1963 GMC c20 to 4x4

[fencerspinley]

Hello I figured I should start a build thread as a place to put all my questions during the because I for sure have a bunch of them.
After selling my 66 c10 I bought a super clean 1963 GMC c20 camper special awhile back with the intention of building a 4x4 truck.
One of my main goals is to maintain the factory frame and just fab new suspension parts to the 2wd frame. I don't like the way body swaps look with the extra body lift you usually have to have. Seems simple enough seeing as how to gmc trucks already came with rear leafs.

With that I got to the drawing board made a list of everything that was important and got started.

-Maintain factory frame and body mounts
-Use as many off the shelf parts as I can
-Easy and mostly bolt on
-Convert to 67-72 leaf springs

I've for the most part got all the suspension done and am working on engine placement (one of my many questions).

As it sits now the engine is reallyyyyyy close to the firewall. This truck originally had a v6 and an sm420 but I know that 4x4 trucks had very little clearance on the firewall. I'm going with an LS and sm465 and want the stick to go in the factory hole in the floor so I'm pretty sure the engine is where it has to go. Any help with that is appreciated.

Hopefully the pictures show up. I have a lot that I can share. I'm going to keep posting as I go but I'll have a bunch of questions I'm sure. Let me know what you think. If you have any question and I'll do my best to answer them.

[caseyjones]

Awesome project and that truck is crazy-clean. I don’t have any advice on the motor other than “if it fits it ships.” Looking forward to seeing more…

[fencerspinley]

Thanks! It sat under a carport its entire life.
I’ll try to get pictures of how close the engine is to the fire wall and hopefully someone with a factory 4x4 can chime in with actual measurements. The transmission lines up with the hole but I think the heads may be too tall. I’m not sure though. I designed the engine crossmember to have similar measurements to a popular aftermarket 67-72 one.

[fencerspinley]

More pictures