58 gmc frame swap help

[bwilde86]

I am getting my grandfather's 58 GMC. It's a 1 ton with a hydraulic dump bed. I am wanting to do a frame swap and pick up a short bed and turn it into a curve carver (or at least handle better than a 58 truck).

I was looking into cutting the stock frame to fit a short bed and changing all of the suspension out with something like no limits ifs and 4 link, but thought a frame swap would be a better and cheaper route.

I am looking into having a good street truck that I can take to the drag strip (won't be setup optimally) and some road courses (again won't be setup optimally) just for fun if I choose to. So basically hoping for a jack of all trades master of none style truck if they exist.

Engine I am leaning toward is a turbocharged lq4 or 5.3 haven't decided. Looking to make 500 rwhp on the street and maybe up to 800 if I turn up the psi. All this through a t57 magnum / tr6060 transmission.

Is there a frame that would be a good starting point that fits these body styles reasonably well? I know that places make custom chassis but that's out of my budget. Looking for a stock chassis that I can upgrade to handle better that can help keep the power to the ground and preferably comes with a rear-end I can build to handle it as well.

[Restomod]

My bad , looks like full size is the way to go.
http://www.e-zchassisswaps.com/kit.php?category=5

[MonzaRacer]

First we need frame width outside to outside and aprox. Wheel lip width.
IF near 44" outside to outside look at S10/G body type frame. Or possibly early 2000 Silverado frame from under cab back, maybe S10 front horns?
Or F body front subprime, welded to 2x3x.125 rectangle tube frame rails, then Ridetech lower control arms/ bracket s and Fays2 Watts link with rails as wide as needed.
If it has dump bed you should be able to use sheet metal sides with slight 15 to 30 degree angle at top, use some square 2 or 3 in tubing for rails, and simply buy resto wood bed floor parts and some oak, walnut or teak boards,,,,or diamond deck.
Had plans to build step side bed for friend, this way, fun part might be getting rear wheel wells to look the part, or use some front fenders and mod them to fit. After getting measurements might be time to hit u pull it yard with tape measure. Cool part is you should be able to fit HUGE stock type wheels like Corvette rears easy enough.

[bwilde86]

The bed is just a big wooden box. No sheet metal what so ever. I would definitely need a new bed for it.

Can the s10 frame be built to handle well? Would the c10 frames be any stronger or come with stronger components that I can rebuild?

Or would a modern Silverado or Tahoe be even better?

[ccmc]

The s10 frame is for 1st series up to to 1955 trucks, for 1955-1959 2nd series trucks most people go with cutting off the front and welding in a 2nd gen camaro subframe.

[bwilde86]

Well if I did a front clip I would have to shorten the frame as well since I want a short bed. Just wasn't sure if a c10 frame that already had ifs that I can upgrade and that can be found cheap is a better starting point than the 58 that I would have to install ifs.

[ccmc]

Search on apache frame swap in Google. There are some 70-80s c10 frame swaps but apparently it's not a "great" fit. Some people complain about them others say it works great.

I'm in the planning stages of the same thing with my 1955 step side. I'm wondering if a 1998-2004 dodge Dakota frame will be the right width. This would give us disc brakes and you can swap in earlier Dakota 5 bolt parts to get rid of the 6 bolt wheel pattern. Add in an ls1 swap and woo hoo!