Chevy drivetrain swap

[Rumbone]

What do I need to instal a 1994 Chevy Silverado 4x4 drivetrain swap into a 1977 J10?
Change motor mounts, etc.

Thank you Casey

[thej10guy]

Is this a 305 or 350 you are thinking? Either way you would need a radiator or an interesting way to route radiator hoses at least. With the tbi you will want to get a new wiring harness without everything needed because there are several wires that can be eliminated from the original engine harness. I just put a j10 on an 89 blazer frame that had a 350 tbi motor. Along with wiring you will need a transmission mount, which you most likely knew already. Along with that is driveshafts. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. If the motor is a 350 which is what I’m guessing I would recommend putting the 97/98 vortec heads on the motor. They are much better all around and that is a common modification for those engines.


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[devildog80]

So is it advised to swap the J10 body over to complete Chevy frame vs swapping Chevy drive train components over to J10 frame?
I think the body swap might be less invasive.

[tgreese]

I would point out such a swap is no different for a J10 compared to a Wagoneer or Cherokee. Been done a lot; many dozens, maybe hundreds of times. We have a thread of such Chevy swaps somewhere. You could also search at IFSJA.org and find a lot of reference materials. You need to fire up your searching skills, do some research and ask some more focused questions. One could write books on this topic (it's been done before https://www.bing.com/search?form=MOZLBR ... p+handbook ).

Swapping the drivetrain seems way more common than swapping the chassis. I expect there are arguments for and against for both approaches. If I were going to swap the drivetrain, first I would look at whether the Chevy drops on the same side.

[thej10guy]

In terms of ease, it depends on what you have available. I have actually done a drive train swap and a frame swap on my j10’s.

In the long run I would actually recommend the frame swap. Everything is made for it in terms of drive ability, you just need to make body mounts and have a measuring tape and a lot of saw blades. With my frame swap I shortened the body to match the frame, although if you were to use a 90’s 1500 frame there would most likely be very little change in wheel base. It all depends as to what you have at your disposal.

For a drivetrain swap the initial part is easier, you just have to do drivetrain mounts and a radiator. But the pain in the butt is getting all of the wiring sorted out and figuring out how far forward/back to place the engine, getting driveshafts made, making shift and throttle linkage, and many other variables that people typically overlook.

It also depends on what you have for space and tools. A body swap is a heck of a lot easier with a hoist or some other device for lifting vs trying to redneck engineer something to lift bodies off. No I don’t have anything against redneck engineering, I love it, just sometimes a little luxury tooling is helpful.


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[Stuka]

Its worth noting a 77 is going to be passenger drop, and the t-case for a 90's GM is driver drop.

Also, the IFS frame isn't a good match for a J10. It can certainly be made to work, but its shape results in a big chunk of it sitting WAY below the body.

A solid axle frame would certainly fit better, though is a pretty notable downgrade over the FSJ stock frame which is quite a bit stronger than a GM c-channel frame.

Unless you really want the 4sp trans, its a simpler swap to use your current trans/t-case with an adapter. Assuming the stock stuff is in good running order.

[thej10guy]

That is true in regards to the 90’s suspension and frame I didn’t think of that. Squarebodies use similar suspension to j10’s and probably ride about the same. The problem with squarebodys is you won’t get fuel injection unless you get an 88-91, in which case you could just get a regular 1500, there was only suburbans, k5s and heavy duty trucks. So for the op, I would recommend with your engine to just do a drivetrain swap.


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