[dsraven]

if you want to be building furniture in the same shop as the truck project, in the anytime soon near future, but don't have the cash to spend for other labour to help get the swap done, then I would suggest to pick one or the other retirement jobs. like said, these projects have a habit of becoming "for sale" ads several years down the road. I suggest this
start with the old truck.
start with a pad of paper and write down everything that will be replaced, everything that will need work and to what extent and everything that will just need a clean up and re-install. be honest because you will only cheat yourself in the end. have a plan in mind that includes what the final product is supposed to look like. freshly painted, straight paneled truck with door and window seals that seal, windows that work, nice interior with carpet floor and comfy seats, and is sitting at stock height or a patina'd hotrod that sits on the rocker panels, has dents that date back to the 60"s, has a floor shifter that rubs the roof and leaks at every rubber seal. sorry if that sounds a bit rough on the hotrodding patina guys but I figure it is your/their truck and you/they should build it the way you/they want, as long as it is safe to drive on the roads with OUR families. just get a plan together so you can do a proper assessment of costs before you start.
start at the front bumper and work back. account for every seam and panel along the way. look on the back panels where possible to see if the fasteners will likely come apart without distorting the panel or causing damage in some way. include looking at headlight buckets, all light fixtures, rolling down windows to check regulators for wear, operation and track seals. open doors and check hinges and latches, levers regulators, handles, common rust traps and condition of seals. check seat springs, track mechanisms, cushions and covering and the frame(s) structures. check all glass and rubbers. check shifters and linkages (if repurposing them). pull back floor coverings and look for rusty spots or holes. check the roof around the drip rail for soft spots. the vent in front of the window (if equipped) also the area where the fenders bolt to the cab. check the heater assembly, core and fan motor. all the electrical inside the cab-gage cluster and switches even the interior light and fuel tank with sending unit. check the bed for rusty areas, rotted cross sills, tailgate operation and rotted areas, bedwood rails etc. the rear fenders for integrity and damage. the rear bumper and attachments. finally, check the frame for straight, square and sag. are there any previous damages to anything on the truck. if done by a home repairman some of these areas can be trouble spelled "spend time and money here". do you have tools to dissassemble both trucks? do you have space to do the same? storage for all the parts? will you wife and neighbors be ok with a mess that seems to go on forever?

now go to the donor truck and do the same. what parts will you be using? do you have space to save the complete donor unit until the project is complete? it sucks to get rid of the wreck and find out you needed a part.

add in a whack of time to spend on repairing broken off bolts, bent panels or parts that looked good until they were removed. time/money for sand blasting (another spot in the build where problem areas show up as holes or very thin metal. usually in a spot that will include dollars to be spent on replacement parts), paint and body supplies, steel and hardware for fabbing a body swap kit. understand that the old truck was likely 6 volt and the new one will be 12 volt so that will mess with the gage cluster at least. what will you do for a speedo because the new truck is probably not a cable driven speedo. you may need a swap sized rad because the old one may not be big enough for the v8 or may be too far gone and the donor rad won't fit the rad support on the old truck. you will need to fab up a front bumper mount. there will be steering linkage problems, pedal problems, the box of the truck may end up being very shallow due to the kick up over the rear wheels on the newer frame. the driveline may need to be shortened so that will entail a new driveshaft (or work on the old one), shorter park brake cables and some sort of linkage to connect the old to the new, shorter brake lines to the rear (the newer truck likely has ABS brakes so may require a scanner to open the ABS valves in order to bleed the air out), you may want to incorporate some newer style seat belts with shoulder straps, you will likely need to disable a fe things in the ECM or other module from the donor. air bags, or other body control module item like the disable or security function, etc etc etc.

please don't take this as a negative for doing a frame swap. all I am saying is that there will be lots of stuff you never thought of until you get to that point. as a mechanic doing a frame swap I had some insight going into the project and there are still times when I have said "well, I didn't think of that one". if you go ahead stay patient and try to get something done every day. if you get in over your head ask for help before the project leaves on a trailer pilotted by the new owner.

below is a pic of my 57 gmc ext cab on an 04 envoy awd frame. maaaaany years in the making because life happens and minds/outcome plans change as time goes on. this is a pic from this week. the project started 10 yrs ago at least. work, second job, grand kids and life all play a role.