I'm looking for info on swapping a S10 frame for my 41 ford 2 door sedan. My 41 ford frame is completely trashed. The car was dragged raced and is heavily chopped up. Add 60 years of rust and its time for a new frame. I have an Long bed S10 & an extended cab S10 at my disposal. Does anyone know if there is any info out there on this swap???
This car is not a beater but I'm also not made of money. The S10 frame swaps looks like the best option for me. Can anyone guide me on this one??
There been a lot of write ups on this subject. Do a search on S-10 swaps.
I am putting a 46 Chev pickup on a S-10 frame right now. It's a lot of work, and fabrication. There are a lot of variables to consider.
one is steering linkage, then there is the frame width, lenght, ride height, wheel width, Brake system, engine/transmission fit and numerous others.
I'm looking for info on swapping a S10 frame for my 41 ford 2 door sedan. My 41 ford frame is completely trashed. The car was dragged raced and is heavily chopped up. Add 60 years of rust and its time for a new frame. I have an Long bed S10 & an extended cab S10 at my disposal. Does anyone know if there is any info out there on this swap???
This car is not a beater but I'm also not made of money. The S10 frame swaps looks like the best option for me. Can anyone guide me on this one??
thanks for the info guys. I just ordered an S10 long bed from the local boneyard. I hope to pick it up by Friday. My next question is Wheelbase. I searched the net and I keep finding the wheelbase for a 41 ford to be 114" or 116". I have a 2 door sedan. Does anyone know the wheelbase? At 116" I shouldn't have to cut the S10 frame. 2 inches will be absorbed. If its 114" I might need to cut the frame as 4" may be a lot to absorb. Any opinions on this?
I'm looking for info on swapping a S10 frame for my 41 ford 2 door sedan. My 41 ford frame is completely trashed. The car was dragged raced and is heavily chopped up. Add 60 years of rust and its time for a new frame. I have an Long bed S10 & an extended cab S10 at my disposal. Does anyone know if there is any info out there on this swap???
This car is not a beater but I'm also not made of money. The S10 frame swaps looks like the best option for me. Can anyone guide me on this one??
It would be neat if you could start a project journal with pics marking your progress as you go. Of coarse, I have an ulterior motive. I too am about to start on a 41...maybe this summer while I'm working on my truck. For my dad.
I'm no expert with cars or computers but I was thinking of taking alot of photos. I'll see what I can do about posting my progress.
Right now I'm still trying to figure out the wheelbase issue. It looks like the wheelbase is indeed 114". My question now is does the 118" S10 frame need to be cut or will the wheel wells eat that up?
I'm no expert with cars or computers but I was thinking of taking alot of photos. I'll see what I can do about posting my progress.
Right now I'm still trying to figure out the wheelbase issue. It looks like the wheelbase is indeed 114". My question now is does the 118" S10 frame need to be cut or will the wheel wells eat that up?
I've been under mine a few times. There is definitely a lot of room to spare, but I would worry about the front wheels being too far forward. They really should be as close to center in the wheel openings as possible. Just my opinion. It depends on what your going to do with it. A gasser would look okay with the wheels forward, because the front end is up in the sky anyway. I moved the wheels forward on my 36 but it has open fenders so it really doesnt look odd. You could always find a point on the frame that could be sectioned. I assume that you wont have issues with metallurgy due to the year? I was told the new hydraformed frames don't like to be welded on. That....I really don't know. You'd have to talk to someone that knows more about frame work. There tons of folks on here that have done some real neat stuff. Good luck on that project!
I'm no expert with cars or computers but I was thinking of taking alot of photos. I'll see what I can do about posting my progress.
Right now I'm still trying to figure out the wheelbase issue. It looks like the wheelbase is indeed 114". My question now is does the 118" S10 frame need to be cut or will the wheel wells eat that up?
changing the wheelbase is easy. all you have to do is cut the frame at the weld spot like the factory does. you'll want to get a rear end out of a 4x4 S-10, because it is about 2" wider. I can't find the article right now, but I have seen this done on `41 2 dr sedan in that article. when I find it I'll posted it here.
Thanks! looks like i'll be cutting this frame. i've seen it done a few times and I feel pretty good about cutting and welding. Do you guys think a cut to 114" would be alright? I know some cars in the 40s had their front wheels forward of the center line.
what's the best way to make sure everything stays square?
As for a rear end, my 41 came with a 57 merc 9" rear. It has very early ladder bars welded to it. I plan on using this housing as fit very well width wise.
47coupelg: Thanks! I'd appreciate that article's info if you can find it..
Hello 41ford1 and all, I have a magazine article that covers a lot of what we ( I have a 41 also) need to know. I can send a copy of the pages with info if anyone is interested.
Mike
Hello 41ford1 and all, I have a magazine article that covers a lot of what we ( I have a 41 also) need to know. I can send a copy of the pages with info if anyone is interested.
Mike
I have said it over and over, a "frame swap" should be called a "Money swap, time swap or work swap" because it saves you NOTHING and only gives you a car with the "wrong" frame under it.
