im hoping this is a popular swap so there will be some experience here. i'n helping a buddy with this today so hoping to get some answers within a few hours. i've found a couple threads with some useful information that i printed off but i have some more specific questions. this is for a car, not a truck, and a majority of the threads i've found are for stovbolts which seems to be a slightly different deal? so we have the leaf springs, axle, and driveshaft from the 57 to put in. the 53 was completely stock. buddy took a look at the 53 chevy rear and it appears to be riveted in? fun. so once we figure out how to get that off... when we go about putting the new rear end in, does it have to be riveted in? or are the specific bolts to use? anyone have any experience with that? also i'm seeing people say that the new holes to mount the rear end are 3/4" an inch from the old ones.. and i also saw two posts where it said 1 3/4" -- anyone know for sure the correct measurment, or is it a safe bet to just try to figure it out for ourselves? then i'm basically im trying to get a list together for the hardware store and/or parts store of things we are gonna need to get this stock end out and the new one in. bolts, ubolts, pads, what am i needing/looking for here? the motor is pulled, so we wont be hooking it up to drive or anything. thanks so much for your help guys, happy sunday!
oh yeah, and what about lowering blocks too. should we get into that yet as long as we're swapping it? or are we trying to tackle too much for one day?
So did ya do a Transmission swap so you can use the OPEN drive shaft '57 rearend ? The '53 is CLOSED drive and the Rivits you speak of must be in the Torque tube Cus the Rear Ends are NOT rivited in. You need to do more than just swap a rear end in this car. Sounds like you need to research what your working on or just Leave it alone. MANY good Old cars have been ruined by guys with no clue.
yes my buddy has a 55 powerglide transmission or he might buy the 57 powerglide these are the pieces riveted on...
There is a bolt that goes through them, but the actual piece is like riveted in, if that makes sense.
I'd leave the original springs in the car, and just swap in the rearend. Have you guys figured out how to mount the trans in the car? take a good look at everything and think it all through before you get too ansy to start cutting things up.
well basically what we have from the 57 is the whole deal together. everything is attached. the leaf springs, ubolts, everything is still on. but the rear leafs are longer than the 53/54 leafs in other threads it seems like this swap is really easy, or so people say, and that basically you can just take everything from the 57 and do some minor adjusting drill a new hole and the whole thing will just bolt right up. now im thinking its more complicated than that. the rear end we have was basically just pulled out of a stock 57 leafs and all.. so its completely attatched. the drive shaft is not hooked up.. but the leafs are. so i'm guessing we need to take all the ubolts and other bolts off and disconnect the springs from the axle? and when you actually go to change a rear end, when people talk about measuring and redrilling the center hole/bolt what exactly is that... is that the single bolt in the center of the big Ubolts that holds the axle to the springs? another thought - would it be easier to get the motor and transmission in first, then connect the driveshaft THEN put in the rear end? (for measuring)
You will notice on your stock '53 rear its bolted to the springs on a Fulcrum to allow the movement due to running a solid torque tube. You nee to measure the distance from the Locating pin hole to the center of your axle. That is how much the '57 axle need to be moved back. You can do this easy if you plan on running a lowering block by off setting the HOLE & Locating PIN the disatnce you measured on the Stock mount. There is NO NEED to run the '57 springs on your car ! If you wanted to get springs you can buy NEW ones that bolt right in & have the Locating PIN already moved back. DONT BUTCHER YOUR CAR JUST CUS SOMEONE ELSE HERE HAS ! Not everyone has a BETTER idea.
Cool thread! I've been trying to brain storm on how to upgrade the rear suspension on my 51 Chevy. I've got some kick in the small block and a 76 Camaro 10 bolt w/posi. I'm feeling a little sketchy on the 1 3/4 leafs. I want to stay away from 4 links. I want to stick with leafs.
There is a bolt in the middle of the leaf spring, that holds the leafs together, and the head of it is round and is what centers the spring pad on the spring. The way the 53 pivoting spring perches work, the bolt is not centered under the axle tube, it's forward a bit. You need to figure out how far offset it is, and drill a new hole in the new spring perch, that far offset. Also you need to see about the width of the perches, and the angle, and make sure that the perches are correctly mounted to the rearend so they fit the springs just right...my guess is you'd need to cut them off and relocate them a bit. If you keep the engine where it belongs, with it's original 3 or 4 degree tilt relative to the frame, then it doesn't matter which you do first.
C.P.P. in Orange County sell the 1 3/4 spring pad ($20.00 pair) and has the holes drilled to position rear end correctly.
i really appreciate everyones help. really. i know desoto is saying not to change the leaf springs at all, but i guess i thought it would be easier since the leaf springs are already attached to the 57 rear... but what do you think? would it be better to take the 57 rear apart and try to line up the 57 axle on 53/54 springs? ive heard from a couple different people that the 57 leaf springs are actually better? or would anyone suggest buying a new leaf spring kit so you dont have to use lowering blocks? also... i found a photo for reference. the red arrow is the bolt in the center of the leaf springs? the blue arrow is the spring perch? so we want to measure the original one and make it the same as the original on the 57?? sorry for all the questions!
If your gonna stick with the 53 leafs. The spring pads is all you need.Thats pretty much what I did on my 51. The only difference is that I had my leafs flatten by Hollywood Spring a few years back so I'm not running lowering blocks.
