2500hd Conversion

[bitchin85]

Hey all, long time no post. Haven't been on this site since I parked my beloved 85 Scottsdale about 5-6 years ago. It was nothing special, single cab long bed 2wd with a mild small block. It got me to high school and back for a couple years and was my favorite truck that I made the most memories in for sure. Since I parked it, I sold the motor and transmission to a friend with hopes of one day LS swapping it. I found a complete NOS front clip for a '76 so I converted it to a round eye, struck gold when I found a spotless bed that had been sitting in a dry barn since the early 80s for dirt cheap, and the whole truck has been sitting in nice dry storage since the new bed and front clip for about 4 years,while acquiring parts here and there, awaiting a driveline. Just today I picked up an '04 extended cab long bed 2500hd 6.0 4l80e 4x4 with only 65k miles for an unbelievable price that will make a perfect donor. I haven't done much research yet so I'm sorry if this has been covered before but as of now I'm planning out my attack on this build.. my donor truck is 100% mechanically sound and I can utilize anything off from it. Would I be better off cutting the frame down and doing a body swap? Or has anyone ever put an IFS in a square body frame? I'd like to keep the truck as stock looking as possible from the outside, interior and all, with the driveline out of the 2500hd. Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

[andrewmp6]

Putting the ifs on the sqaure frame would be a nightmare to do,And to shorten the frame and make it fit under a square body truck can be a nightmare also.Can you weld and trust your life on your welds?Can you fab a lot of parts ?

[D13]

There is an entire section on LS swaps over in the engine area, plus a couple of good threads in this section. Absolutely do not do a frame swap. If you want 4x4 then there's a lot more involved, but still easier than messing with a frame swap.

[bitchin85]

I'm a machinist with full access to CAD software and a Cnc laser and press break so really, if I can think it, I can make it..
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[bitchin85]

Originally Posted by D13

There is an entire section on LS swaps over in the engine area, plus a couple of good threads in this section. Absolutely do not do a frame swap. If you want 4x4 then there's a lot more involved, but still easier than messing with a frame swap.

I'll check it out, thank you!
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[daddyjeep]

There was a guy on here about a month or so ago that did a body swap onto a newer 3/4 ton frame an it seemed pretty straight forward. Obviously you have to have the skills and the tools to pull something like that off, but it appears that you have those.

[70K10Hunter]

Originally Posted by *****in85

I'm a machinist with full access to CAD software and a Cnc laser and press break so really, if I can think it, I can make it..
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AHHH but can you weld?.....

[andrewmp6]

Can you weld and trust your life on your welds tho ?

[silverbear]

I came across this video series several months ago and I really like how this guy went about his conversion. I have thought about the idea of doing a frame swap utilizing a newer HD frame under may 86 body. Take a look at this video and then lookup the rest of the series to see the complete build.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWv9rZhpTrU