I've got a 50 chevy coupe I want to bag just the rear on. I am a beginner to building rods. I searched the old threads for a how to on this but didn't come up with anything other than recommendations for this kit. Is there a Tech or How to on how to do a complete install on one of these kits?
I'm gonna do one soon with pics, but you really don't need it. I bought two kits, one for my '51 and one for my friends '54...we notched the '54 in a day, mainly because the kit is designed so well. Start with this thread from Stickylifter: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119844&highlight=tech+notch The main thing to look at in this thread is where to cut out the wheelwells so that you can get access to weld in the notches. Off the top of my head, here are the steps (some are omitted 'cause they're obvious e.g. remove the shocks, remove the back seat, etc.): 1. Use the outside notch plate to determine where to cut from inside the wheelweel. You can do this buy placing that plate on the frame and marking about 1" around the outside of the plate. We just cut near the rear body-mount at first...my suggestion is to brace the floor of the trunk and then unbolt the body mount and cut out. We didn't do this on the '54 and the trunk started to sag a little from us sitting in it and welding. 2. Cut the rest of the trunk out between the wheelwells (the pics from the link below will show how much). The sawzall made quick work of the sheetmetal, but took a little longer where the shock-mount is reinforced. 3. Clean the hell out of your frame. You'll also want to clean up the edges around all the pieces of the notch that you'll be welding. 4. You'll want to jack up the rear-end all the way to the frame to determine where the notch will sit. A tip from Alex Gambino: don't use the bump-stop to center the notch. The bump-stop makes contact on a plate on the rear-end and not in the center of the axle. The way the kit is designed, the lower portion of the outside notch plate is contoured to make the most contact with the frame when it's centered over the axle. Even though this was the case, I double-checked it. Also, the longer of the two ends on the outside notch plate goes toward the front of the car. 5. Mark the frame where you want the notch. Tack the top of the notch to the outside plate (the top piece sits over the side piece). By doing this, you'll know where the top piece makes contact with the frame. You might have to trim the outside plate a little on the bottom...I did, but it was only because I didn't cut out enough near the seat (I couldn't have cut any more without cutting into the metal that the seat back hangs. Note: the '54 is a 4-door). We didn't run a bead inside of the notch because the owner didn't think it was necessary, but I will on my car. Tack the notch to the frame. 6. Jack the rear up again to make sure everything's lined up...if it looks good, throw down some nice welds....this is your frame we're talking about, so if you're not good at welding, get someone who is. 7. Now comes the fun part...grab that sawzall and use the inside of the notch to guide the blade and cut your frame in half. For some reason, this part had me grinnin' ...probably 'cause it wasn't my car. Cut the other side and don't let the piece of the frame hit you in the foot. 8. You'll have to grind down your frame after cutting it so that the inside piece of the kit fits flush with the rest of the kit. Tack that piece in and grind anything down that might be hanging below the frame rail (not necessary, just asthetically pleasing). Then, weld the rest of the notch. 9. Repeat on the other side of the frame. I probably forgot a bunch of stuff, but you'll see that's it's really not that hard. Also, Alex is the man and will answer any questions you have. One more suggestion, listen to him! He'll be the first to tell you that I've admitted to wishing I'd listened to him in the first place once or twice Here are pics of the '54 http://50chevy.com/photos/carnival?page=6. I have more from the build, but I'll have to wait to post 'em 'til tonight. FWIW, those aren't my welds. Bryan
Thank you for the info. I'm pulling the body off the frame now anyway, so it should be a good time to do this to it!