Those frames aren't hard to find. Are you going to find one in ten minutes on ebay and Craigs list, no. But just a little searching and you will find the RIGHT frame for that car.
The 41 Ford is a special car, not many were built (those pesky Japanese messed up everything) keep it with the right frame.
I'm looking for info on swapping a S10 frame for my 41 ford 2 door sedan. My 41 ford frame is completely trashed. The car was dragged raced and is heavily chopped up. Add 60 years of rust and its time for a new frame. I have an Long bed S10 & an extended cab S10 at my disposal. Does anyone know if there is any info out there on this swap???
This car is not a beater but I'm also not made of money. The S10 frame swaps looks like the best option for me. Can anyone guide me on this one??
It can be done and is a pretty easy swap, but there is a lot more to it than just setting the body down on the S-10 chassis. I used an 84' extended cab chassis for my 2dr sedan swap and it worked out pretty neat. I did't cut and splice the frame, Instead I bobbed some off both the front and rear of the frame so it would fit underneath the body and then moved the rear spring hangers forward about three inches on the S-10 frame. I had to rebuild the trans tunnel and cut some notches in the rear floor pan just before the seat riser so the body would clear the kick up in the chassis.
I used the S-10 rearend, but tubbed the inner fenders to clear the wide tires a little better. You could use a different wheel with a shorter backspace if you wanted to avoid the tubs. I also used 2" lowering blocks on the rear axle to get it to set right.
The most aggravating part of the swap to me was trying to find a radiator that would cool the 350 engine and fit in the small area in front of the engine. The steering box is right in the way and takes up a lot of space needed for the radiator. After trying several different radiators I ended up buying a universal aluminum one and it does a pretty good job.
I don't have any pictures of the build, because I started this project several years ago, before I knew haw to work a digital camera or turn on a computer, but if I can help in any way just let me know.
In other words you spent a LOT of time to get that frame under there! It was a "Time swap" or "work swap" or "Money swap". It sure didn't save any work, time or money! So why not just make an original work?
The 41 Ford frame is the same from 41-48 ALL body styles, coupes, fourdoors two doors , it don't matter, they are all the same. Look a little while and you will find one.
I have also done a 54' chevy pickup for a daily driver recently and considered doing a clip or an S-10 frame swap on it. I ended up building my own Mustang II crossmember and used original suspension parts from a junked car, after I replaced all the ball joints and bushings.
The Mustang II was a whole lot easier than the S-10 frame swap would have been on the pickup and I love the way it rides and handles. I did take some pictures of it while it was in progress and posted them in my journal.
I guess it depends a lot on how much cash a guy has to spend on the project at the start up. But in the long run you will usually spend much more on a frame swap that you think you would and it is usually a lot more time consuming than a clip or a Mustang II suspension would be.
But in the long run you will usually spend much more on a frame swap that you think you would and it is usually a lot more time consuming than a clip or a Mustang II suspension would be.
It is just as easy to build a whole new frame... You will do a lot of work making one fit , and it won't look right... I wouldn't think twice about building a new one.. And if you plan it right,, You can get very creative with a new one.. Then you will be very proud when someone look's under it...
I can't imagine how much time and money a person with possibly limited fab skills will burn up doing the project. By the time you are done, you have a mish mash of parts that might look just fine. Of course, when you get stumped, run out of money or time, you can put it in a swap meet in the line of other aborted projects and return about 25% of your hard earned cash back. I see them at every swap meet.
(Brian, the '42's were the ones in short supply, there were quite a few '41's as WW2 began after Dec 7, 1941)
42's are super rare, but the 41 pretty hard to find too. Maybe because the 46-48 look so similar, maybe a 46 is just as rare as a 41 and I don't notice because I am seeing so many 46-48. But a 41, you just don't see them very often.
All I know is, cutting up the inner fenders is just one thing that would stop me from the frame or even front clip swap. I had done a clip swap on my pickup, it looked pretty darn nice if I must say so myself. I traded the frame for a stock one and that is what I am building now. I still haven't replaced the inner fenders, and the sad part is, the friggin inner fenders were from my original pink slip, one of the few parts that haven't been changed over the years. What a dumb ars I was for cutting them!
Another angle to this is why do I want a car that drives and rides like the car I drive everyday? I WANT my Sunday driver to drive a little different.
Hell, I am so sick of late model stuff my daily driver is going to drive like my Sunday driver soon.
When I think of how nice my co-workers 50 Chevy pickup drives with a dropped axle and smooth little 235 six and a three speed, why in the world would I want anything different?
When I think of my brothers 39 Ford with a dropped axle and how nice it drove, why in the hell would I want to swap frames in that 41?
And that is with all stock brakes (well Lincoln brakes on the front). It ran 13's in the quarter and drove like a dream. Did it handle and stop like a friggin Corvette, no, but if he wanted a Corvette he would have built one.
And now, with all the hot stuff they have like Posi springs and bolt on brake kits and the like, heck, just update what you want on the original frame.
Brian
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