50 3100 on s-10 drivetrain plan

[ejn74]

This project will be extremely slow as there is almost no money to put in it for the foreseeable future. The pickup is a 1950 Chevy 3100 that has been sitting for about 32 years. I remember riding in it when I was about 4 yrs old the last time it ran. My father is the third owner. The first was a lady that lived only a few miles from where it sits now. The second was her son-in-law. The plan is to drop the body on a 86 s-10 frame.

[ejn74]

The idea is to leave the body as is other than replace the right front fender. From my understanding the original owner was not the best driver and ran into a lot of things on the farm hens all the damage that is on it other than the damage done by the mice and time from sitting so long

[ejn74]

Here are some pictures of the drive-train donor a few show the three generations that will be involved in the project to put this truck back on the road. There are only 45487 miles on the truck.

[ejn74]

Here are some more.

[mr48chev]

I can relate to the no money slow moving projects pretty well. That is one of most severe cases of drive by ear that I have seen in a long time. There is a farmer/rancher around this area who is well known for beating up his trucks by opening gates with the fenders. He has a year old truck that looks like an oil field beater.

I'd look that S-10 frame over pretty close as it may be in worse shape than the frame that is under the 50 the way the body is rusted out.

[ejn74]

From what I could tell when picking it up the body is the worst part of the s-10, po said it ran good when he stopped driving it. I know that a 2.8l 4 cyclinder 4x4 s-10 isn't the most ideal engine for a power plant the price was right, so it will have to do for now. The goal is to get the truck back on the road on an extremely small budget.

[ejn74]

Is the bolt pattern on a 5 x 4.75? I may try to use the original rims if it is.

[ejn74]

Originally Posted by ejn74

Is the bolt pattern on a 5 x 4.75? I may try to use the original rims if it is.

I meant to ask if the pattern on the 50 is 5 x4.75?

[Kabwe]

Looks like the fun is about to begin. Good luck with your project and the truck has a cool history.

[samdjr74]

Not sure on the bolt pattern but the s-10 has a nasty offset that limits youre whell choices, it's only on the 4x4 models. I've owned a few of the s10 blazers and finding a set of rims that don't stick out past the fenders was always a challenge. It might not be the case for you as I think the fenders on the 50 stick out much further then the s10.

Originally Posted by ejn74

I meant to ask if the pattern on the 50 is 5 x4.75?

[ejn74]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Looks like the fun is about to begin. Good luck with your project and the truck as a cool history.

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Thanks, I just thought that i would post some things now that the drive train is in the same location. Going to continue to gather info and materials and someday get it on the road again. By the way your truck is looking Awesome!

[Kabwe]

Thanks for the comments on my project and keep the pics coming because I love looking at project. So keep us posted.

[mr48chev]

The stock S-10 wheels will sit too far inside the wheel wells to look right. Most of the guys run spacers to move the wheels out but wider or deeper rims should help. Maybe some old yard sale chrome reverse wheels that you clean up and paint if you want steelies.

[ejn74]

I know the wheels of the s-10 will not work. I am wondering about the original ones from the 50 working on the s-10 axles. I would like to not have to run spacers but may not have a choice

[BlueJeep]

You won't have to run spacers because it's a 4wd, and it's a lot wider than the 2wd. The difference is in the offset of the wheels, the stock 4wd has a lot of offset to make it roughly the same as the 2wd with normal offset. You'll be able to use normal offset wheels on the 4wd with no spacers. Mine has a 4wd rear axle with 2wd s10 wheels and a 1" spacer...but different wheels would have prevented the need for the spacer. Wheel tubs would have also prevented the need for a spacer.

[sixty8c10]

If I remember correctly, I may be wrong, but I think the wheels on the 3100 are six-lug. Which will require an adapter/ spacer to put on the S10's axles. Just a tidbit of info though, the wheels from a late 40's early 50's chevy car are 5x 4.75 and will hold the truck's factory hubcaps.

[mr48chev]

The wheels on the 3100 are indeed 6 lug wheels unless someone has changed it to car brakes and axle and I rather doubt that it was done. It should be easy enough to change to regular 15 inch steel wheels though.