1951 mercury 77-79 camaro front clip questions

ok guys and gals, heres the deal. i got a 51 merc and have access to a 77 camaro front clip. whos got the ins and outs on installing the thing? can a small block ford and aod be installed with this clip? what pan do i have to use? whos done it and lets see the pics please. front stear/rear stear? also im contiplating the fatman stubframe but 2500.00 is a little hard to swallow. anybody got any pros and cons to either? i know its alot of questions in one thread but keep the info coming. thanks in advance chad

 

done a 50 merc no promlembo ; rework the rad support put a crossflow radiator in , good ride ,handles great. used a 85 mustang pan an pickup , it was a 76 camero front steer ,good luck,..oh yell, v8 bronco pan and pickup works well if u can find one....

 

any pics? thanks chad

 

sorry no pics ,car was a50 conv idid for a friend, maybe u can do a search , lots of old magazine articles on installing front clips they are basically the same , measure twice cut and weld,,piece of cake......

 

Did one a while back, Not too tough.

FOX or Econoline/Bronco pan is needed. I custom fabricated some tubular engine mounts too.

 

Nice job. I see you saved the orig frame horns to mount the bumpers back on.

 

very nice job!! was the track width the same on the camaro subframe as the mercs? was it a camaro sub?

 

I used an 81 Pontiac Grand Prix on mine. (same as Olds Cutlass Monte Carlo, etc from 79-84.)

NIce track width..pretty similar to Camero. One caution, however...the front steer box gets to stickin out there pretty far adn might interfere with say, Desoto grill teeth.

The Camero sticks out an inch less than the Grand Prix, so that might make a diffrence

LOTS of threads on subing Mercs, do a search for a shit pot of info.

Gimme a holler if you have any specific questions.

-Abone.

 

One more thing...I put a PONTIAC in mine and there was plenty of room. The SBFord will need a rear sump pan or possibly the "dual sump" pans that are a dime a dozen.

Do all the measuring you want, you won't know if the motor will fit till you are trying to jamb the fucker in there. Alot depends on your fab skills too. There should be plenty of room if you don't mind whuppin up a set of motor mounts.


Also, note my clip is not as pretty as El Ps, but you can see where I stepped mine two inches for more bitchn lowness.

Good luck, -Abone.

 

thanks for the info. anyone else? how about some fatman stubframes?

 

Look closely, I did the same trick!

As you can see, I have a 302 Ford in there and there is a ton of room. Stock Mustang headers are a slam dunk also. Plenty of room for steering.

This car got the stock sheetmetal. I was contracted to build this for annother shop here in Phoenix. I don't know the rest of the details on sheetmetal fitment but I do know they are going for a stock looking car, just chopped and on the floor.

 

Just a side note on the frame horns. It isn't easy to see in those pictures but in order to make future servicing easier I modified the steering box attachement. I made recessed socket style crush sleeves to put the bolt heads under the bumper irons.

It's the little details like this that slow the job down. But in the long run make for a better installation and easier to finish the job.

 

cool any beter pics or the steerind box mod?

 

Sorry man, I forgot to take a picture of that. I don't have anything similar here to show you either. As soon as I do I will post them.

 

Got any pics of how you did the radiator/fender supports or were those done by someone else?

 

I just put in the tubing to hold up the original core support. I have no idea if anything cleared.

This was just a job we did for annother shop here in town. They go by the name Performance Auto Collision. I looked but they don't have a website, at least one I could find.

 

thanks for your time and effort! any one else? whos done the fatman install? anybony know the track width of a 49-51 merc verses a 78-80 camaro?

 

Here is a link to another thread on the topic. It covers most of the pros and cons of the most popular suspension conversions for 49-51 mercs.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138834&highlight=lowering+merc

 

I built a 51 Merc with a Camaro subframe, and the 49 Ford in the avatar has a Fatmans front clip - I like the Camaro better - from a ride, handling, and expense standpoint !!!

 

anyone use the fatman tubular a-arms that bring the track width in 2 inches on the camaro front clips?

 

any more info or pics?

 

My 49-51 Mercury manual says that the Merc wheelbase is 118" and tread width front and rear is 58 1/2 in. Don't know about Camaro,but make sure you
get it right so that the wheels don't stick out too far. Looks goofy!

 

Opps, The rear tread width of 49-51 Merc is 60inches. I misread my manual.
I have also talked to folks who used a Nova subframe. May it's narrower than a Camaro.