Thanks, I'm really not though. I try my best to read everything I can and listen when I meet people with knowledge and experience. I am willing to try almost anything when it comes to these Chevys, though . Hopefully we'll get some info from others on this 'cause as the old saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I know Rustypipes just did one of these and Alex just might chime in if he can drag his ass outta the shop! Bryan
Oh man, I could've just saved a half an hour! I'm not sure what the best approach would be for you...cut the trunk out first and then take off the body? Probably. Good luck. Bryan
I just finished putting the Gambino Notch kit in my 54 chevy. Took about 3 weekends to actually put it in, two whole weekends to measure, level, trim up the notch a little and get everything tits on. One weekend to actually weld it up and put it in with the brackets, bags etc.. Ive put in notches in the past, but gambinos kit is by far the easiest and best quality kit Ive put in so far. Alex is a way cool guy and probally answer any questions you have. Heres a few pics its all I have right now from my phone. I'll try to put some more better quality pics up later, Im still not finished, I still have to mount my shocks, raise my wheel wells, weld alot of stuff thats still tacked up and finish the sheet metal work. The most work was that I had previously bagged car on the unnotched stock frame, so after I cut the trunk for the notch opening. It was 3 weeks of cutting out the old brackets I had welded in, I aint got a plasma cutter. This was a whole lot of fun!! Here’s a slick little way to find the dead center of your axle. Once you do that, jack the rearend up till it hits the frame, then mark the center line on the frame. Then jack up the car, throw a level on the intake and make sure the frame is level from front to back and side to side Find and mark the center of all the notch pieces, Line them all up, You should have a straight line all the way down to the center of the axle, I use a plumb bob for this. Clamp all the pieces to find any gaps, what needs to be trimmed to level the notch front/back and side to side. Since the chevy tophat frames have a slight radius at the bottom, I put a radius on each the side notch pieces so that they butt up perfectly with the bottom of the frame. This assures they will stay level when clamped down again Refit and clamp all the pieces once you get them all where you want them make sure every thing you can imagine is perfectly level in all directions u can imiagine. Then while clamped, tack the pieces together all around, then take them out and weld them up. I chose to weld the notches up out side the car. This way you get nicer welds and If you’re a strength hog like me, you can even get a bead around the inside of the notch if you want Once your done slip the pieces back over the frame rails, Relevel and remeasure everything again to make sure, cuz these baby’s are goin in!! Weld the notch to the frame, you’ll have to cut access holes inside the car to get a bead on the back of the notch, Just cut, peel it back then once your welded put it back and weld the hole shut, make sure your supported in the rear, then hack out that center piece, grind frame flush and weld in the bottom section of the notch. Cut out your driveshaft tunnel, I sliced it from the back of the front seat all the way to the back seat brace, This a good starting point to see if you have to cut any more. Then jack the rear end up and high as it can go till the tires hit the wells, then figure where you want your brackets. Same program measure/level all ways. 3 inches is your average compressed bag, I left more then enough space between the brackets cuz I tend to raise the wheels wells I then built a bridge piece, welded it seamless so I can attach a notch cover to the top of it, this will also be my top mounting points for my shocks. I Shot support bars from all for corners of the original frame to the bridge bars, You don’t have to do this, but I like the extra piece of mind and I wanna do donuts up in this baby one day
Since I haven’t cut my wheel wells out and raised them up yet, I still am able to use the stock gas tank and I ended up cutting the floor brace under front seat all the way back to the back seat. I had to cut the spare tire well out, cuz it was it was hitting before the car was fully lowered holding up the car . So more work still left to do So there you go, Im still not even close to being finished but its not as hard as a task as it seems. The Gambino kit Rules!!! And makes it a lot easier job to do. Now get in there a do it!!!!!! And a big thanks to Alex Gambino for the parts and advice. And Aaron 50 chevy for all the pics from his kickass site. Ok heres a few pics of when I was test fitting everything, I need to take some more now that everything is all cleaned up and dialed. Heres the tunnel I made, I used a piece of 16 gauge sheet metal clamped over a 5” pipe and rolled a mail box out of it. Pushe the mailbox up from under the car, marked it, cut it and welded it in, looks almost stock from top and underneath.. Also cut out and plug welded to sheets over the back seat opening, cuz Im leaving the notch exposed in the trunk and my girlfriend thinks the car stinks like fumes enough as it is I made these brackets out of ¼” steel and welded them to the top of the notch so my bridge bar is bolt on, I want tons of room and easy access to work on the rear Made my upper shock mounts on the top bridge piece out of 3/16” angle Iron, now gusseted Since I went with a 2 link underneath the frame and a panhard behind the rear, I mounted my shock in front of the rear tilting about 12 degrees inward. The shock brackes I made out of some four link scraps and also made them adjustable. And to all you bandwith monitors dont worry, all pics were hosted somewhere else, Phil
Thats right, Alex is gives great advice and is alot of help, He is the Notch master, Thanks again Alex!
