56 chevy frame swap

hey any u guys no if a 1978 chevy shortbed stepside will work for a frame swap on a 56 chevy truck

 

uh-oh....

 

Can i get some extra butter over here? And some Dr. Pepper.

 

you can make it fit on a prius if you try hard enough

 

I saw a 4x4 73 to 87 chassis under one. It looked bad because the way the frame rails are stepped down under the cab. It just does not fit very good.

 

Popcorn gives me craps and dry farts but thats better than wet ones .

 

A friend of mine did a 57 on a modified suburban chassis and had to channel the body 5 - 6 inches to make it look right

 

You can do anything with enough time AND money. The better question is WHY? The stock frame/suspension can be upgraded to perform at just about any level you can imagine with readily available components. Don't try to reinvent the wheel by taking on an unnecessary job.

Frank

 

cant use new parts cause i dont the money since im in high school

 

What is wrong with the frame that is currently in there?

 

I love a LOT of butter !!!!! Tom ( Tired Old Man)

 

Do you have access to MIG welding? Then buy a complete '94-96 Caprice cop car for less than $1500, cut the body off but leave the floor and firewall/dash, cut the floor out of your '57, set it down on the newer one and weld it up. You'll get heavy duty suspension, sway bars, power steering/brakes, positraction, dual exhaust,and the cop car has 260HP and overdrive automatic.

 

He said 56, and truck.

 

The C-10 will probably be too wide also. AD trucks fit on an S-10 chassis pretty well, I think that'd work on a '56.

If the '56 has a regular half ton frame, I'd stick with that. But if the frame is missing/junk or if you're using the cab from a big 2 ton truck or something where you can't reuse the frame, then I'd consider the S-10.

 

If you have to have a new frame it will work ok.The step side box is the same just change fenders .The frame is the same width till you get to the front axle and the newer frame is a little narrower.Check the wheelbase. I agree with the others if your frame is good just rebuild it and upgrade the brakes.

 

Pass the salt please!

 

I was going to do that, even had an 84 Pontiac frame but when you see the frame sticking out below the body it looks like???? As said successful frame changes have the body channel over the frame, using the downer floor in most cases. Check out TriFive.com as this has been discussed on there and on ChevyTalk.org

 

It can be made to work, and I understand why you'd want to do this swap. I have a 55.5 chevy stepside with the original frame, but upgrded with an MII IFS in front and all new rear leafs out back. The ride is OK, but nothing like a newer model chassis would provide.

Oh, and ignore the popcorn bunch. I don't understand it either. You're question if perfectly legit, imo. Good luck.

 

S10 is too narrow. Most just do a 70-81 camaro subframe up front and camaro rear axle. sits low and looks good. I was almost one of the sub frame crowd. I've been driving my 56 with stock suspension and am loving it. It rides good enough and the drum brakes stop OK. Give it a go as is for a while.

 

I've been there and I can tell you, patience, money and doing it the right way will be better in the end. I shortcut enough to have learned, it ALWAYS ends up costing the same. But, the end result is not as good.

 

What makes you think that the 73 frame is so much better than what you have now? I mean it would drive better, but it's almost 40 years old.

Save your money and get a Mustang II for the front. If that is totally out, rebuild what you got.

If you can't afford to rebuld the original stuff, save your money and go to college.

 

Holy crap that's funny!!!

All smart ass comments aside, it's a true enough statement. If you wanna use that frame then do it.
It might look horrible, it might turn out great. Who knows.

It does sound a bit like trying to dribble a football. Why not just use what you've got?

 

Here is a '58 we just finsihed for my dad.

-Stock front axle on top of the leafs.
-Rear end flip on top of the leafs with C-notch.
-Six leafs front and rear.
-Disc brake conversion on the front.
-Power steering conversion.
-New king pins, bearings, shocks and the right amount of caster. (5 degrees)

It rides, handles, steers and stops extremely well:

 

I think you would be better off just grafting the front frame clip( fire wall forward) from the 70's era chevy pickup to the original 56 chevy frame.

 

Look up the jag IFS swap tread here on the HAMB, it looks pretty good...and cheap.