Need help:S-10 frame swap on a 49

[The Big Green]

I have dial-up or I would do a search, but it takes forever...lol. I just wanted to know how hard and what years can be used for something like this. It would be nice to have all the newer things like disk brakes and the 4.3 engine,if it can be done. I have a 350/400t out of my 67 Chevy that I can use, I wanted back stock in my 67 so it can pull my 01 dakota race truck. I'm just wondering just incase I wanted to. Any help would be great.

[mariojb]

A good post showing the swap manually
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=8491

A company that offers a kit
http://www.ad-engineering.com/

[The Big Green]

Thanks alot man, that tread is very helpful. I like the S-10 swap but I don't know how easy the frame will be to track down. I would really like that swap though and just drop in a 350 and headers made for the S-10, 1949 Chevy good looks and ride of a newer S-10...lol.

[Lrall]

thats what im doin, 350TBI auto trans....its gonna be sweet. We did have the s10 before hand though. You want a regular cab, long box s10. Any year will work, check out the a-d engineering website, they have alot of good info on there....the kit kicks ass too

[The Big Green]

I didn't get the page to come up, my be that I'm on dail-up and its to big to load. What comes in the kit and how much is it? I thought about a ls1 but I really like the sound of horsepower and the ls1 just doesn't cut it..lol. I like the sound of a high compression engine or the sound of gravel flying from the lope of duration of the cam.

[Lrall]

The kid comes w/ rad supports, cab mounts, bed cross-members, rear bed supports, running board supports and detailed instructions. It was suuuper easy to install. 1200 was the cost and well worth it imho. Im not the one to ask about horsepower but....ls1 and not enough horsepower? lol. I like the AD kit for a couple reasons. 1. you dont have to chop up the cab or weld a bunch of stuff onto it. 2. the mounts you weld(or bolt) to the frame are lazer cut and unbelievable quality. 3. the mounts are stock style(not the weird bars running the width of the cab) and use s10 bushings. 4 and finally. the instructions and locations for mounting the mounts are really really good and easy to do, the give you measurements from stock frame holes and go from there. On earlier AD trucks(47 48 and early 49 i think) you have to drill the rear mounts out but the front 40's mounts are used(which i LOVE) If you have a later AD then it uses all 4 mounts....the stupid torsion mount my truck has cant be used obviously. you throw a 4wd rear end in and spacers up front and your golden. Ill be mounting my cab next week so ill update my thread....

[The Big Green]

Thanks for your help, if I can find a S-10 frame Im sold on that kit...lol...I'll pay just about any price for an easy to do and bolt on kit. I'll check up on your tread

[Lrall]

Originally Posted by The Big Green

Thanks for your help, if I can find a S-10 frame Im sold on that kit...lol...I'll pay just about any price for an easy to do and bolt on kit. I'll check up on your tread

Go for the kit, its the best way imo. The reg cab long box s10s shouldnt be TOO hard to find as many of them have been work trucks and whatnot. Even if you find one that has been beat to hell it doesnt really matter. I found out i had a lower control arm bent, $34 junkyard replacement and you'd never know the difference. We kept the lines in the frame and used the same brakes, but EVERYTHING has been/is rebuilt. All new suspension tie rods, shocks, etc etc. It was like 400 bucks to do it all including a rear end and fluids. the brakes are easy to do also, just remove the MC from the s10, then take the booster and the gold colored bracket and reposition it in the new cab, drill 5 holes and you have brakes. Im not done but any questions you have feel free to ask

[54 jimmy]

look into www.e-zchassisswaps.com their kit comes with every thing. no exras to buy like trans,engine,front bumper,rear bumper mounts like the ad kit. bought the ad kit and wish i'd got the e-z kit. it just looks more thought out and is the same price and you get more with the ez kit. just something to think about.

[Lrall]

Originally Posted by 54 jimmy

look into www.e-zchassisswaps.com their kit comes with every thing. no exras to buy like trans,engine,front bumper,rear bumper mounts like the ad kit. bought the ad kit and wish i'd got the e-z kit. it just looks more thought out and is the same price and you get more with the ez kit. just something to think about.

No offense bro but that kit looks like garbage. I hate the way they mount the cab and how for the front bumper supports and rad support they just cover it up with a big chunk of metal, doesnt look clean to me. But to each his own, I went w/ AD and couldnt be happier, why worry about the bumper mounts when you can just use the stock 40/50's bumper mounts and bolt those to the frame? As for trans and motor mounts, we'll be making a trans mount for ours, that way i KNOW it will be right and the length and drop will be what i need, and we spent like 100 max on motor mounts. Thats including brand new s10 motor mounts. Sooo 1300 for ad kit and some fab versus the 1700 or whatever that other kit is? The other thing about the bar setup on the ez chassis swap is that if you go lower or have a trans you have to re-do the mounts because of the trans....they already make a bend in their kit...i dont like it. But ill quit now, do whatever!!