Thanks for the info. I wish I still had my 54 Sedan. That thing sits perfect. Wait until you see what I have up next though. SHould be on the road next week....53 Olds sedan. Larry
I've been luckily to meet many of the right people in my life, and Alex is one of them. He's a hell of a good guy, who understands traditional quality. You can absolutely trust him and his products. -scott noteboom
I keep looking at these pics Phil...VERY impressive work with the bridge. Lots of detail in all your work. Are you gonna make it to Midnight Mass? Bryan
Thanks Bryan, Like I said Im not even close to being finished, Im trying my best to make it out tonight to midnight. Dont think Ill be taking the 54, Have to get the exhaust ran back out to the rear, I almost passed out from the carbon monixide on the way to strangers. I really wanna check out your chevy!!, Its gonna be there, RIGHT?
Rustypipes, I love the setup...Is the 3 tanks overkill? How many compressors are you running? What size compressors? Seems like you'd be working the compressors a lot harder trying to fill 15 gallons.
Im runnin 2 Of the big viair 460 compressors, they have 100% duty cycle. Besides having them on the pressure switch, I also rigged them up to a toggle switch under the dash so I can switch them off when I want to, Cuz those things buzzing in your ear all the time gets really annoying after awhile. In the future I prob wont need all the air for the bags, Im just always playing around with them cuz their new, I gotta get it out of my system!!
Oh yeah, I remember that post about the CM making you sick...a small sacrifice to make a show! I'll be there for sure...at one point I thought I'd have to cruise in 1st the whole way there, but things are looking a little better Bryan
rustypipes, question about where the axle sits now. With it down like you have it, does the top of the axle sit higher then the stock frame would have. I do not want to do such a large step notch. (never understood the truck crowd going with a notch bigger then needed and this kit looks similar. plus with a wagon, its all in the interior where it can be seen and I want to do only what is required plus an inch of clearance. I plan to run truck trailing arms so the bags will be in front of the rear so I am trying to see how much step I need (or if I can fab something myself). It looks like the kit can be trimmed down to any step I want, so I may still go with it..
Boones, the location of my axle now would be equivalent Of the axle sitting just on top of the stock frame. It all depends on what you want to do, what size tires your running. I know other ppl like alex and a few others that run huge bias ply tires and they acutally have to weld a extra piece on the top of the notch to attach the top bag bracket to, since their axle is using up almost all the notch space. They also have to cut the wheel wells to drop the car on those tall tires. Im running 215-70-15's which are pretty short tires and I have maybe an inch more left to raise the top bag bracket up. If you use the truck arms you can mount the bags on the trailing arms to the stock section of the frame, You get tons of lift out of it, heres a pic of a bag job i did using those arms,I made the brackets to mount under the stock part of the frame. Then I c notched it and made a aluminum spacer block to put in between the axle and and the arm to compinsate for the notch. Only prob is that since the arms are fixed to axle your rearend wont be perfectly centered inside the notch when its dumped. You can do some math like I did and figure out how much the axle will move foward, then figure out how far foward you have to place your notch centerline.
rusty, those trailing arms sit wider then I thought they would (what type of car is that). How close was the mounting points up front. I thought the arms would be inside the frame. I see what you mean about making spacers to get the rearend up higher as with it set up like you show, you can only go so low before the arms hit the frame . With how you show, I think I would make a trailing arm bracket on the inside of the arm (and inside of frame) to allow the trailing arm to lay the extra 2 or 3" (basically allow the arms to almost touch the frame. I want my wagon to lay the frame within about a 1/2 of the ground (do not want to touch incase a blow a bag, it would still roll). I am running 235/70/15 whitewalls and hubcaps in the rear so they are a little taller then yours. but have thought about other options like a set of 14" astros and a set of 17" halibrand for a completed different look
boones, i did a "truck arm" type suspension in my 51, but i made the trailing arms from 2x3 tubing. the bags mount off brackets that are welded to the side of the control arms, flush with the bottom, and the upper brackets come off the side of the frame, actually tube brackets. they are mounted right under where the rear seat goes, about the midpoint of the trailing arms, this gives me a good foot of rear lift, from laying frame to high enough to change a tire without any hassle. only issue with the way i did it was i sacrificed some of the rear seat footwells, but i don't care, i don't sit back there!
So sad that all these project pictures has disappeared.. Planning to do the same thing for my -53 four door. With Gambino kit.
Agree MISTA! Just got most of my Gambino Kit shipped to me this week. Doing more research and planning. Wonder if there is a way to see the pics???
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