I have had my 1948 chevy for some time now and am ready to restore her. I was thinking of going original, but now leaning towards custom. I have rebuilt several vehicals but never done a restoration. I would like to do this as simple as possable, like placing the body and bed on a frame with motor, rear end, front end, etc. Is there a perfect fit for this project. Making her 4WD might even be an option. Any advice would be great.

There is no perfect fit. If you find something with the right wheelbase and track width, you'll still have to make body mounts and maybe even mess around with the floorboards for clearance..

If you want 4WD, there are two options that come to mind. I looked at the '70-'80s 1/2 ton 4WD and the front suspension could easily be made to fit. Seems to me it's all held in with leaf springs that could be moved over with a little work. It sits high, but that's OK since the front track width is a little wide.

I swapped a S-10 4x4 frame under mine. My reasoning is that I wanted to swap over to AWD with IFS and wheels that fit inside the wheel wells. I didn't need a heavy duty off-road system, either. But I got a digital dash, ABS, fuel injection and overdrive tranny with the deal too.

Check out <a href="http://www.usbodysource.com/Install%2047%20chevy.htm" target="_blank">US Body Source</a>

[ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: Stinkin_V8 ]</p>

I have heard the chevy S-10 extra cab are pretty close. I have seen a '55 on a '82 K-5 Blazor frame that looked pretty good. That 3/4 ton frame is pretty strong if you could find an orginal NAPCO 4-wheel conversion for it would be awsome. Good luck!

I'm not sure what the wheelbase of the 3/4 tons are, but the S-10 came in 100" 2dr Blazer, 107" regular cab, 118" long bed (reg. cab) and 124" extended cab. These are off the top of my head, verify the numbers before you go cutting anything.

We have a 54 on a 84 Chevy truck frame and body mounts were the hardest part, but they were not bad to do!

A couple things to keep in mind when considering a frame swap.

First: Although it might seem like you're going to save a lot of time and money, if you do it right, your not. You’ll still have to rebuild the front and rear suspension systems, brakes and possibly the steering as well. These are all things you would do if you update your stock frame with an IFS and new rear end anyway. After all if you’re going to do all that work you don’t want to ride around on 20 or 30 year old bushings and tie rod ends do you?

Second: There’s a lot of work involved in getting the sheet metal to sit right on a frame that isn't made for it. It's not just as simple as moving body mounts. Sometimes floors must be cut or other major mods done to get the body down where it belongs. I’m not saying this will always be the case but it does happen sometimes. And don't forget the front sheet metal. Aligning the fenders and hood can be a very frustrating job and require a lot of fabrication.

When it comes right down to it your not going to save much time or money by doing a frame swap, however in some situations it’s the best way to go. If your stock frame has been butchered by a previous owner or has damage from a major accident I would be the first to suggest a frame swap. But with today’s aftermarket producing most, if not all, the parts just about anyone needs to update an older frame (engine mounts, trans mounts, IFS systems, rear suspensions, brakes etc.) it’s sometimes cheaper and more labor efficient to just bolt this stuff on. The classifieds are full of unfinished projects for sale and for most of them its because the owner bit off more than he could chew. First rule of car building: Keep it simple. If you do you'll have a much greater chance of finishing your project, especially if its your first.

Good luck whichever way you go.

Centerline
<a href="http://www.HotRodsAndHemis.com" target="_blank">http://www.HotRodsAndHemis.com</a>

[ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: Centerline ]</p>

Listen to Centerline. He hit the nail on the head!

mADD, did you put your truck on a 2x or 4x frame? i just put mine on a 79 chevy long bed 4x and i had to section the frame 8 inches. my roomie was a ship builder and helped alot esp. w/the vertical welding. you would be looking at having about a 6 inch body lift. those frames just don't seem to fit any other way. there are 5 other trucks like this up here and they all look AWESOME-but...what else would i say?? the current issue of 4 wheel and off road mag shows a "two week" install of 4x4 running gear onto a stock frame. probably no harder that swapping frames, took me 16 month w/o a garage. but i got to totlally refurbish the old frame before i even had to take the cab off my truck, which was great. now my truck has P.B., P.S., disc fronts all from the donor. (i added rear discs) as well as the donor tilt column, better (ha!) 4 sp. tranny. and all new everything. total cost:9 grand plus. and it still aint painted but 1 G of that was body work(going on another one w/my new hood)to replace cab corners and a door hinge.

Bull, it was on a 2X frame that had a deisel motor. I don't know if that makes any diference.

What did you do for running board mounts and bumper brackets I am finding that this is harder then the body mounts For body mounts I used the body mounts off a full size 1980 gmc they are bolted on . So I un bolted them and welded them in place on my S-10 frame , I also removed 2' 1/2" off the regular cab frame.My truck is a 1949 Have you put a rad in yet ?And bolted the front clip,For the gas tank I used a S-10 blazzer tank and mounted it behind the rear end in the middle so the weight is not all to the left side .Like to here some idea from you thanks, Mike.

This is a very old thread and Madd Syntst has not been around since Sept. 06. Perhaps others who have done this can give you a hand.

In the mean time check out this link:

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/s-1...cks-104880.html

And this one to a F1 swap by Lakota a member on this site.

http://www.geocities.com/lakota_circle_dancer/swap1