Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidR
I have a question about rebuilding an old Chevy truck. A couple of years ago a young girl ran a stop sign on the highway in front of me and my 71 K10 was totaled (frame bent/cab pillars bowed out/steering locked). I kept the truck as part of the insurance settlement. I just looked at a mid 60's K10 (think it is a 65 or 66) but missing the engine. Owner said it had a straight 6 in it previously. It shouldn't be to bad to move the 350 from the 71 to the older truck. The thing I am not sure about is just swapping the engine or swapping the entire drivetrain over? From what I remember, the old 420 transmission and the Rockwell transfer cases were pretty rough. How much trouble would the swap be? A plus is that I would have the power steering pump and gear, brake booster, and whatever else I could salvage from the 71 to use on the other truck. Thanks for your help.
|
To be honest, there were a lot of major changes to the 4x4 trucks between 66 and 67. Since you already have all the (known good) running gear I would look for a good 67-72 body. Should be easy to find a nice one from a 2wd for a reasonable price and it will basically just bolt on. Parts have always been harder to come by for 66 and older (bad for guys like me, but good for you)
If your dream is to have a 60-66 body on your running gear, you should find a 2wd and graft the body on your frame, but be aware there will still be fiddly fab work and it will never be as “right”. Also you will not be messing with a fairly rare 60-66 factory 4x4 that someone could just drop an engine in and go.
Good luck with whatever you decide
Tom