ROCKSTARS,,,How'd You Get Your A$$ Sooo Low??

first off this business coupe is tuff!!!!! i had one that was pretty tuff too!!!!




okay brian its time to slice the wheel wellsand move them up. that how my chevy was done. bring it over and i will give you a hand........

 

Too late!! How do you feel about body work??

Bryan

 

Looks bitchin'...so glad you kept that blue color.......

 

Here are some pics of my driveline channel and my rear notch so far. Don't judge me on the MONSTER ASS notch that is done!!!! It was there when I bought the car!!! We just had to clean it up to make it work!!!!

 

I have the bags set up behind the axle on my 54, there is a pic on page 3 of this thread. Havent gotten to drive it yet though. suicidal element does your trans really sit up that high, Tunnel looks huge

 

You one crazy mofo!! You still managed to keep your seats white though!..I'll let you know when I get my parts,thanks......"CJ"

 

We did that so that I can raise up the tranny a lil bit higher than it currently sits. I am going to raise the engine about 1-2" once I get the Mustang II front installed and put the new motor mounts in. I want the oil pan and tranny pan as far away from the ground as possble for riding low. I have the extra room in my engine compartment. And yes the driveline sits that high also when it is layed out.

 

Bttt

 

Bryan Alex says call him he will help ya out!

 

Alright guys...another question for ya. I've got the sheetmetal (16 ga) ready to go for my driveline tunnel, but I started thinking about the two body-braces I cut out for the driveline to clear. Did anyone rebuild those? I kept the braces and could extend 'em and just add the tunnel in between, but it's a decent amount of work and I'm not entirely sure it's necessary. What do the Rockstars think?

Thanks, Bryan

 

Rusk,
re-built them.
this is what chopstix did to his 51.

 

Thanks David,,,I hadn't thought of doing it like that,,,looks solid.

Bryan

 

I think he used 2X1/2 sq tube, and just made a bunch of relief cuts, then bent it.
but if you had a mandrel bender....I wish.

 

I measured the tunnel area i needed and used a sheet metal break to form the half moon shape. like half inch bends to create the arch. then i used a bead roller across it in 2 areas. it looks like a stove pipe but i could stand on it on the floor with out it bending. so i did not re do the braces.

 

I want to make my new '53 into a taildragger. Right now it is raised all of the way around. The front has a 4 inch block and the rear has extended shackles with air shocks. I really don't want to get into c-nothching or bagging so what should I do?
Should I leave the front high with the 4" block?
How should I lower the back?

This is all new to me. After seeing your taildraggers at Paso I decided that is the direction I want to go with the '53.

Here is how she sits now...

 

Chevygirlrox,

I really dig that '53...so much so that I sent the pic of your intake to a local inline guru here in Sacramento to try to get some more info on it. Still waiting to hear back.

As far as lowering your Chevy, it's pretty tough to get a tail-dragger look without cutting some metal. These cars sit sky-high from the factory! My suggestion would be to start with a mild notch, 3" blocks, and a leaf or two removed. You might need to cut out a little section of the trunk between the notches for the pumpkin as it'll hit the floor when you find those ever-so-prevalent potholes that lowered cars naturally seek out.

The notch doesn't have to be as be as large as some of the ones in this post...even a little "C" in the frame will offer a few extra inches of travel that will make the difference between your glove-box door flying open at every bump and a nice, cushy ride.

Keep us posted on the build.

Bryan

 

Chevygirl,

I have the gambino notch going in my 54, BUT it the mean time my tail dragger has 3" blocks, 3 leafs removed, and bump stops cut down to 1/2". It has airjacker shocks in the rear, and when they are deflated the ass end sits about 1 1/2" from the ground. This is with 245 75 r15 wide whites. I'll post pictures in a bit.

 

Super, I'd love to see them.

I think I will start lowering her tomorrow AM. I have to get those blocks where they belong, under not over!

 

H_U_G_E __ B_U_M_P

Yes, I realize that this is quite an old thread, but I wanted to heave this back-to-the-top and see if anyone else/new could chime in with more pics!

I'm planning on bagging the rear of my '55 Starchief and I know a guy that is a fantastic welder/fabricator, but a majority of his experience is non automotive except for trailer fabrication. I'd like pics of notches, bag mounts and 4, 3, 2 link & truck-arm type suspensions (hopefully homemade, or at least fairly copy-able) so that he can have some pictures to go along with my verbal babbling.

Also, I know that Chevy and Pontiac shared several similarities from body panels to glass to chrome... but I'm a bit surprised to see a lot of these pics of early Chevy floor panel shots (under the rear seat, body braces) that look EXACTLY like the floor of my '55. Some of those Chevy pics showed most of the flooring under the seat gone, while there was at least 1 car, if not 2, that had a majority of the flooring still there. Since my car is a 4 door, and I fully intend on trying to keep as much, if not all, of the rear seat I'd like some ideas for that as well... hell, I'd like to keep as much trunk flooring as possible since I also love my subwoofers... but for this car I'd rather go for LOW now and try to fit in the LOUD later.

Sheesh, I sound so demanding, but really I appreciate any and all input, and I love to see pics, details, schematics, whatever!!!

Thanks,

~Bryant

 

Hey Bryant....you might want to give Alex at Gambino Kustoms a call and inquire on one of those Chevy notch kits. On the two Chevys I notched, both kits had to be trimmed a little for optimum fit...you could do the same for your car and still have plenty of space for your axle 'cause those babies are tall!! Of course you could fab one up yourself, but honestly, if you add up time and materials, that kit is a well worth the $$.

Here's a link to a thread I posted on my rear suspension,,, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=202220
There's a link on there with some pics of a couple more notches.

If you're gonna run truck arms, you can get flat bag plates to run off the arms and off the frame and gusset 'em. Gambino sells those too as does suicidedoors.com. You could also run the over-the-axle brackets, but you get more lift off the arms, so that's the way I'd set 'em up.

There's some good info in this thread too,,, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144403

Bryan

 

Thanks for the links Bryan. Lots of great info!

 

Here are the progress pics of my car, hope that helps.
http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q232/chops93typhoon/54%20chevy/

 

Is anyone running bags on the stock front suspension?Just taking the springs out andbuilding brackets for the bags?

 

Does gambino make 2link panhard bar kits? and if soo is an one running one? for 53