on your car? That's the main reason I wouldn't try to use the S-10 frame for a car. How did yours work out, did you lose much trunk or rear seat space?

I didnt do the swap. I bought it that way. The rear seat area was intact, but the trunk space was gone! There were alot of problems with this car and I decided I didnt really want to redo it. The body was one of the friendliest things I have ever seen! Always waving!!! LOL. If I hadnt sold it when I did I would have re done it...
I agree the s10 was not a good choice for these cars. A clip from a nova or something with an updated rear would have been a much better fit. If I ever find another, thats most likely the route I will take.
The individual that did the swap used ALL of the s10 floor and bed sheet metal in the floor and trunk area of this car.

[Billys68SS]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

not trying to clog you up, but yeah 53-54's are just awesome. I'm going metallic pink bottom with white roof. not sure on a painted or chrome grille and bumpers. might shave the rear door handles. wide whites and I want fender skirts but the lady doesn't like them, but I'm building it, so its getting skirts.

LOL. I like skirts, as long as they are the right ones! My 54 had a set from something else and were bolted on the outside of the quarter... I was like these ugly things gotta go. It also had a set of lakeside pipes that were just bolted on and didnt do anything. More show. When I took them off I found out that they were rotted out so they got tossed!

[99 to Life]

LOL lakeside pipes for show, I'm dying!!! I hear ya on the shirts, I have a set, or atleast one inside the car with a bunch of the trim, I hope its all there. I passed up a complete 54 4 door minus grille and bumpers, nice with title and white walls for $250 it was 3 hours away and I didn't have a tow rig at the time. I still drool over that deal. hope you find another someday.

[Billys68SS]

$250? 3 hours or not... I would have been all over that! I have a tow dolly and my buddy has a trailer. I have a trailer I can haul parts and smaller cars, frames etc on (Its too narrow to put a full size car on) We both have trucks so nothing is un-towable for us!

[99 to Life]

yeah man, no joke I still have pics of this thing best deal out. It was just as solid looking as my 53' and all the glass and trim where there. 3 hours there and back, woulda been couple hundo atleast in gas for me and my fam was using the truck, I tried goin in on it with a friend and splitting up parts if I could use his truck, but his truck needed this and that, you know how that goes. now we got a family whip so I can have my tow rig back.

[Billys68SS]

I wonder if someone will chime in here. I'm out working on my truck, still working on getting everything lined up. Here's what I'm dealing with. I clamped the running board on the left fender. I'm assuming that it's supposed to be right up against the fender, I really don't know if there is suppose to be a gap or not. The question is that for one and once that gap is determined what should be the gap at the back of the cab for the extension piece? With the running board clamped to the fender I have 1/2 inch gap behind the cab to this piece! What should these gaps be?

[Billys68SS]

Well I managed to get a little done today.
I built this little deal for blasting some parts. I'm using 4 Northern Tool 5x7 tarps at $2.50 each and some miscellaneous lumber I had lying around. Made cleanup much easier than otherwise and reclaiming the media was a snap!



Blasting was a major PITA!!! I bought a 20lb pressure pot from HF and it only worked occasionally. I ended using an old gravity feed pot to finish. I got more done in the last hour of the day with that than the biggest part of the day with the other.

[Cape Codder]

Sandblasting needs lots of air, not just pressure but volumn too.

[Billys68SS]

Originally Posted by Cape Codder

Sandblasting needs lots of air, not just pressure but volumn too.

Yeah, I know. I've got this covered. For whatever reason that pressure pot is just a POS. I may return it. The gravity feed pot worked flawlessly!even though I have a good sized compressor I still let it "catch up" regularly.

[Cape Codder]

A pressure pot should work better than siphon feed it it is adjusted correctly and has the right size nozzle. Are you using real sandblast media or just screening sand from a sand pit? I use the black sand and have good luck with that. Don't try to do any large smooth panels with sand or it will warp real bad. Have fun.


Bob

[Billys68SS]

I'm using a fine glass bead media and the correct nozzle for the media type. I don't have a clue why it works so poorly. I'm going to grab the paperwork for it on my way out this morning and if I have time at work today take a look at it. See if there is something I can do differently. I did try a different type of media toward the end and it's a more course media but considered medium with a different nozzle and still no luck.

[99 to Life]

that gap you have doesn't look too bad, even though your cab corner is kinda gone and looks dented, so its hard to say. It def doesn't fit snug like a glove and def shouldn't be an inch off. I doubt every truck is dead on cause there is a lot of variance with these from the factory, I'd say your is looking good. They do however bolt snug up to the fenders, did you try bolting your front and rear fender to it? that is key, that is the main thing that keeps these bodies in line with doing swaps.

[Billys68SS]

Yeah, the corners on this cab are shot. Someone put in some galvanized filler metal A LONG TIME AGO!!! Doesn't really matter to me since its not my cab! I looked back at a pic i found in another thread and didnt see anything, but the bed is like 2 inches away from the cab based on the measurements he has and that piece is pretty close to the cab. I did notice after taking that pic that the rocker on this cab is kinda pushed back so I looked at where the rear of the running board was in reference to the rear tire and it was kicked way in, so I think I may be ok.
Henry, What is your wheelbase? Did you have to do anything to your bed to make everything line up? Im taking measurements with the cab in what appears to be the right location and its just not looking right with the bed I have. The bed is a short bed, but its I think 79 3/4 long.
There are no holes in the running board or the front fender that would indicate they mount together, so I'm thinking a little gap wont hurt anything. The running boards are mounted to the frame anyway! I know they mount to the rear fenders. If they mounted solid to the front fenders you would get vibration into the cab!

