[joedoh]

s10 swaps make good sense when you find a nice running donor, leave it largely complete, and put it together with your cab and bed. the further you get away from that, the less time and money you save because mounting the body is literally the easiest part. S10 swaps make sense too when it comes to replacement parts, everything you could break on the road is available at every auto parts store in the known universe. You can also buy complete bolt on airbag setups and inexpensive drop spindles for an S10 chassis.

I am not sure how gigamanx spent $1000 (cost of an IFS) on mounting a V8? I made my own mounts on the 41 S10 I am doing now and the spreadsheet says new motor mounts and steel and tube and bolts were $41. Its important to note though, that if you are installing a V8 in your project you will need to make/buy mounts with either an IFS or an S10, neither one comes with that provision. same with steering shafts, either way you will need u joints and shafts.

and thats really the point. figure out what your goals are up front and dont move the goal posts. If you want a reliable truck with a proven chassis, an S10 based truck will work very well because you can buy a nice running donor and sell the parts you wont use to offset the costs. an IFS is only that, IFS. it doesnt mount a motor, it doesnt wire the truck, it doesnt upgrade the rear axle, the brake lines, the fuel lines, the leaf springs, the shock mounts etc. an IFS does make putting the body on a lot easier though.

either way you will still want to do rust repair on that floor, dont just go chopping willy nilly, there are braces under the rusty metal that are probably still in good shape. the floor doesnt do much supporting of the cab, it is the braces that holds things up. my 49 was rusted worse than that and I was able to use a grinder and screwdriver to remove all the perforated metal but leave the braces intact. then I drilled holes that lined up with the braces in the new panels and "spot welded" them back together.