Thread: Old School new Ride

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Hello ,

Thank you for allowing me to be part of a special group of folks.

I'm building a 1952 Chevy Styleline Deluxe with the heart and parts of a 1997 Trans Am with Lt1. I am not new to this world of hotrods ,but am new to a build like this. I'm looking for ideals and options for this build. Id like to use as much of the donor as possible or at least with in reason when considering the wallet. Thanks for any suggestions and advice in advance.

Welcome to CHR Ronnie! That sounds like a very nice project you have going on. A good friend of mine is working on a 51 Chevy sedan and just put a MII set up under the front. I can't really help you with if you can use the front suspension from your donor or if you'd even want to due to the set up of it. You might be able to use the rear end under your 52 though. I'm sure some others on here will have better info on that for you.

Ronnie, that is an absolutely ---FINE--- little Chevy. Is that dual Appleton spots that I see on the cowl ???? TOO COOL MAN. ......Absolutely Righteous........ Seriously, I would be proud to call her mine.

I see this as a front clip/rear clip project, retaining the stock middle part of the frame and welding the Trans Am clips to it.

First thing I would do is to get the Trans Am onto a flat and level surface, with all the tires aired up to factory specs, and take readings off the front and rear control arms with an angle finder. You'll then want to remove the springs front and rear and use Allthread in place of the springs to bring the control arms to the same angle finder readings that you had when the springs were in place. This will insure that you get the same front and rear geometry that you had with the springs in place, insuring a "factory correct" ride and transient response to the old Chevy.

Some fellows will just weld the clips onto the old Chevy frame stubs and then have to jump through hoops with cut front coils and dropped spindles and such garbage to get the ride height where they want it. We will try to use a little more intelligence and foresight in this project, with your approval. We will put the old Chevy body at the ride height and attitude that you want before we ever strike an arc. Then, we will weld the front and rear clips into the old Chevy with the threaded rod in place, holding the control arms at the right place like they were stock, and when the clip is welded in place, voila, the whole mess will be sittin' correctly. All that will be necessary at that point will be to install the correct rate springs and you'll be done. There is a supplier of springs, Eaton Detroit Spring, that can help supply the correct springs when we get to that point, by supplying them with the front and rear weight and distance between spring seats, upper and lower.

If this procedure sounds to you like what you had in mind, let us proceed. You will need a flat and level workplace, so get to work on that part of the project. Warning: a garage floor is neither level nor flat. You may want to set up a steel platform (frame jig) to work from, that's up to you.

P.S. You should vehemently resist any temptation to narrow the Trans Am clips. That will render them into junk by destroying all the geometry that the factory built into the suspension and steering. If you need the clips to be a little narrower, do it with wheel offsets. An altered scrub radius is not nearly so gnarly to deal with as a narrowed clip.
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It's not every build that gets Tech's attention and strikes his imagination. Follow his advice to the letter and your build will be right the first time. That is, assuming Eaton does a better job with your springs than they did with mine.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

It's not every build that gets Tech's attention and strikes his imagination. Follow his advice to the letter and your build will be right the first time. That is, assuming Eaton does a better job with your springs than they did with mine.

Sorry to hear this. Can you tell me what happened?
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Nothing a shim didn't fix.

On my 69 nomad, I told them to make the left rear hold an inch higher because the fuel tank is on that side. They assured me that new springs would fix it, no need for manufactured deviation. Well, upon installation of the new springs, it had the same old problem. So I put in a couple shims so it would sit level.

Tech, what would you think of his going to air bags instead of springs?

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Tech, what would you think of his going to air bags instead of springs?

I've never used them, but have no negatives regarding them.
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Tech....Yes them are dual spots...Also run the full Lake pipes . I just think it was cool back in the day and seems it should still be that way.

I appreciate all your info and energy towards this build. I am still having my doubts about cutting on the old girl ,considering she is still such a solid car.

I'll give you the rest of the story . She is all original except for paint and wheels along with a few add-ons thru out the years. Early in her life the 216 gave out and was replaced with 235 truck heartbeat . It has plenty of life left in it , the three on the tree shifts good . Linkage needs a rebuild for sure. Also the old girl has been lowered the old school way of heating the springs. 1 1/2 inches in the front and 2 1/2 in the rear. Which brings me to my next thoughts........ What about doing a brake system upgrade, along with updating to an open driveline. Keeping the strong 235 and updating shifter to a nice floor shift, Swap out column to a full tilt column. Updating electrical to handle vintage air and a few extra comfort things for the passengers along with lighting upgrades. Id like to retain as much of the old girls looks as possible, for a fat fender girl she still gets a few looks, but can be a little hateful to drive some days. Your thoughts??

Seems to me, everything on your wish list is in the donor vehicle.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Seems to me, everything on your wish list is in the donor vehicle.

I was just thinking the same thing.
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you can buy some bitchin doner late model cars for the cost of a vintage air front drive and compressor-------

Actually I don't know if I could cut that one up myself, I think what you mentioned in your upgrades wouldn't classify at cutting it up though. I really like the idea of keeping the six and modernizing the rest like you mentioned for comfort and safety. I would go for the Vintage air system vs making something else fit. Those systems install so easy and work great. I love mine. Welcome to the show, There's good people here.

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

you can buy some bitchin doner late model cars for the cost of a vintage air front drive and compressor-------

Right, even with the car show discount.

-unix

I just seen better pics of your 52 and donor TA. Wow I like that 52, it has a great look to it! I just bought a rough 92 Firebird for a few parts for my 82 Camaro. I sold a lot of other parts off it already where I looks like at the end, my parts will be free with a few bucks in my pocket besides. List you extra stuff on Facebook and I bet your donor will be close to free also.