My 56 chevy project project

Scaled my patter, printed it out glued it to a sheet of steel I had kicking around. You see that chalk line 2 inches behind the pattern? That's 29 5/16" from the center of the shock tower.

 

Need to relocate my brace so it will still hold after I cut

 

So, Been home sick for two days, Military don't like Strep throat, can get allot of people sick. Spent yesterday buying/setting up my mill. Today, measuring. cutting. biting my nails, praying, agonizing, etc. etc. have been at this for almost 3 weeks. Think I did it right. Got to remeasure everything again before I weld anything. but it looks good. see the chalk line right under the front cab mount? That's right where the respective measurement's for either side is supposed to be. Even my wife said it looked good!!

 

Drivers side was perfect!!!........then I checked the p***enger side.......yup. 2" inches too long. So started at the back with Mr plumb bob and worker my way forward again. Did this on both sides. Drivers side is is 1/8" too short and p***enger side is 5/32" too long. Hmm. Back on goes the thinking cap.

 

Would it work to shorten the p***enger side 9/32 to equal the driver side? Are you using the shock holes for measuring?

 

Shock holes as referance because they don't move. I adjusted the shims behind the a arms on both the left and right side so the spindles are equal to one another. Then worked at how and where the suspension moves. Idea being I will have everything dialed as close as possible so when it goes to the alignment shop there is little if any work to do. Just verify what I have done because they can change the spindle location as well as the suspension geometry by adding or removing shims from the upper a arm mount.

 

Indeed very cool We have a 55 second series love the stock I beam and looking to get her going soon !

Thanks for your service to our country !

 

The main thing to keep in mind is a square frame when grafting 2 frames into 1, that is the most important thing. ***uming the graft leaves the new front reasonably level, the alignment shop will do what ever the computer tells them to do to get alignment perfect. I would use Mr plum bob and drop it through the shock mount hole (***uming it does not hit lower A arm) and scribe an x on the floor on both sides, then move to the back and find a spot where both sides match and do the same thing. Now it is a simple matter to measure from front to back to see if both sides are the same length. I would also triangulate, that measurement will tell you if the graft is centered from right to left. With the x's you have scribed on the floor, triangulation is as simple as measuring diagonals from rear dr.scribe to front pa. scribe and vice versa. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know, more or less just thinking out loud. good luck. ps. I have a 55 I am going to do in a while.

 

All good information. Had not thought about dropping it through the shock holes. Was using the magnetic base from my dial indicator so I could have a place to hang the plumb bob. And yes I triangulate all the measurments to make sure they are square.

 

Wel' its Finally welded in!! still gotta finish welding the inside of the frame but it holds itself together under its own weight. wheel base will be exactly 115" under weight if engine. I also triangulated my measurements driver front to p***enger rear and vice versa to make sure everything was square and it is.Only took about 4 weeks of procrastinating and finding things wrong before everything fell in to place and all the measurements were spot on from every angle.

 

So, I gotta clean up the front of my house, Garage and get all the junk sorted before the in laws show up for Thanksgiving. Kept trying to get started cleaning my garage and everything I did kept leading me back to doing something about my truck so I could "store" my engine in it and "store" the front sheet metal on it and while I'm at it I could "store" the transmission behind the engine. besides I get to look at the front end under the weight of an engine and transmission. I gotta say the wheel center looks perfect. I don't like the way the front sheet metal is mounted right now, but it is what it is temporarily. All the gaps are acceptable for now. but Dam the wheel center cant get any better than what it is now! I know, I gotta do something with the rear end. That's still the factory rear axle on the factory springs with the original rims and original size tires. so it has a severe rake looks kinda goofy but it rolls. maybe if I get time next weekend I can swap the Camaro axle and drive shaft in it. That's it for now, Gotta move my mill and situate everything, couldn't hurt to to put all my wrenches away instead of randomly thrown on my work bench either.

 

Nice Job. thanks for sharing and posting.yruhot

 

Looks great. subscribed. I put a camaro clip in my 59 using the same method.

 

As always, updates are further between than I would like, and progress is even less so. Although when I do make an update it seems to be a huge amount of work has been completed. Even if it's just a couple hours each day over the weekend.
Being military and an NCO I have to worry about quite a bit more than just me and mine. Been pulling a B pillar on one of my Soldiers cars out and putting on new doors. Now it needs an A pillar to make the front do close. I hate body work,Even more so if it's not my Junk. It is what it is life rolls on.

 

And with it off the jack stands sitting on the springs. Got the front spring perch bolted in. Need to do so.e fancy hole drilling to attach the rear shackles. Might not even pull any leaves out of the pack. I like the way it's sitting now. But that is right on the spring eye. Might change my mind once the shackles are attached

 

Got the rear shackles located, holes drilled and bolted in. New used short bed on the frame. Need to cut anther couple inches off the rear of the frame so the bed sits down on the frame properly.

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I'm liking the stance! It's going to be killer.

 

Looking good!! Amazing how much difference stance makes.

 

Been a while, some times life wont get outta the way. Anyhow, the entire lower "A" pillar on the p***enger side of my cab was rotten. I have had the parts from LMC to patch it back together for some time. I finally got in and got whats left of the old cut out, and the new in. This isnt done but its good enough to get the p***enger step in. Then I can fit the firewall mounted brake pedal, then the steering coulmn can be rotated upwards to better align with the camaro front clip steering. Feeling good about the progress!!

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I know I can buy a steering column mount online for $50. But I dont like them. So I made one. No this isnt the final rendition. I made it longer than need be so I can find the location best suited to my lower column mount. Then I can mill it down. Now im in a waiting game again!! Ordered a brake boster and Master so I can figure out how high up I can go to clear what ever engine I put in but I need the booster to give me a height limit. Then I can line up the collapsible steering shaft from the camaro clip. It will be nice to be able to turn the front wheels again. I keep getting this nagging thought " just thow it together and drive it as a rat rod!" But i want this to be nice.