[99 to Life]

I'm running the 117.9" sblwb frame. I cut like 5 or 7" off back of frame, can't remember off hand. the beds all have gaps to the cab. I bolted my front fenders to the running boards. I'd get your fenders as close to the running boards as poss.
helps to have the bed with rear fenders mounted to really dial in the bed, fender and cab placement. It can all go a little forward or back more than you think. your splash apron to your cab looks about right as is. Once its all together and lowered, you won't notice those gaps as much. I was gonna fab up a piece on my 49' after I get it further along, that bed to cab gap I wanted to tighten up on this truck.

[99 to Life]

p.s I didn't have much luck with my HF blasting unit either. I found that a bigger tip helped. Could be that I'm running a smaller compressor. It worked for a little than stopped, i got tired of messing with it. I have the 110lb unit, just sitting there. Luckily I got it on sale for like 90 bucks. I'll give it another go someday with a better compressor.

[Billys68SS]

Well I went out this evening when I got home from work and stuck the rear fender up to the running board and what do you know it looks right. The front of the running board is clamped to the fender and everything is lined up in the front. So im just gonna go with it. I got the cab all centered up and square but now my mounts are going to need a bit of tweaking. They actually have the cab held pretty tight. I dont think I allowed for the 1/4" strap i put on the front of the mount, so Im going to have to figure something out for that. Its supposed to be freakishly cold here the next few days, but nice on Friday and Saturday so that will be when I get back on it.
I bought the 20lb pot just because I knew I wouldn't be doing that much blasting. I have a 60 gallon compressor and it didnt even run the whole time I was trying to blast. The thing is only supposed to need 120psi max I think is what I read. Oh well In not going to worry about it. As long as the gravity feed is working I will keep using that. Im using a fine glass bead that does a great job and doesnt damage the metal. Leaves the metal nice and smooth. It does ok on rust, but takes paint off like its nothing!

[Billys68SS]

Henry, did you have to modify your bed sides to fit over your tires? The s10 rear is 47.5 from backing plate to backing plate and the bed sides are going to come down right on the tire about 1.5" in. Wondering if I run the Chevelle rear will it aleviate this or will I run in to fender fitment issues then. Oh well, I'm not there yet so I guess I'll figure it out when I get to that point.

[99 to Life]

if you have just the 2x4 rear in there, yah the bedsides are gonna hit it. Even with a 4x4 rear the bedsides only have maybe .25" or so clearance. If you run drum brakes a 4x4 rear with a 1-2" wheel spacer will be a good option, you can control your wheel tuck nicely. If you decide to run a disc brake (like I'm doing on my 49' with a blazer rear end) I had to notch the bed because of the disc brakes. My bed will still have depth and have no wheel tubs and that is with the bed channeled down over the frame a little more than my static dropped 51'. Between my 51' and 49' I'm about 1" difference on mounting height, thats cause my 49' is bagged. Yeah you will have tinker with that cab, on the s10 frames its tough to get a good measurement all by yourself. the slightest movement of the cab or frame and your outta wack. I'v reset mine like twice now and its annoying, but I'm working on all new floors, once they are done I'll make and mount my mounts.

[05snopro440]

That all depends on the wheel and offset too. a 10" rim with 3-3/4" backspace fits nicely, but needs wheel tubs.

[99 to Life]

yeah I forgot your running the rims in your pic, so whatever those are, you may or may not need spacers, but I bet you will. I'm running a stock s10 rim and need spacers on my blazer rear. On my 51' I'm running s10 4x4 with some older bisqane rims that have hardly any offset, so I run 2" spacers in back 1 or 1.5 up front, can't remember.

[Billys68SS]

I dont mind putting a mini tub in the bed if I have to. Dont know that I will, but I will get to that later. Im running the wheels that are on it in the pics, 18" Cragar SS's. They have a pretty high negative offset. I wrote it down when I got them and took measurements where everything was going to sit, so I could order the right spacers. I have 1.25" spacers all the way around. But I didnt have a bed to measure from at the time and wasnt and still am not sure if im going to keep this rear. Time will tell. Thanks for all the input guys!

[05snopro440]

Originally Posted by Billys68SS

I dont mind putting a mini tub in the bed if I have to. Dont know that I will, but I will get to that later. Im running the wheels that are on it in the pics, 18" Cragar SS's. They have a pretty high negative offset. I wrote it down when I got them and took measurements where everything was going to sit, so I could order the right spacers. I have 1.25" spacers all the way around. But I didnt have a bed to measure from at the time and wasnt and still am not sure if im going to keep this rear. Time will tell. Thanks for all the input guys!

Yeah, we can't tell you whether or not they'll fit without a tub, you'll unfortunately need to find out when you get to that point.