body transplant

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

N

n2666s

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Threads
38
Messages
2,700
Looking at a couple of dead pigs close by;
# 1.... a 79 with all the goodies except AC also has a beautiful dash........EVERYTHING WORKS and works well all the compressions are great; oil pressure good.....gear box TC brakes.interior........all extremely nice........now the bad.....THE BODY is totally shot including firewall roof A,B,C and D pillars gone; door supports gone!
#2.....a POS early 69 motorless trashed interior, crapped out dash.......totally rust free..........none except very superficial light roof but very superficial
big questions..........is a body transplant feasable?, take the body off the 69 and graft it onto the 79?
the front firewalls are very different........the dashes are very different and the one on the 69 is total crap :frown:
there are a couple of nice threads on this topic from cruiser_guy and arthog BUT the pigs that were transplanted were a bit more similar?; just hate to get into something over my head and am needing some opinions besides the:princess: who insists I am insane!.........just hate to see both of these piggies die........

Lou
IMG_1702 a-pillar and door support D-side rusty 79.webp
IMG_1701 79 Rust Bucket A pillar P-side.webp
IMG_1700 P-side 79 rust bucket 2.webp
 
As long as the body mounts are in the same place, go for it!! Who cares if the chassis was made in the same year as the rest?
 
the passengers side A pillar is the better of all 8 pillars:frown:.the damndest thing is that this 79 beast runs and checks out like a jewel.the front end of the 69er is identical to this one I ran across a cpl. of years ago.my camera ran low on batteries when I tried to take pix of the 69er;

Lou
00000161_edited.webp
 
Charles; the headache I forsee is the dash and front firewall........can take the entire 69 body off and place on the 79 frame keeping all its good mechanical and electricals.........a frame which for some ????? reason has very little rust, the body mounts seem to be in all the same positions.........but can a newer pig dash be transfered in its entirety to a very early one?........the firewalls look very similar but when taking measurements the wiring feed openings are very different along with the openings for different controls and a brake booster does not exist on the 69 so will need to fab mounts for it along with the power steering which I don't think will be that big of a problem.........:confused:

Lou
 
I can't say if it can transfer over without any problem but I am sure if you are determined and work through it carefully it can be done. Even though the two I had were only a year or two apart there were still differences.
 
another big difference is in the dashes..........the one on the 69 is totally crapped out; the one on the 79 is lovely..........the 79 came out of NY the 69 out of AZ and had an attempt to stuff a SBC in it that is minus the Intake manifold + heads.....along with exhaust manifold etc; am about to do something very stupid like put some money down but hate to see them both die...any one have experience transfering a late dash onto an early body?........79 to early 69??

Lou
 
Why not build the 69 using drivetrain from later model? I wouldn't try to swap dashes- just restore/refurbish the 69... Is the 69 frame shot? If so I can see body swap; otherwise, sounds like you have a restoreable 69 with a good parts rig......
 
thought about going at it both ways; the 69 has been cut up a lot except for the body.............all the motor and tranny mounts are gone! radiator lines, hydraulics,etc.........see this over and over in this area; failed attempts to shoehorn a SBC and then they give up leaving a pretty worthless mess!


Lou
 
a good swap is lovely...but damn they are hard to do nicely....my hat is off to who can pull one off and keep everything functional and RELIABLE......just too many variables when you stick in a motor designed around another body/frame/suspension; but most of what I have seen in this area are never finished.........I don't include swapping a motor option that was available elsewhere in the world but not in the US..........we lived through this in the 60s when everyone in the world was trying to immitate Carroll Shelby by stuffing small block fords into anything that could be carved up......try MGs, Sunbeams, Triumphs, Jags, Maserattis, Ferraris, even the Acs didn't do crap with a Ford engine in them.....for all the noise and bluster when it really got down to the nitty gritty............most all the wins they had were with the Bristol engine!

Lou
 
Think am about to do something very stupid..........like making one decent one out of two dead pigs; just can't stand to see these two go to a scrapper/crusher; just need to get my ducks in a row; I know this is going to be a long project, wouldn't even think of attempting it without this groups input, advice and help!, y'alls work is inspiring;
Nick, think that the vin number that is important is the frame number;:cheers:

Lou
 
n2666s said:
just can't stand to see these two go to a scrapper/crusher; just need to get my ducks in a row; I know this is going to be a long project, wouldn't even think of attempting it without this groups input, advice and help!, y'alls work is inspiring

:cheers:

Lou
Click to expand...

Lou,

Good on ya! I can't stand the thought of crushing Pigs either!

You have my support - FWIW

:clap:
 
donor pig

these are a few pix of the 69 failed sbc project in front of "Rusty"; :princess:knows now with certainty that I am "teched"......the front/engine compartment, interior of this 69 is total crap; many many engine compartments are missing BUT NO RUST!whereas the 79 pig is mechanically a jewel.............but rusted to death......all 8 pillars are gone, rusted through and through; floorboards, rockers door suppports and sills + rear tailgate support all rusted through and through; drivers door fell off when I opened it:frown:; but this is not going to be easy and am very concerned about all the firewall components and the dash with its controls:frown:.........

Lou
IMG_1950 69 pig failed SBC project dash.webp
IMG_1951 1969 pig failed sbc project, Ds side front.webp
IMG_1953 69 pig failed SBC project.webp
 
have a Headliner dilemma............all headliner bows have been removed and there are 4 missing out of I believe 8 and they were not in place...........how do I know which ones are missing?..........and how to tell where they go? there is no identification on the ones I have; parts breakdown is not helping as they are only numbered 1 to 8 front to back appreciate the input;

Lou
 
n2666s said:
have a Headliner dilemma............all headliner bows have been removed and there are 4 missing out of I believe 8 and they were not in place...........how do I know which ones are missing?
Click to expand...

Lou, I think they are all the same. I don't recall paying special attention to those when I put mine back together. The bows should be an easy find with all the piggies going topless.
 
Charles; thank you again........now I feel like a moron:doh:; but spent about 4 hours last night trying to find pix of early pig engine compartments to try to see where things go..........as you can tell by the pix of the 69, the engine compartment has been gutted and am going to have to bring things together:hhmm:; just not smart enough without a pattern "early engine compartment pix" to go by:bang:

Lou
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom