Hey guys, a little help if ya can. Has anyone done a frame swap on a 55nd-59 Chevy stepside truck before? I have a 57 and I want to swap out ch***is with a 81 Chevy stepside but I wanted to know how close of a fit it will be and how hard it is to do. I want to upgrade my 57 with power sterring and disc brakes and I thought it would be easier to just take my cab and bed off of my 57 and mount it on the 81 chasiss because I wanted to avoid having to take off all the suspension stuff on the 81 and put on the 57. Any thoughts on this, which way should I go, and whats the easiest way? Thanks!
Actually, a second gen Camaro/Firebird is a real nice front clip for these. I do not know about fitting the 57 body on the 81 frame.
here are some lousy drawings of the frames... the front of the frame on the 57 is 34" wide, the suspension on the newer trucks is 29-30" wide where it bolts on to the frame . The 57 frame is pretty much flat on top, except for the hump at the rear axle, while the 81 frame has about 6" of up and down throught it's length. Wheelbase is similar, but the newer truck has about 2-3" wider track, so the wheels won't tuck up under the fenders very well. And it takes some effort to lower a later model truck, you'd still have to do that if lowering is in your plans. The radiator support and bumper mounts would take some work to fix because of the frame width issue at the front. the 70s camaro clip solves some of these issues, but does require carefull alignment and fabrication.
The Jalopy Journal
