Z'ing an S10 chassis?

Thinking of Z'ing an S10 chassis to get a lower ride height. Anyone see any issues with this?[S

This is the look I'm after

Instead of going to that time and effort why not just buy some dropped springs and/or coils.
My truck has 2 inch spindles and 1" coils.

It's really easy to get an S-10 chassis that low without cutting it.

I'm aware of that but I'm wanting to get the "sandwiched" look on the front and run little to no grill, just the hood. Just a thought. I've found a 56 IH cab, hood, and bed with an S10 chassis pretty cheap that I'm thinking of buying. I would build it fenderless.

What is "the sandwiched look" and how does Z 'ing the frame accomplish that? Just curious what you're thinking here.

As mentioned, you can get an S10 pretty low by conventional means. Take this truck for example...



I would expect Z'ing an S10 chassis to be a pain because of its odd shape. Right where you need the Z, the frame flares out. IMO you would have to remove the section pictured, replace it with straight section, then do the Z job.

If he Z'd it, it'd probably be best to cut the front about where that hole is (where the stick is .... uh, sticking out.) And then another cut at the rear. Just replace all that with rec. tube. It'd have to be widened somewhere, but you could decide where. A lot easier than trying to cut and use what's there.

And if you can find a rear steer R&P that'll fit a S10, you could stretch the front wheels forward and help the proportions out.

Good point. That's why I posted the thought on here. The truck pictured is what I like but I don't know how to accomplish that look with the crappy steering gear on the S10. The sandwich look is like the hood sitting really close to the frame and a short grill between the frame and good. I guess I made that term up myself. I wanna do fenderless rod and the cab and bed I found come with a swb S10 frame and I'd really like to use it for the rode and the brakes. My first rod was a 50 gmc on an S10 so I really just wanna go fenderless this time

Spellcheck messed that up pretty good. LOL. Hope yall can figure out what it says.

Thanks for explaining the "sandwich" thought.

I cut the front clip off an S10 (exactly where Sam suggests) thinking I would use it on my project. Among other issues, the steering box and front steer arrangement killed that plan for me.

Now, you're kinda stuck with the front steer, but you could still help the situation with a R&P. Check out ZZRodder's build. It's a G body clip, but they're virtually identical to S10 except for width.

Here...
http://ratrodsrule.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15790&highlight=1934+cadillac&page=16


..

I used a 68 C10 chassis for my fenderles rat. It had a perfect frame to zee. I moved the cab about 1' back from "factory" then pulled the engine and trans back to match to give the illusion that the front axle was pushed forward.
before I moved the rear axle forward to match the fenders in this one:




I don't have any really good pictures of the frame zee, but this might give you the idea:
Factory before zee:


After. All you can really see is the back:




No drop spindles, no pancake front cross member, no giant c notch in the back, it all worked out very well for my 1950 international cab.

I dont have any info on these just some pics I saved when I was researching for my build.

What if...

What if you had another chassis?
What if you cut it into two sections putting them on the bottom
of the chassis you are going to use. Weld them in then cut the chassis
above the added pieces out?

What if you want to widen the frame?
What if you cut two sections of another chassis welded them to the
outside of the chassis you are going to use then cut out the
section inside the chassis you welded to?

You could cut down leaving some of the old chassis for strength.

Of course some cross bracing should be welded in or removable
bracing before you put the body and other weight on the chassis.

I am thinking of the S10 but would work on all chassis.

What if you posted on a 3+ year old thread?

Blue Eyed Devil said:

What if you posted on a 3+ year old thread?

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Well thank you very much for the welcome to the forum!

I ran across this forum topic on internet.
Decided to join to comment on this.

And your idea didn't fall on deaf ears. Three years is nothing when you're building cars ten times that old, yet new.

It's been 4 years now.

Sam_Fear said:

It's been 4 years now.

Click to expand...

Check back next year for more updates on nothing.

So welcome to the board Edge.
Good point i thought Bobo.

earthman said:

So welcome to the board Edge.
Good point i thought Bobo.

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more like "THE FRINGE: RAT STYLE!!!!"