The 57 rear is a great swap. The width is almost prefect and don't cut any e-brake cables they will work. Your making it way too hard. redrill the 57 locating hole by 7/8 inch I think are order the lowering block for doing this. Forget the 57 glide trans. You'll make a mess tring to get that thing in there. IMHO
sooooooooooooooo i just got ahold of my buddy and he pulled the entire rear end out, exactly what was pulled out of the 57 - so he pulled out the entire rear end with the leaf springs attached by removing the frame mounts... i dont know what kind of a mess we're into now. what do you guys suggest how do i go about getting into this with him? i think those frame mounts were riveted on... would it be unsafe to bolt them back to the car? i measured the width of the leaf springs and the 53 leaf springs are 1 3/4" wide and the 57 springs are 2" wide --- wouldn't wider springs be better? i think when i was reading online that the upgraded springs were all 2" wide - or is that only a good idea if i was going with brand new springs? also i noticed that some of the leafs are looking a little loose on the 57 springs... what do you guys think? should bolt the frame mounts to the body and put the 53 leafs back and go from there?
the locating hole is the hole on the spring perch? how do you know it's 7/8" i feel like i've read 3 different measurements for re-drilling a hole and "i think are order the lowering block for doing this" -- what were you trying to say here.. i think there's a typo? the 53 tranny wasnt working so he wants that pulled. the driveshaft is a 57 but the powerglide tranny is a 55 is this turning into the johnny cash caddy song with all the different parts? lol.
Leave the stock springs in it, get some new u-bolts, spring perches, 1 3/4 wide by 1/2 thick strap, put the 57 rear end in it with out the springs, measure the wheel opening, divide in half for the center, drop a plumb line from there, and move axle back to center on the plumb line, measure the distance you moved it back. Last 51 I did I moved the rear back 1 3/4 with 1 3/4 by 1/2 thick steel strap. Drill one hole for the original spring bolt and drill another for your rear end spring perch hole, get same diameter steel rod for second hole, press in leaving about an 1/8 from going all the way through and weld under side of pin to strap, grind smooth. Bolt all together, put weight on the wheels, set pinion degree, tack perches, remove, fully weld perches, bolt back in for good.
All your sketches/pics are for a tri-five, and DO NOT apply to the 49-54 cars. Do not use the 57 springs, use the stock 53 springs, hangers, and shackles. The 49-54 springs are weak, for use with the torque tube design, but with traction bars and overload shocks, they will be fine. On the 57 rear end, redrill the pin locating hole forward 1 1/2 inches and inward 1/2 inch. We just did this swap on a 51 Bus Coupe. Use the tri-five brake cable (s) and modiify the stock 53 fulcrum and extension rod to the parking brake to work with the 57 cable (s). You'll have to fab up a different parking brake handle assembly, as it gets removed in a V-8 swap; put it on the floor, or go with a foot accuated unit from a later model. I would'nt use a cast iron Powerglide unless it was the only thing available, even then i'd wait for something else. If you cut 8" out of the center of the cross member, and modify a Dodge Dart style transmission cross member, you'll have a drop down mount for the trans. Just cut the ears off the MOPAR part, and use 2 bolts to hold it in, you'll have to add a bracket for a trans mount, but it looks good, and fits well; no expensive over engineered mount needed here. Use CE frame and motor mounts for the engine, 94-96 Caprice LT-1 modified exhaust manifolds, and the engine will look like it grew there. What's the expression; been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Butch/56sedandelivery.
If you haven't marked the center of the stock axle on the car, how do you even know how to locate another one? Put the stock springs back on the car. This is how people fuck things up, by taking shit apart with absoloutely no clue what the hell they're doing. So I'd say start by telling your friend to stop before he screws it up any worse. I'm just sitting here in amazement because I can't believe between the two of you neither one has figured out that the rearends in these cars are attached to the springs with two great big obvious U-bolts on each side. U-bolts that it takes about 15 seconds each with a cutoff wheel to buzz through, that cost maybe $5 a shot to replace and that you can buy in any parts store or spring shop. U-bolts that virtually every car or truck with a paralell leaf spring suspension has used to attach the axles, from the beginning of auto production to the latest pickups out of Detroit. Instead you're cutting off brackets from the frame without even measuring things to see if something else will even fit first. I mean come on, no one can possibly be that dumb, you're putting one over on everyone here. 55-57 Chevy and '70-'81 Camaro rearends BOLT IN on the STOCK '53 SPRINGS if you RELOCATE THE LOCATING PIN HOLE by approximately an inch-inch and a half WHICH ANYONE can do with a DRILL and a good bit. The hole will need to move both towards the front of the pad and will be off-center of the pad. Between here and Chevytalk.org there must be 100 different threads explaining how this works. There's even a thread on Chevytalk with photos of a Camaro rearend install. You can ALSO compensate for the PIN HOLE ISSUE using LOWERING BLOCKS. POSIES makes BRAND NEW springs that FIT THE STOCK PERCHES and do not require the pin hole relocation for about $350 a pair, for those scared of the stock springs for some reason, or if they're worn out or broken. So there is NO REAL REASON TO REMOVE THE STOCK PERCHES. That said, if you want to spend $500, you can buy a kit from Walton Fabrications that does exactly this - replaces the springs and the perches and is not terribly difficult to install. The 55-57 spring perches are not quite an exact fit on the 54 or older Chevy spring, they may hang off one side or the other by 1/2 inch or so, but with new U-bolts they will work. The pins keep the rearend from moving around. People have been doing these swaps since before I was even born and driving down the road on stock '54 or older springs just fine. Christ, I remember reading about how to do this rearend swap in a late '60s Rod & Custom when I was like 12... If you get wheel hop with the stock springs, add a pair of traction bars and stiffer shocks. Plenty of guys have been doing this swap for longer than I've even been alive, though, and their cars drive just fine. Those using a Camaro rearend should get the lower spring plate with it, you can take the plates and swap side for side and get a shock mount hole in about the right place, or for about $20 a welding shop should be able to put the stock '49-'54 lower mount on them.
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