I finally got my S10 frame swap done

I built a rat rod style truck from a 50 Chevy 1 ton grain truck and put it on an S10 chassis. I built all my own mounts. If you have any questions just ask. Its a very easy and cheap swap.

 

more pics of it

Here is a couple more pics.......

 

Excellent! Now let's hear a little more about the drive train. And plenty of pics so we can see what is hid.
I never really thought much about rat rods but the more I see the more I like the idea.
Gator

 

Looking good!

One ton grain truck? Where's the other 1/2 ton? Looks good! Hey Flipper, sorry about the too "rad" comment on yours a couple of month's ago. I'm kinda diggin' the low sloung look now! Need more input on the drivetrain like gater said!!

 

OK Speedy!

That's a really nice driver truck/car. It looks really good in the photos.

Now where is that low mileage sm420 4 speed you left on the old frame? I figure most old AD one tons were not driven very far, because they were so slow. I have a sm420 out of another '50 one ton that only had 28K original miles on it.

Anywhere near East Texas?

Jim

 

Here are the details on it. I used the cab and front clip from the grain truck and I also had a 1/2 ton pickup that had a great bed but rusty as hell cab. For running gear it has..........
S10 chassis with 2in dropped spindles and 1in springs in front
3in adjustable pin blocks in back
manual steering box
355 chevy with Dart heads and edelbrock intake and carb
350 turbo trans
alan grove alt and a/c comp. brackets
4.10 rear end which is the stock 2wd one
S10 tilt column
91 chevy silverado seat
15x7 front wheels with 195/65/15 tires
15x10 rear wheels with 285/70/15 tires
universal summit aluminum radiator and fan shroud with elec. fan setup
aluminum water pump
85 camaro ex manifold on r/h side
66 impala ram horn ex manifold on l/h side
85 caprice steering shaft with borgeson joints
dolphin custom gauges
ez wiring harness
aluminum treadplate bed floor with custom wheel well tubs

The whole project took me about 8 months of off and on working on it. There is quite a bit of fabrication work to do but when it starts for the first time its all worth it. Here are some under hood and interior pics of it.

 

Thunder I am no where near Texas. I am in St Louis Missouri. I had the whole chassis from the grain truck and ended up scrapping it out as no one seemed to want it. The truck had around 35000 miles on it. The cab has perfect cab corners and no floor rust at all on it. It sat in a barn for many years before I got it.

 

That is totally AWESOME, Speed! Now just satin clear-coat it and Bob's your uncle!

 

wow! all that work in 8 months?! i'm impressed. you must not sleep much. usually, i'm not into lowered trucks, but i do like the stance on this one. very nice interior, too! i like that bench seat!

jon

 

What S-10 did you use, long bed standard cab or the cab and half short bed? Also what rear end did you use?

 

Bigt442 I used a 85 S10 longbed single cab truck. As for the rear end I used the stock S10 2wd rear end which has 4.10 gears with the 15x10 wheels and it was a perfect fit. I have a buddy who built one and used a 4x4 rear end since they are 4 inches wider. He has 15x8 rims on his. On the front I have 2 1/2 inch billet spacers on it to make the front wheels sit in the correct spot.

 

Speedfreak - impressive. Front and rear wheels look dead center. You even got the front bumper attached somehow. Really nice. Did you mount the '91 Silverado seat on the original "seat pan" or is it on the floor? I am looking for a seat to use on my truck and this one that you used looks to be a good fit.

 

Speedfreak - Looks great and thanks for the info. That is the S-10 frame I have. I was told originaly to use the S-10 cab 1/2 short bed, but it was longer wheel base. I really like the stance of your truck, great job.

 

Texas53 I mounted the 91 full size Chevy truck seat directly to the floor. It fits in there like it was made for the truck. I have about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of space between the seat and the inside of the door. I like this seat because it has room under it to store stuff. I just drilled 4 holes thru the floor and bolted it down.

 

Speedfreak very nice looks really good great work so far.
Oh the 85 camaro ex manifold on the right side is it off a 305 motor ( is it a small exhaust manifold ) does it have the casting # still on it.?

 

Pontiac it is a low hp Camaro or caprice 305 manifold. It comes on the tbi style camaros and caprices. the l/h one will fit on the truck if I would of had a block with r/h dipstick instead of the l/h style that I have. The manifold blocks the dipstick hole. The rams horn one was for l/h dipstick.

 

Thanks for the help. Do you have any more plans for yours? Hard to believe that you did all of that work in 8 months. I have been working on mine for over 3 years. Of course, some of that time was getting it ready to paint which you didn't need to worry about The way your trucks fades from rust to green almost looks planned. Very cool. I like this Rat Rod style. Come to think of it, I think my truck started out as a Rat Rod. Had I have known that this would be the craze, I could've saved myself a lot of time. Here's a picture of what I started with and then where it is today. I hope to have it painted soon.

Mike

 

Yes there is three types maniflods small, med, large.
I have one on my truck off a Camaro, but it pitted real bad on the Right side. The one I have is the small one with the 3 stud flang & I can not read the casting # any more it's so baddly pitted. So I have been trying to find out what the casting # are to get or find one. I think the caprice had the small one to but it a 2 stud flang . the casting # is between # 8 & 6 cylinder I can only make out 2# any more out 6 or 8.

 

Sorry, Speed-

Shed the turn signal lights (what would get into someone to drill holes in good fenders to mount those kinda lights?!) then, as I said, satin clear coat it! That is SUCH an awesome ride! Big T has a good ride too, but like he said, the color play on yours is tits!

I think it will beat my rattle-can approach...

 

Those turn signals must have been popular