What does everyone think of body swaps?

Which somehow disqualifies me from recognising a poorly designed and finished car when I see it?
All your experience with dirt track cars is wonderful, but clearly they're purely functional. I'm sure weld it where it touches is fine when all it has to do is not break when it hits something. You're comparing chalk and cheese.

 

Here's my perspective on it...........

Many Hot Rods have been poorly built whether they used a different frame or not, so poor decisions and poor workmanship don't just happen when a different frame is used. A lot of cars and trucks have had a front suspension known as "front clip" installed. Some done well, some not so well.

My recommendation is to choose a frame which has the needed width in the front suspension and a longer frame than needed. That gives a chance that it may work ok. The longer frame length allows you to shorten the frame by cutting the side rails till the rear wheels are where you need them to be. Thats the process my son and I used for adapting an 89 Chevy truck frame to work for his 56 Chevy pickup. It allowed us to have stock 89 (89-98) Chevy steering and suspension up front . This particular style of frame actually widens as it moves forward from the rear end. While we were shortening the frame we just made a heavy duty crossmember and then pulled the rails parallel. Very easy to do but takes some sweat equity. In our case we modified the frame to hold a rear gas tank to get it out of the cab and added a hidden trailer hitch. When we set the body on it, 4 very simple mounting brackets were made by cutting some box tubing on a 45 degree angle and welding them to the frame. The truck sits low without using dropped spindles and we may actually raise it a little. So the frame swap worked great for our truck. Most suspension stuff is stock and new. You just have to do a little research to find a suitable frame to work with the vehicle of choice.




This is before we cut the back crossmember out and made new box tubing for the gas tank and hitch.


This is similar to the main crossmember we fabbed up. Once in place holding the front part of the rails, we joined the now parallel rear part of the rails to it.


The actual crossmember in place and you can see the simple cab mounts we made.


This worked out well for us, so I can only say that if you make good choices you can get good results. If you don't............you don't.

 

Some additional thoughts..........Trucks and truck frames tend to be straighter and flatter by design whereas car frames tend to have a lot more gyrations in their shape in order to conform to the cars underbody. If using a car frame, it might be better to cut the underbody out of the donor car and reweld the whole thing into the other vehicle. Welding around the perimeter of a floor pan and bending and hammering a little could provide a better fit than trying to adapt to the frame. Its going to vary with the vehicle of choice. I remember seeing a 40 Ford once that someone put Mustang bucket seats in. He cut the floor out of the 40 (probably rusty) and welded the Mustang floor into it. Then the seats fit perfectly..........and he had a good floor too.

 

Years ago there were more than a few 49-51 Mercs done that way on Oldsmobile ch***is and floor pans, I'm old and can't remember what Olds they used but was a popular swap. Found a 2012 Hamb discussion by 1badrat about using a mid 80 GM for the Mercury swap.

 

this is a friends car it's on a G body ch***is. The drive train and rear end is in stock location.

 

How about 54 chevy car dash in a 89 s10 truck.

 

I'm in the process of putting a 49 dodge pick up on a S10 frame and so far working out to my liking.

 

my 67 rambler 220 is on a shortened s10 truck frame. little bit g***er stance, but not sure if going to keep the rears tucked or to cut the quarters or not.

 

TUCK-IT !!!
6sally6

 

the way it is right now if i tuck i have a little over 12" to work in.

 

Frame swaps are one thing, but I don’t get using the floor and dash.i think cutting the stock floor to work is a better choice.

 

That would depend on how well the frame donor's floor pan fits in the body being used, and the condition of both floor pans. Some donor floor pans work very well, some just don't.

Modern floor pans tend to have deeper transmission tunnels, and often the modern frames tends to channel the older bodies over the frame more, the deeper tunnel, if it can be made to fit, may make the job easier. What was left of the 48 Plymouth floor pan, notice how high the tunnel is? The condition of that floor pan, both edges were the same, as was the entire trunk floor! The donor floor pan, seat, and firewall. Notice the height of that transmission tunnel?

 

To make a frame swap look right, the track width has to very nearly match the vintage ch***is. Some adjustment can be done with the proper wheel offset, but the track width is critical. I've seen some frame swaps where the cab/box sit too high to allow for the wheels/tires to project out of the wheel openings, not a good look other than maybe a 4x4 conversion. Next is wheelbase, it has to near spot on. I found a pic once of a late 30's Chevy on a S10 ch***is and the front wheel centerline was at least 6" back in the fenders, looked hideous.

My plan is based on my avatar pic. A 56 Dodge C3, going onto the ch***is of my aged 2001 Dakota pickup in the background. My plan is to use the Dakota ch***is from the cab back wall forward, and then use the 56 frame from the cab back to get the wheelbase right. The 56 cab will get cut as needed to fit onto the Dakota floorpan and firewall, only up to the 56 cab cowl. I will retain the 56 dash, with the Dakota gauge set fit into the oval opening of the 56 dash. I'll paint the Dakota gauge bezel to match the cab paint, and use white guage overlays on the Dakota instrument panel to give it a vintage look. The HVAC and stereo controls will go behind the center glove box door, so when its closed the dash will look near stock. I'll also use the Dakota limited slip 3:55 ratio rear axle with tri-angulated four bar coilover suspension installed to the 56 frame rear half.

Since I have to blend the Dakota front frame to the 56 rear frame I can get the wheelbase just right. I have seen too many frame swaps of Dodge and Ford pickups where the front axle centerline in the fender openings too far back. I think this is because the old leaf spring front suspension had to allow for the leaf spring travel/action. But the Dakota A-arm suspension locates the front wheel centerline better, so I plan to alter the 56 wheelbase slightly to move the front tires/wheels about 2" further forward, basically locate the 56 cab relative to the Dakota floorpan about 2" rearward. Hopefully I can blend the Dakota firewall under the 56 cab cowl to work out for the Dakota cab wiper system. That means I forfeit the cowl vent system which is fine with me. I want to maintain the Dakota firewall for everything that goes through it to remain Dakota stock, same for most of the Dakota ch***is frame parts. I think when Gene built his 50 Dodge on a Dakota ch***is he also planned the front wheel openings slightly forward to get the look right, and to get proper tire clearance underneath.

Sure, I'm cutting up a cl***ic vintage pickup, but I want a dependable daily driver, one that I can find parts for it at any salvage yard or Auto Zone.

 

A majority of the time you can identify a frame swap by the positive offset wheels that are needed, and they just do not look right on a cl***ic car, at least not to my eye. The only one I saw on this thread that has proper offsets is the Henry J which is quite amazing IMO. I would have got that one wrong at a car show. Well done there!

As for the rest, to each their own. Hey, they saved cars/trucks that might have gone to the s****per or rusted away to nothing. I applaud the ingenuity and creativity.

Putting a cl***ic car/truck on a prius ch***is or tesla? Dante found a place for them, down around circle 8 or 9.

 

The second-gen Dakota went out of production in 2004. How long will parts stores carry anything for an obsolete vehicle that’s been out of production for 20-plus years? And as time goes on, odds are that if you can find one in a yard, it will be there for the same failure that you have, particularly with electronics.

 

At 75 I could use a body swap!

 

I'm a big fan of swapping a '32 Ford frame under a '28-'31 Ford Model A.