51 Chevy coupe-Sled to Gasser

Ok, hope this works. Ive been messing with the big pic posting crap for a while and I might have it. I decided recently to turn my 1951 Chevy coupe thats already done up as a sled into a gasser. Afew of you disagreed but Ive had lowered cars all my life and some bagged ones too. So Ill try and post this thread with just the first pic of what i started with. If it works I'll post the rest of the pics I have up to where I'm at with the project.

 

this will be cool to see! of coarse im one of the people who say NOOOOO! hahaha! but a gasser would be cool, you dont see too many 51 coupe gassers! Sleds are everywhere

 

your pic posting is working and im keen to see more. what are you going to power it with Chris?

 

this should be cool i like to see air and sunlight under old cars

 

Oh HELL yes! Sleds are kool but Gassers are cooler! SUBscribed!

 

Ok, it worked! So I picked this car up last year pretty much as you see it. It had a 73 Pinto front cross member and front susp. The rear had a crazy c-notch/cage setup with coil springs, ladder bars and panhard bar. After driving it for a year, and coming close to bagging it (like the last couple cars I had) I couldnt resist turning it into a gasser. With a good friends help (he's a much better welder than I am) and a little dough we started undoing what the previous owner had done. The first [pic is how it looked before we started.

We decided to start in the rear, and this is what it used to look like in the trunk

First we took out the rear end , springs, ladder bars and panhard bar

Then we had to fill the notch with square tube.

Filler piece. Sorry about the blurry cel phone pic. Cage is out at this point.

This is what we used for rear springs. Dave (the welder) had these in his back yard, among a collection of about 45 cars. Some inside a warehouse type garage and some outside. Theyre landcruiser springs. Whatever I could get free or cheap, we used. We pulled out 4 leafs and decided we'd go under the springs with the axle. I dont want to radius the wheel wells. Some of you probably dont agree with that either, but its what I like right?

The previous owner hadnt removed the stock rear spring hangers, so we made use of them

Springs in and the axle bolted in, just gotta put the ladder bars back in which we didnt have to alter any mounting points just adjust the heims and they went right back in. Were gonna do shocks later after the fronts done (havent bought them yet)

Turns out the driveline went right back in as well with no changes, cool! I backed it out of the garage, got out to walk around and made the decision to put back a couple leafs and move the axle on top The next time we work on it

 

wow that last pic screams 70's stinkbug lol ...i like where its going

 

Ok some more progress. But first another view from the last time we worked on it

I showed up at Daves the next week with a bunch of goodies that I had been scrounging up. Some new, some used, some traded for tattoo work. I own a tattoo shop here in Reno, Black Cat Tattoo (shameless plug) The front wheels I picked up at summit. Dave threw the tires on them. He was saving them for one of his vws A lot of his cars are vws, but hes got some cool hot rods, too. The slots and tunnel ram and carbs I traded a gun for. And the headers were craigslist too for $150!




So next came some hustling for the build. My business partner at the Shop sold me a decent 88 chevy shortbed fleetside pickup that was lowered and had a 305 for $400 and I flipped it for $1500 and bought my rear tires and a new steering box

 

Damn no way! My brother totally wanted to buy this car when you had it for sale but our band ended up going on a 2 month tour and figured it sold by the time we got back...Ah man totally bummed to see this turn into a gasser

 

In the last pic the axle had already been flipped to the top and the leafs added. At the beginning of this next work day we finished off the rear redo, got the ladder bars back in and re ran new brake lines. Shocks and the rear will be done
From the rear with the new tires


Next I backed it in and we started to pull off the front clip so we could get at the front suspension and do headers and steering

Started cutting the front suspension out, It was on there really good and part of the frame came with it. "No problem" Dave said. "I'll fix it"

This is what he cut out

Passenger side where he repaired the frame

Driver side

A look at the side with the front on jackstands. Startin to look like a gasser! Were working on it again this thursday and hop to have the speedway setup under the front and it a roller by the end of the day. We can only work on it one day a week but progress has been swift (Dave doesnt mess around) Ill post more soon, what do you guys think so far?

 

Ill get another one to be a sled

 

Well, I'm definitely taking my '51 the other direction, but gassers are plenty cool, and it looks/sounds like you're having fun- rock on!

 

killer streetfreak

 

You're doin' it right! Big improvement.

 

...............First started to read this thread I said no way......but it really turn out great....Looks good...

 

very cool

 

My 51 Bus Coupe, that I've since given to my nephew, is a street gasser also. The rear was raised using only coil wrapped, over load type shocks, and it's not too stiff; in fact they helped the normally narrow, weak, stock leaf springs by controlling lateral movement. The front suspension is blocked up 2 inches by using spacers on the 16 suspension cradle to frame bolts, then welding in a structural support. The stance is good, not to high, but obviously not stock; and it rides good too. Mild 350, beefed Powerglide with a 2500 RPM stall converter, and a 56 rear end with 4.88 gears on a Positraction third member. It's got a full exhaust starting with 96 Caprice "cop car" LT1 exhaust manifolds, 36 inch long glass pack mufflers, and tail pipes ending at the rear bumper; it sounds real good. Right now the only "interior" is two buckets seats. We're currently putting a new wiring harness in the car. The body's in good shape with only surface rust, but has many small dents and creases. I really like the 51-52 Business Coupes, so your thread caught my eye. Keep up the good work, and be sure to treat Dave well; that's the kind of friend to have. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Awsome keep up the good work.......

 

Any pics?

 

looking good, i think its great you have taken it from 1 way to another

 

I bought this car from a guy who races circle track and it has a goodwrench crate 350 with a pretty lumpy cam, Summit aftermarket heads, Pete Jackson noisy gear drive and thats all I know about it. One of my good friends/clients works at one of the oldest, most reputable machine shops here in town and is building me a new engine for it. He started with a late model roller block, and i picked up a set of World Products heads that he promptly went through. He got me a forged crank, ARP rods and some flat top pistons. It will also have a noisy gear drive and a good sounding cam. I cant wait to hear it with the caps off the headers. The reason for changing the engine is I just want to know everything about what I put in it. Im also thinking about taking out the th350 and putting in a powerglide. It might see the track once or twice. Ive also got a guy who will put in a cage for tattoo work. Were working on it again tomorrow, so I'll post more pics after.

 

Good start.Can't wait for more pics !!!!! Tom (Tired Old Man)

 

lv the turbo if you are planning on doing much street driving.

 

I've got a "document file" of older pics, the nephew has a bunch on a digital camera, but can't find the transfer cable. I have no idea how to post pics, but I do have a PhotoBucket account I set up that's currently empty. I keep saying I'm going to learn how to do this. I get the same "grief" over on ChevyTalk.Org. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Thats what I was thinking

 

Awesome, you saved one from sled hell. Can't wait to see the front done.

 

Some cars that inspire me

 

So we got to work yesterday and had to set the front clip back on to see how much frame extension I wanted for the cross bar up front. The front of the leaf springs are going to sit a liitle forward of where the stock frame is

With the front axle assembled, we rolled it under and kinda lined up the springs

Then we set the clip on to figure where I wanted the front wheels to be

Startin to look like somethin


After marking where the rear spring eye would line up with the frame, the radius arm plates from the old suspension had to be removed.

To get the right height in the front, Dave built spring mounts out of square tube that turned out pretty cool

 

Dont know why the pics are all different sizes. Anyway, next was to tack on the rear spring mounts and bolt on the springs to see what we needed to do in the front

 

Ok I figured out my pic issue. I am NOT a computer guy

Tackin it up

Comin off the front of the frame just far enough for the cross tube to be just forward of the bottom of the grill