[tcb-1]

just welcomed in a new member who's daily driver is a 49 on an S-10 frame. Seems to know his stuff. check him out, his username is 49S10.

[Lrall]

true. i think either way its a badass setup, there are soo many advantages to doing this...disc brakes, yada yada

[49S10]

I hope this doesn't show up twice. I thought I had posted a reply but it hasn't shown up in two hours so I'll try again.

I have had good luck purchasing S10 pickups and 4WD Blazers off Craigslist so you might give it a try if you have it in your area. I've bought a reg cab/long bed for $150 and a damaged Blazer for $250. I wanted the Blazer for the 4WD rearend, the front and rear sway bars and the master cylinder/booster. And it gives me a spare steering box and larger rotors (I think). Then I get some money back when I haul what I can't use to the recycler.

I used the AD Engr. kit but built my own motor mounts because I wanted the engine higher than the S10 conversion allows. I also wanted a lower truck than the kit is setup for so I used dropped spindles and rear lowering springs. The AD kit is setup high enough so you don't have to do any firewall modification for an automatic tranny. I used a 350/700R combo to get good highway cruising rpm's. I've driven the pickup to Minnesota and Arizona from Kansas at 70-75 mph and it was great. I also added creature comforts (an old guy necessity) such as AC. Of course the S10 has power brakes and steering. I used an after market booster and master cylinder at first but didn't like the way it acted so I changed to the S10 booster/MC and the brakes work great.

I have a couple other pickups that I will probably put on S10's. Will probably build my own brackets if I have time or if not, then use either the AD Kit again or look at the EZ kit. Not sure I want everything that comes in the EZ kit and will have to see if they will sell just the pieces I want.

I also opted to use an aftermarket 2 pass aluminum radiator and spent a few hours setting it up with a 90's Cadillac electric fan. Let me know if I can be of any help to you Big Green.

[Lrall]

Originally Posted by 49S10

I hope this doesn't show up twice. I thought I had posted a reply but it hasn't shown up in two hours so I'll try again.

I have had good luck purchasing S10 pickups and 4WD Blazers off Craigslist so you might give it a try if you have it in your area. I've bought a reg cab/long bed for $150 and a damaged Blazer for $250. I wanted the Blazer for the 4WD rearend, the front and rear sway bars and the master cylinder/booster. And it gives me a spare steering box and larger rotors (I think). Then I get some money back when I haul what I can't use to the recycler.

I used the AD Engr. kit but built my own motor mounts because I wanted the engine higher than the S10 conversion allows. I also wanted a lower truck than the kit is setup for so I used dropped spindles and rear lowering springs. The AD kit is setup high enough so you don't have to do any firewall modification for an automatic tranny. I used a 350/700R combo to get good highway cruising rpm's. I've driven the pickup to Minnesota and Arizona from Kansas at 70-75 mph and it was great. I also added creature comforts (an old guy necessity) such as AC. Of course the S10 has power brakes and steering. I used an after market booster and master cylinder at first but didn't like the way it acted so I changed to the S10 booster/MC and the brakes work great.

I have a couple other pickups that I will probably put on S10's. Will probably build my own brackets if I have time or if not, then use either the AD Kit again or look at the EZ kit. Not sure I want everything that comes in the EZ kit and will have to see if they will sell just the pieces I want.

I also opted to use an aftermarket 2 pass aluminum radiator and spent a few hours setting it up with a 90's Cadillac electric fan. Let me know if I can be of any help to you Big Green.

^^you dont know how many times i have looked at your truck on the AD website, how is the 2/3 drop? low enough or not really?

[49S10]

Lrall-

The 2/3 drop is fine for a daily driver. at least for me.

[Willyd88]

I am new on here and have read the previous posts. I have a 49 and have heard of the S-10 chasis modification. I want to do it, what is the best year of S-10 to get, and what kits may I need to purchase? Also I was going to get the painless wiring kit for this, should I just use what comes with a whipped out S-10? If you guys could just put in steps for me it would be alot easier for me to understand. Thanks for your help.

[49S10]

Willyd88-

There are two companies I am aware of that make a kit to put the AD Chevy pickups on the S10 chassis. They are AD Engineering in California and E-Z Chassis Swap in Minnesota. Each takes a little different approach. AD Engineering makes a basic kit and you use aftermarket items such as steering column, brake pedal assembly, wiring, etc. E-Z tailors their kit to use as much of the S10 as possible and suggest purchasing a complete S10 to minimize purchasing aftermarket items. Both are well engineered kits. You can also make your own brackets for mounting the cab, bed, and running boards but you need to be a fairly good fabricator/welder.

The S10 with the correct wheel base (118") is the regular cab/long bed model. Do a "google"search on AD Engineering and E-Z Chassis Swap and you should get their websites that provide additional information.

Let me know if you need additional information.