95 to 87 swap

[Guest My1stImport]

Hey guys, I'm about to try something and need some advise. I've got this '95 SE 4 door that is in real bad shape. The entire driveline is good, I've never had a mechanical problem out of this truck. The rest of the truck, body, interior and so on, is beyond repair.

 

I'm about to buy an '87 2 door thats just the opposite. I can get this truck for reel cheap and I was thinking about swapping out the engine and other good parts. What, if any, problems am I going to run into? I plan on swapping the engine, auto trany and some suspension componets that seem to be missing.

[jj big shoe]

I'm not sure about the fittment issues between an 87 and a 95, but instead of swapping evrything over, take a look at pulling te 95 body off and putting the 87 body on the 95 frame. No motor or trans or other stuff with a thousand bolts and sensors to mess with that way. Plus you could take a really good look at the condition of the frame and other items that would be near impossible to fix with the body on. Just a thought.

 

Good luck.

[Guest My1stImport]

That is a good thought. I've never pulled a body off, sounds fun!

[k9sar]

let me know if you want to recover some cash from your 95 leftover parts. I need a part from a power antenna that is apparently not available seperately from the dealer.

[Guest My1stImport]

will do!

[Vsicks Pathy]

Your swap should be fine. Are you planning on swapping the dash over too. If so let me know how easy or hard it was to do. I plan to do it to mine for an update.

[88pathoffroad]

I don't think the frames are the same between an 87 and a 95. You'd be going from the four-door to a 2-door frame.

[GrimGreg]

Frames are the same, just the body mount bolts are different sizes.

[88pathoffroad]

So THAT'S what they did to them. Wierdness.

[unccpathfinder]

I'm not sure about the fittment issues between an 87 and a 95, but instead of swapping evrything over, take a look at pulling te 95 body off and putting the 87 body on the 95 frame. No motor or trans or other stuff with a thousand bolts and sensors to mess with that way. Plus you could take a really good look at the condition of the frame and other items that would be near impossible to fix with the body on. Just a thought.

 

 

i used:

4 12 ft 4x4's sunk at 2 ft

2 4x4x8' for the front and rear cross supports

couple scrap 2x4's to make the verticla supports

scrap picket fencing for the bottom braces

2 2 ton boat winches (the reel type with the 3 in straps and hook not shown in pix)

 

these pix were using a come-a-long and some rachet straps to hold it in place...but this is now how it was done to actually remove the body due to the safety issues....it was just 1 of those deals where i finally got it all up and wanted to see if it was gonna work...but the next day i went and got the boat winches and drilled a 2 holes in the center of the front and rear cross 4x4's so the u bolt would go thru and the winch could mount so the handle could be spun to allow it to be cranked up...did the front and rear a little at a time...very sturdy wouldnt even budge..and didnt concrete in the posts due to the fact that my grandfather wouldnt let me....

 

 

[Precise1]

I like it, good thinking !!

 

let me know if you want to recover some cash from your 95 leftover parts

 

Same here, I'd LOVE the AC condensor, mounting hardware and drivers side line all the way to the pump from the 95 if it is available !!

 

B