what would you do - hypothetically of course lol (engine swap)

[neverwinter]

hey all,

my progress has slowed a lot on my 63 C10 for a couple reasons. the most important of which is that my wife is due Mon Oct 24th with our second child - our first boy! - and so obv that takes utmost priority. I havent jumped into taking the stock crossmember out of the 63 as of yet because i'd hate to leave the project in various stages of disassembly.

anyway the second consideration is: to replace the engine or not. I have been reading that doing the crossmember swap is much easier to do with the engine out. If thats the case it seems silly to take the tired 283 out and drop it back in. The 283 needs exhaust as it is and could prob benefit from a carb and an intake. it has about 85k miles on it. A rebuild seems silly when the GM 260 is 1600 shipped and drop in.

my intention was to get a cool old truck i could drive as-is. that idea went bye bye when i learned all the brakes etc were shot. The engine bucks and coughs and stalls but when i had it running i did get up to 50 mph or so. so now that i spent another 1k on the new wheels tires, crossmember, etc etc part of me is thinking that for another 2k id have a great old style truck with a new engine, better rear axle ratio from the 79, disks in front, better suspension, and nearly brand new Tq Thrust wheels and tires.

i can find the cash to do it. just not sure how wise it is. thing is i want a truck that i can cruise hiway comfortable (not 100 mph but i want to be safe at 60-70). id like to keep my manual 4 speed but wonder if the old manual trans would be a detriment to the engine or the top speed?

any thoughts?>

[Rich 5150 69]

Your truck will be what ever you make it...you could poss change over to a 7004r...but thats personel opinion.....I`ve been driving mine dailey sinse `93, my neighbor bought his new, `63.... still drives it,,,, it just depends on whether you want to drive a shopping cart like eveyone else....

[Clyde65]

Why take the entire cross member out? just put the a-arms and spindle with dics' on there and leave the cross member. also the 700 would work nicely with the 283.

[neverwinter]

i am also upgrading to power steering so i was told the best way is to simply swap everything from the 79 to the 63. perhaps i am incorrect?

[Rich 5150 69]

Correct, but you will need the REZ kit to mount the steering box, or build your own.

[neverwinter]

yep got that from Captain fab. also got the rear axle conversion kit from CPP to use the 79 rear end. so it does seem that its easiest to use the whole crossmember then?

[ChuckW]

I had a tired 283 in my 66 C10 also... Just dropped in a built 350 cid with a set of Hedmans. I've kept the stock "granny" 4 sp. The combo worked great on the Hwy with the 283. Should be just as good if not better with the 350!??? (411 axle btw)
Good luck. She's yours to play with!!! Have some fun.
AND Congrats on the 1st boy!!!

[rbar]

Then there's the question of keeping the original engine and rebuild it. It's all personal preference, but I like it when they have original V8s and you might be able to do it for something close to buying another. Mine wasn't original so I turned it into a 385 stroker, but if I had a 283 I would have considered rebuilding it. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
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[markeb01]

Originally Posted by neverwinter

hey all,

I have been reading that doing the crossmember swap is much easier to do with the engine out. If thats the case it seems silly to take the tired 283 out and drop it back in.

For what it’s worth, it’s not all that hard to swap out the complete crossmember with the engine in place. It just needs to be supported during the operation. I’ve read where others have used a hoist to lift the engine. I simply parked the engine on top of the frame rails by bolting lengths of scrap frame rail to the old 55 Chevy engine mount holes on the front of the block. The other end rested on top of the frame on each side. This rigidly held the engine in place while the suspension was swapped out. The only issues I ran into were dealing with the 18 degree (and below) temperatures at the time.

I’ll admit it would have been marginally easier with the engine out, but I only wanted to deal with one project at a time, and this approach eliminated a lot of extra work and left me with a functioning vehicle once the wheels went back on.