hello out there, i just came into posession of a 53 chevy 210 sedan. i was thinking of doing a full on ch***is swap but was not too sure what ch***is would work best. if any hambers have info on what ch***is would work best let me know. thanks a million. regards jammer
s-10 i hear works but is there something wrong with the stock ch***is that you would want to change it out?
I happen to know a '77 El Camino has the same wheel base and track width. But unless the stocker is rotted or bent, I wouldn't bother.
The factory ch***is seems to work pretty good too..and unless your's is rotted, you already have one Todd
I'm not sure the swap would be worth it unless like stated above. I can understand swapping the front end out for a reasons of steering columns, dropping it or if its just worn out but the rest should be fine. I did swap my rear out to get rid of the torquetube and keep everything else and just rebuilt it. Would like to hear your reason on wanting the swap.
Late 70's-to Late 80's Malibu's, Impala's, Caprice's, etc will work. The larger bodied cars have the same wheelbase but a wider track width. Still fine, but if the car is low up front there won't be much room to turn without custom offset wheels. I was going to do the same thing to a '53 I'm building for my GF, so we bought an '89 Caprice donor. Ran and drove perfect with only body damage in the front. I wanted a solid and reliable car for her to drive. I decided against the ch***is swap and stuck with the stock '53 and rebuilt the front suspension. Camaro rear, fresh WWW bias plys, fresh brakes, and used the 305 V8 and 200R4 Overdrive out of the Caprice with the addition of HEI, Weiand Intake, Holley Carb, V-Belt pulleys, etc. I'll add power disc brakes up front with a new MC and booster, as well as AC in the future, but for now...this car will be fine. I sold the Caprice to a buddy and he's using it under a '51 Convertible Chevy because his ch***is was rotten. My reason for not swapping the ch***is? Well, I figured why go through that much work when the stock **** is fine and would be less painful to upgrade... I got another '53 last night to rob some trim parts off it for her car. I was planning on selling this one being it's a 2dr Bel Air, but I think I'm going to keep it and straight axle the front, toss in a Camaro rear, and a 396/400 combo...woohoo!
thanks for all of the replies and advice. for those who asked, there was quite a bit of rot in the original ch***is, so i thought swapping to a more modern ch***is/components would be a good idea. would it be wise for me to track down another 53 original ch***is? thanks again for all of the help. regards jammer
On a similar note, a mate has a '52 Chevy coupe shell that he's done nothing with for years - I think the last time was when he was messing around with some 15" x 15" Weld Draglites and Mickey-Ts, so that should give a bit of a clue! Anyway, I think he's coming round to the idea of something a bit more "low and slow" now he's got some inspiration from some of today's traditional rides. Problem is it has no ch***is, and although there might be one on every street corner over there, they're not exactly common here. The wheelbase is 115" and I think is the same as the '53, so do the same ones already mentioned apply? What about the S10 ch***is? For that matter, are the '49 to '54 ch***is all the same?
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