Bud, I applaud you for deciding to attempt one of the most rewarding hot rodding projects in the hobby. I have done many of them and have been more than satisfied every time. If you take your time and read instructions well, you can complete this operation for very little money.
Things like positioning the wheel/tire in the center of the wheelwell where it looks right, as well as raising the entire front clip up in relation to the recipient frame before welding the two of them together will go a long way in setting the rake where you want it without having to resort to stupid stuff like cutting coils or installing lowered spindles. I have written out quite a lot of this and recorded it in the Hot Rodders wiki. I will try to find links to all of it for you........
https://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Frame_swaps
Do your research and find a car or truck that has a front track (centerline to centerline of the two front wheels) that is very close to your Olds. A '50 Olds had a 57 inch front track, not sure about other years.
Here is an S-10 frame swap that was written by, I think, Cobalt327 and then added to by other writers, just like most of my contributions.
https://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/S-10_frame_swaps
The S10 works well, however the steering box is out front and some fellows find that it looks a little clunky on a car other than the S10. Whatever you do, DO NOT shorten a clip to make the track narrower. This will wreck the front suspension geometry and produce an evil-handling beast. Speaking of wreck, have a front-end technician put his seal of approval on the alignment of all your parts before beginning your project.
Some other useful info......
https://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Wheelbase_database
https://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/Wheelbase,_track_width,_and_differential_measurements
Please read through all the links I have provided here, then if you have a question, ask it here or send me a Personal Message.
I have found it helpful in the past (when I first began doing clip swaps and frame swaps) to purchase plastic kits, 1/25 scale of each of the players in the swap and then cut and glue plastic together until I get to a satisfactory conclusion. Having a 4" or 6" dial caliper can be very helpful. You can measure the kit components and then multiply times 25 to find the "real world" measurement of the part or parts you are modifying.
There is one thing that I would not do, and that is to use aftermarket crap with a production front clip. If, for instance, I wanted to use a '76 to '80 Ford Mustang 2 front clip, I would use it like it came from the factory, with the long diagonal brace for the bottom control arm. I would study the angles of the long bar and how it was connected to the car in the rear of the bar. Most guys don't use the diagonal bar, instead opting for aftermarket bottom control arms that I find inferior for the purpose of controlling the car at speed. Ford Motor Company designed a simple and effective bottom control arm system that worked really well. Don't throw it out in favor of an inferior design made up by some yahoo in a mortgaged shop. Just letting off a little steam Bud. HAHAHAHAHA.
Richard is my name, although most of the fellows here call me "tech".
