Ok, Here's the set-up..... 1949 Chevy 2 door sedan. Stock frame, 1954 235 Blue Flame 6. Looking for the best options for rest of driveline. Wondering what rear end fits perfectly or real close and a ****** to fit up to the 235. I read that you can put a 48-62 truck bellhousing onto the 235 and give yourself some ****** options including an s10 5 speed with overdrive. True?? What about that with an s10 driveshaft and rear end? Any ideas appreciated.... I think the front end will be Mustang II. I have all the original front end, but think it may cost just as much anyways as I want to restore it and add disc brakes anyway... What do you think??? Thanks... <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________
you can use a 55-57 chevy rear end but you'll have to make some off-set lowering blocks...the pin on the leaf pack does not line up with the center of the housing, you'll have to move the new rear end back two inches to get the wheels centered in the wheel well...do you want to run a manual or auto trans?
Thinking Standard. Not sure how to go about this yet...... my rear I think is too low geared.... max out at 80mph sort of thing..... what did you do? Initually wanted to rebuild stock front end, but it looked like it may cost as much as a mustang II. Can you just change out the gears in my original rear end?
When I had the six in it, it was all stock...i didnt change the rear end until I put the 350/350 in it. I dont personally know anyone who has put a manual behind a 235, but I'm positive it can be done...I know a few people who have put a 350 auto behind one...but a manual would be a hell of alot cooler...I wish my Chevy still had a manual trans! I rebuilt the stock front end, and it's fine...but I will be gonig to a mustang II after I destroy this front end! I dont know about changing gears in your rear end, but I think that Patrick's might sell something for it. I tore up so many of those torque tube rear end that I would really consider a switch to open drive with a modern rear end!
What rear end do you have now behind the 350? Was the stock rear really bad gearing when you had it all stock? Patrick's????
I wish people would search, there must be 50 threads about this swap. Use an S10 T5, a $120 Buffalo Enterprises adapter plate, and your choice of 55-57 Chevy, 70-81 Camaro, 74-79 Nova, or S10 4x4 (not 2WD!) rearends, all will fit the stock springs with the pin relocated - or use Fatman's kit which comes with lowering blocks with offset holes so all you have to do is bolt it together. A Jag XJ6 IFS will also work under the front of these cars, you can probably buy a whole rotty Jag for the price of most MII kits -
Thanks!!! No alterations needed to any of these rear ends besides pin location??? I need new springs anyway. And why 4x4 only for the s10 rearend?? Is the s10 rear a good option? Just curious. I will check out this stuff on searches in the future...... sorry I'm new..... Thanks again.....
I went Jag IFS and 78 Camaro rear end in mine. If you are going to use the S10 rear you need to go for the 4x4 one as the 2wd is too wide. I have a 305TPI with 700R4 and I am using an Astro van driveshaft as its the perfect length with my setup. All I had to get was a conversion UJ to mate the drive shaft to the camaro pinion and Napa have that. Check out the link in my signature as it has the pics of the swap. I'm about to change the rear springs for a 4 bar setup for a bagged rear. Alex
The 2WD rearend is too narrow to fit. The year doesn't matter, they're pretty much all the same from 1982 to 1998 or whenever they switched to the Colorado. All of those rearends vary some in width from axle face to axle face, you need to know what you're going to run for rims and tires before you choose a rearend.
The s10 used several different T-5 transmissions. If you go to Inliners.org and click on the tech page,it will give you the link to the T-5 transmission page. That page gives you a year and engine configuration breakdown for s10 T-5s. You want a ****** with a .72 overdrive ratio. I've had both the .72 and the .86 and the .86 was pointless. It also helps to get an earlier trans with a mechanical speedo drive; your cable housing will thread right on. The later T-5s went to electronic. I've done this swap several times and never used an adapter plate. If you trim the throw-out bearing support shaft 3/4" the input shaft 1/2" and open the mounting holes on the trans case to 1/2" it's a bolt up affair. I just recently found someone making cross members for this swap that are bolt in. I'm not sure where I saw these but a search should bring something back.
The car bellhousing is a different pattern; Buffalo's adapter is made to both let you bolt to the 54 and earlier car bellhousing, so you don't have to mess with the rear motor mounts, and compensate for the difference in length on the input shaft. Again there is a long thread on this - 53 Chevy T5 open drive conversion, if you search for Chevy Open Drive you should get it to come up quick.
Still sounds like my best option is...... My '54 235...... the buffalo enterprises adapter...... An '85 or '86 2 wheel drive S10 t5 (because of the .72 overdrive in these years, and the mechanical speedo)...... and a 4x4 S10 Rear end (because of the narrower width)...... and maybe a S10 drive shaft too (which may need to be lengthened or shortened). Sound like all this is a good plan? <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
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