So I have read alot about the Cab over swap for a daily driven rat rod and thats the route I was headed till I purchased a inline 6 4 speed 51 3/4 ton. The Previous ower is a mechanic by trade and pretty much overhauled the engine tranny hubs brakes and painted the frame and engine bay. Its a real clean start to a restoration. The owner before him pulled out to many leaf springs and it bumps the frame at 35mph which also brings me to another problem.... My wife would like to drive it daily and it needs freeway speeds. I am having a moral dilema... I have a complete 96 2.2 5 speed short bed S10. I have been selling the sheetmetal off of it. The drivetrain is solid. I have some real nice Vette rally wheels I wanted to put on the truck with a nice set of 63 vette side pipes. So it brings me to some basic questions. Should I just switch over the suspension and hubs and brakes from the 96 to the 51? How well does the gearing work with the 51 tranny? Or do I just continue to part out the 96 and use its proceeds to buy a camaro rear and front and bag the 51? Any ideas thought or question would be helpful. Links and pics are great to. I just dont want to tear into it both trucks like a chicken with my head cutt off only to mess something up and have 2 piles of trash sitting in my yard. Sorry about the novel. Thanks, Mike
Welcome, Mike! I'd go with the camaro rear end and a fatman front end. (Or similar) It sounds like you would need new springs, then with a rear that lets you go faster, you'll need good stopping power since your wife will be driving it. (disc brakes= less chance of a sudden pull one way or the other when you hit the brakes. Again, that would help the wife...) You could save $$$ and weld on the camaro front, but... How 'bout some pictures?
Uploaded a couple pics of my rattle canned caddy. Im bringing the truck home this weekend so I will load pics this weekend. After talking with a couple shops, Im going to Restore the 51 and keep it close to OEM. We are looking at the OE replacement springs with the 2.5" drop in the front and 3" in the rear. from there I found a shop that will work with me on replaceing the gearing in the pumpkin to alow low RMP cruizing at 60 mph for the wheels n tires I have. I really want to use these vette 15" by 8 rally wheels on the truck they have a 5 by 4 3/4" lug pattern. So the main question now is???? Does the 1/2 ton have that lug pattern and can I switch out the hubs n drums to fit?
pumpkin Bowlrider, I would be interested in who that shop is that is going to eplace your pumpkin. The only way I know how to do it is with "Patrick's" ring and pinion, but that is REALLY pricey. Cost about $1000.00 once you include all the installation parts and labor to have a qualified guy set it up. Andy
Being a 3/4 ton, you have the half open driveshaft. Just swap to a modern rear end and off you go. I beilieve the s10 4x4 rear end is a good swap, the newer Colorado may be 6 lug to match your current rims. You could go with a 5x 4 3/4 lug rear, (Camaro, monte carlo, etc.) then get a disc brake upgrade with 5x 4 3/4 hubs for the front. A complete front end rebuild will get the driving characteristics in line, just watch for bumpsteer when you hit potholes.
We just installed an IFS with air suspension we bought from Zig's Street Rod in a 52 GMC, and it went in very quick and easy. On my 46 Studebaker, I spliced a whole front end from a 78 Chevy Caprice onto the frame...it worked out very nice, and really fit surprisingly well, but it was definitely more work, and really didn't look as clean when we were all done as the IFS. We put a 4-link setup on the rear, with a 9" Ford rearend, I think it originally was in a 67 Mustang, and it's fitting up very nicely. The IFS's are available either with air or springs, and provide the modern suspension, steering, and brakes...hard to beat. Hope this helps- I can send pics if you're interested. Bought a ton of parts from Classic...they're very competitive on prices and excellent on service, but the Zigs front end was a little better deal for what I was looking for...
