Thread: My rusty/ratty 48 chevy truck build (w/ pics)

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I'm putting a 48 chevy flatbed truck on a 91 S-10 frame (w/ 79 camaro rear end)

Here is the way the truck sits now. Wheels are 20" Centerlines.


Here are my crazy assed headers. Building these things was a royal pain in the ass!


The brake booster complicated things.


The rear tube couldn't go up and over due to the column and the booster..........so it goes DOWN and makes a full loop before joining up with the other tubes!


I am not 100% on running the seats out of the jaguar xjs donor.


We recycled the original column and wheel. Not 100% sure what is going to happen with the dash either. S-10 pedal assy has been cleaned up, trans tunnel started, floors started


I'm proud of my column drop. Pedal assembly welds will get finished when it comes time to paint. From the driver seat, you cant see the bracket that holds the pedal.


Dad's dog checkin' stuff out.


Do all AD hoods stand up like this?

Man I love these old trucks I've had 4 or 5

Theres a guy who comes too one of our local cruise-ins, that has an old truck like that, really nice, he used the s-10 bed, but put the original fenders on it, it looks really good

I have no plans on doing a frame swap but I see people talking about it all the time. How does the frame swap its self look? And if you say it looks like it was easy, that could be more of a testament to how skilled the swapper was.

More to the point is just how hard was it?

1. But does it take a lot of mods to the frame?
2. How about the body?
3. The rad support and inner fenders?
4. I assume the motor needed new mounts, is it moved back from the stock S-10 location?

I am curious as hell being most frame swaps are just a mess. There are WAY more mods needed than most people would think.

Brian

By the way, again I find myself looking at your location as much as the truck. I grew up where I could go out in the back or front yard and fire off a gun without a problem. That same piece of property now has about a hundred homes on it. The city has grown from about 20k when I was born to about 225k! Man do I miss that kind of life.

Brian

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

By the way, again I find myself looking at your location as much as the truck. I grew up where I could go out in the back or front yard and fire off a gun without a problem. That same piece of property now has about a hundred homes on it. The city has grown from about 20k when I was born to about 225k! Man do I miss that kind of life.

Brian

Can't exactly fire a gun off at my dad's house. He lives in one of those subdivisions with 4 to 10 acre lots. But it is a really cool, peaceful place to get creative.

Whoa there, how about the questions on the frame swap?

Brian

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

By the way, again I find myself looking at your location as much as the truck. I grew up where I could go out in the back or front yard and fire off a gun without a problem. That same piece of property now has about a hundred homes on it. The city has grown from about 20k when I was born to about 225k! Man do I miss that kind of life.

Brian

I know what you mean, I am from a Small town in Idaho(pop. 3000.) I used to go shooting in my back yard when I was younger too, but now it's so crammed, I have had the cops called on me for firin' up my straight piped 327 in my own garage in the middle of the day. fortunatley the cops were cool and just came by and talked cars.

By the way, those headers are Bitchin'

I spent a week at a farm in Heyburn (about 50 miles southwest of you) when I was 12, what a great place. I wonder what it is like now?

Brian

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

I have no plans on doing a frame swap but I see people talking about it all the time. How does the frame swap its self look? It looks like it was supposed to done like thatAnd if you say it looks like it was easy, that could be more of a testament to how skilled the swapper was.

More to the point is just how hard was it?

1. But does it take a lot of mods to the frame?
If you use a std cab/long bed it is basically the same length as a 1/2 chevy. I used an ext cab truck which is too long for a 1/2 ton, but since my truck was a 3/4 ton flatbed, it works just fine as is.

I cut off all of the S-10 body mounts and fabbed new ones out of 2x3".

I also clearanced the crossmember so that I can run a mechanical fuel pump

2. How about the body?
I think it can be done without cutting the stock floor. My cab was in bad shape so I installed a 1x2 subframe (along with 1/8" reinforcent plates welded to stock sheetmetal)

3. The rad support and inner fenders?
Inner fenders are trimmed for frame and A-arm clearance. So is the rad support. brackets attached to outside of rad core for securing front clip to frame.

4. I assume the motor needed new mounts, is it moved back from the stock S-10 location?
I used some camaro mounts that I had laying around. I extended my front crossmember rearward so that it still had a factory appearance with the engine location moved back. I also fabbed a new trans crossmember that bolted in the factory frame holes

I am curious as hell being most frame swaps are just a mess. There are WAY more mods needed than most people would think.
It would have been a big project no matter what. Even thogh this is a rat, it is awell built truck.

Brian

I have added my comments in bold

Thanks a lot. It sounds like you are an above average builder. Do you think this is something most guys could do?

Do you have any photos of the body and rad support mounts? I would LOVE to see some of the things you did to use that frame. You have got me thinking........

I plan on running an inline six with a five speed and have a "New original frame" I was planning on buying. I now have an original frame with a 79 Camaro front clip and I am just not happy with how wide it is and the over all "placenta" look.

Brian

I really like how narrow the S-10 is. My wheels are tucked under the fender something like 6 inches! I can turn my 20's all the way without hitting the fenders.

I guess its time for an update and the most recent pics.

I wasn't real happy with previous seating attempts, so I built the seat.

I used sheetmetal to form the seat back and seat bottom..


There is a steel subframe under the seat bottom to help carry my fat ass.


The seat back and bottoms are contoured more like a modern seat and will be padded with a couple of inches of foam. (This is just the first layer. Bottom layers are gonna be dense, top layers something more cushy)


Doing the seat like this gains a bunch of interior space over the stock set-up. My seat back sheetmetal actually touches the back of the cab. I will sit 3-4 inches lower and about 5-6 inches farther back.

I padded the back with 2 inches of foam and the bottom with about six inches. Then covered it all in black vinyl (no sewing)

Here is the finished seat. Glad its vinyl.....rust dust comes from everywhere.



Here's my dad trying it out (while making motor noises)



Workin' on the flatbed now.


The front bumper is just mocked up for the pic.





Sitting next to a stocker with flat tires. This is the next project. Its gonna be painted.

I put some more time in on it this weekend. I got the gas tank mounted.

It is a 2005 S-10 blazer tank (plastic tank...no rust flakes to deal with). It don't look like all that hard of a job, but it sure ate up the time. The filler neck is hidden under the edge of the bed.







I also got the boards cut the go under the flatbed. I didn't like being able to see through the truck (under the flatbed)

I know you still have a lotta work left, but you have gotten a lot done. I really like those wheels. They look perfect for that truck.

Jack