Well, to start, its an 88 W150, factory propane 318, factory headers, stock 31s. Every panel on the truck is an autobody nightmare but the chassis is solid.
What Im thinking of is swapping the entire body for a 74 D100 (r/c l/b same as the 88), building a nice torquey 349 stroker, and jacking it up 8 inches to fit some 38.5x11/15s. Im thinking of a nice glossy Daytona Yellow with a shaker hood
Whats everyone think? Anyone done the body swap before? Any suggestions or questions im all ears. Thanks in advance.

 

It all sounds good,will you stay with propane?
Yellow,who would want to paint their truck yellow.

Um never mind.

 

if the new body and the frame are in good shape, i dont se the swap being too hard. it will all boil down to welding skill, but with good metal its all big parts andshouldnt be that hard - basically all problem solving.im excited to see this turn out, but with gas prices so high, i wonder why youd try this with a propane vehicle, whichgets less HP than a gas vehicle, you could probably sell the propane parts for a decent price. Id consider them myself if i wasnt on a TBI system which would prolly be a lot harder to change over to LPGthan a carb.

 

RE moparborn: nice truck definitely staying with the LPG.

RE nemesis_SS: 88 chassis is a bit aged but solid, 74 body is near-mint. basically just wondering if theres a chance the cab mounts will line up. The reason for sticking with the propane... well, gas is $5.13/ga here and LPG is only just over half that. Plus stroking the engine out with some flattops I should be able to hit 225-250hp no problem, while shooting for 500ft/lb RW torque. Engine parts list so far involves a SCAT Ultralite crank, SCAT H-beam rods, and Kieth Black pistons in the bottom end, floating on clevites all around. Comp Cams 260H cam for some light rumble on mopar LPG heads up top. If im still not satisfied I can always swap out later for a hardened set of magnum heads and a weiand stealth intake.

 

I set my '83 cab/sheetmetal and bed on a late'73 frame. Pretty much a bolt up deal, minor difference at the core sppt, but all the holes were there.
The '73 had the gas tank behind the seat, had to add the sppts. for the '83 tank.
BTW been thinkin' about puttin' my 440 on propane,aside from the cheaper fuel cost,per Texas law it's an alternative fuel,don't have run converters/smog crap. Never mind that no 440 came from the factory with cats. Since it's sittin' in an '84, gotta have cats,stock air cleaner etc.on it. I guess the '84 body has a bigger carbon footprint than the '74 it came out of. Dumasses.

 

Hey, nobody ever said politicians were smart. Remember, low-compression engines are better for the environment. LOL. I was thinking earlier today about going and buying a brand new Mustang (convertible, of course) and stripping it down, dropping in a 429 and putting dummie cats on it just so I can take it down to the inspection facility and have them smog-test it. For all this so-called progress in technology over the last 36 years its a sure bet that an engine taken off the market so long ago wouldnt pass todays emissions... LOL. The vehicles today are 2/3s the weight as they were in 71, if not less. Advancements in engine design, materials, etcare a billion-dollar industry, including keystone ideas like reductions in rotating mass and unsprung weight, the OverDrive transmission, EFI, VVT... The list goes on. So why is it that a brand new mustang with a 5 litre V8 is almost identical to the 1964.5 with a bone-stock 289 in both 1/4 mi times AND MPG??? Why do brand new Chevy 1/2 tons with all these airbags, side-impact beams, and the almighty ABS have no-better crash test ratings than they did in 1989? And WTF happened to the sports car? A 4 door front-wheel-drive subcompact with 135HP IS NOT a sports car!!! And on top of that, why is everything so freaking UGLY and all look the same?

Anyways, enough ranting. Thanks for the info. Im a little sidetracked at the moment on my 85 S-10 build, got some wiring issues to work out before its time for paint, and Im getting impatient. But I need it on the road again before I can get rolling with the Ram. I also have a short in my dash somewhere. Dash lights go out sometimes and I gotta bang on the dash a few times to get them back. I also have that damned 4x4 dash light that is always on, in 2x, in neutral, always... Im thinking its probably the little plug thing on the front diff, but not sure.