1949 AD Chevy truck frame swap ?

Im going to be getting a 49 chevy truck on monday. The plans are to swap the stock motor (its dead), cut it down to a short bed, get it low, get some nice www and drive the hell out of it. Eventually I will shave it and give it some custom paint. Unfortunateley it looks like the stock frame is junk I see lots of info on S10 frame swap but I am wondering if any body has used a full size chevy frame instead. I have a 84 silverado just waiting to be a donor. Has anyone tried this ? Any tips tricks or suggestions or am I setting myself up for hedache?
Oh yeah I did try the search and nothing came up for this.
Thanks

 

I would assume that the fullsize chevy frame will just be to big. If they standard is to swap in an S10 frame then that is what will fit. You would likely need major modifications to the fullsize frame to make it fit what you want.

Later,
Chad

 

S-10 swap is the way to go. Do a search on here for the frame swap thread. I hope to do this swap if I ever get an AD.

 

I'm 3/4 of the way thru the S-10 swap on a '50 Chevy AOD. 350/700R4, lowered 2".
Its a walk in the park.

 

I know the s10 thing is pretty easy but I was just wondering about the full size swap because I have one already. From what Ive heard the s10 frame is about 4 or five inches narrower than the stock AD frame. So I thought possibly the full size might work alright, Anybody ever actually try something like this ? Once I have the 49 here I can take some measurements to find out a little more. Im just anxious to figure out the plan.

 

What's wrong with the stock frame?

 

I'm working on an S-10 swap right now, but prior to starting it, I looked real close at using a full-size chassis. Not saying it can't be done, but way too many hassles (and we do this kinda stuff all day, every day). I bought an '86 S-10 standard cab, long-bed truck (118" wheel base is the one you want for an AD) with no motor for $400 delivered to my shop, from a local scrap yard. It has all the goodies, P/S, P/B, A/C, and on and on. Sell the frame you have and go with the S-10, I promise you won't regret it.
Keep us posted!

 

I couldnt crawl under it too much cause its buried in poison Ivy but the ol man I got it from says its probably no good. Not exatly sure why but for the money Im paying I didnt ask too many questions.

 

Thanks this is kind of what I wanted to know. Guess I will see if anyone wants to trade an s10 for my silverado. And I will definatley keep you posted Ive been dreaming about building a truck like this for a lon time..

 

Join the AD truckers for all the info you will ever need.

 

The fullsize will work but the wheels stick out to much on each side. If you can't fix or find another stock frame the s10 is the next best .

 

I just did a yahoo search and couldn't find any info on this. Any idea how to contact them?

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=132

It is a group on the HAMB. If the link above doesn't work look under Communities just below the HAMB above. Then social groups and then Brands

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=132

 

Thanks everybody. oldguard pointed me in the right direction! Lotsa info over there!

 

Just Joined. Thanks for the help guys hope to be giving updates soon.

 

Look into a '60's IFS. This can be unbolted as a complete unit and bolted into the stock frame if it is usable. I am not sure of the width though.

 

The full-sized Chevy truck frame is too big in every dimension. That's why the S-10 frame swap is so popular - it and the AD trucks are the same size. Use the S-10 long wheelbase with the standard cab - that is the frame you need. Extended cab, and short bed trucks, along with the small Blazers, are not good candidates. There are a couple for trucks locally that I know of that have done this swap very successfully.

 

I put my 48 chev p/u on an 87 full size 1/2 ton p/u it worked fine on the front, I put 195 65 15 tires on it, they fit in the fenders nice but a little wide I also shortend the box appox 18" it looks fine

 

That is one of the problems that previous posters alluded to. The later full sized trucks are so wide that an AD truck on the later chassis ends up looking like a Hot Wheels truck. That may have been ok 25 years ago when everyone ran rigs with the wheels hanging out of the fenders but it doesn't cut it today.

There are several of those trucks floating around sitting on car frames with the 3/4 ton bed cut off at the second post and shortened. JD Fikes built one in Waco in the early 70's on a shortened 55 Chev 4 door sedan frame.
My buddy up here saw the photos if JD's truck and built this one about 4 years later

It sat on a modified 66 Chevelle frame. It now has a fairly radical not HAMB friendly pro street frame with bags to boot in the works.
Outside of using the stock frame the S-10 setup is probably the cleanest and simplest to use if you intend to run running boards.



















mb

 

Full size truck stuff is just to wide. I grafted a 54 chev car front suspention under mine. Thing looks factory and uses the car box too. lowered the truck 8 1/2" I dont know why guys havent been doing this for years? guess its not modern enough for some. Heres some picks
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p307/Unsafe6/DSCF6247.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p307/Unsafe6/DSCF6211.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p307/Unsafe6/DSCF6194.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p307/Unsafe6/DSCF6191.jpg