I have been looking a for a suitable replacement for my front clip that I mistakenly got rid of when I thought I was going to use a MII. Since then I have been looking for a Stock front suspension that is in really good shape so that I can put it under my 1954 Chevy 150. What I have found (relatively close) is a 1951 Chevy Rolling ch***is. I know there have been some threads about this but I need to know exact details. What is different on those frames and suspension as opposed to a '51? Could I swap this frame under my '54 with zero to little fab work? Are they the same wheel base? Here are the images of the Roller that a HAMB member is looking to sell me. Let me know why or why not this will work.
the only difference I know of is the brakes and steering gears (which that one's missing) are slightly different, but interchangable, and 51 has no provision for side mount engines, as far as I know. That frame should work just fine with no mods.
just remember if you need brake or suspension parts get them for the 51 and not 54. there may be some differences. 51 spindle uprights make your car sit an inch or so higher. I'm sure will someone correct me if I'm wrong there was changes in the transmission crossmemeber which will not matter if you are going V8 since you need to modify this anyways. not sure when they occurred, just that there are differences between the years 1949 through 1954 so you may need to change something in that area if you are going original 6 and trans. maybe just the trans mount? your body will bolt on just fine.
I am going with a 365 Cad V8 so I figured the trans mount would need to be made. I have a set of Fatman Dropped uprights that I wanted to use from a '54. Will those work?
Well, my friend has a '51 Plymouth that he has taken the time to really dial in and it stops great looks great and drives really nice too!. I figure if don't cut corners and rebuild the suspension as needed as well as dialing in the suspension just right I can have a car that's safe and that drives pretty well. I have been looking at using '56 Caddy master cylinder and brake booster as well as a couple other Cadillac upgrades to give the car an edge. I also am not the biggest fan of how MII's look even though no one sees them.
Yeah I am pretty excited about using the Caddy motor. I have a Weiand 2 x 4 NOS intake that I am going to run with Carter WCFB's on. Pretty much a stock rebuild but dressed up with looks that can kill.
Might be a minor difference, but not enough you'd notice. Tolerances weren't ball bearing tested back in the day. Do you ever want to upgrade to disc brakes or bag it? Spend the money once and call it done. The Jag conversion looks trick, and I think I trust it more than MII based fronts. Cool dog.
I have no intention of upgrading to disk brakes and I am not ever going to put bags on the car that's why the OG front end is a natural choice for me. I can't say that I will never put disk brakes on because I am not sure just how good I can get the drums to stop but I am not going to rule it out because this is going to be my family's ride but as of now there is no intention to. Alex that is probably the smartest thing to do. I was just trying to figure if I could have this frame blasted painted and detailed while the other is still under my car then swap the body over when the frame is completed. I guess I could just support the body on some horses and work on my OG frame and bolt the new front clip in when it's rebuilt and cleaned up. Thanks guys!!!
Oh and thanks for the Compliments on the dog 53Sled. His name is Action Jackson and we rescued him from a APBT rescue down in Atlanta. The wife and I's life work is trying to save as many of these guys as we can. They need as many responsible owners as they can get. Alright I am off my soap box. Any more concerns?
I have two rescues myself, and have placed three with forever homes. The discs up front and a modern master cylinder are great additions, but the factory steering has too many variables. I would love to have a better set up. If you use 53-54 uprights in earlier models it lowers the car some, so I would wager using the older front end would raise the car from stock. Another reason for using the 54 front on the straight and painted 51 frame. Also, the 51 has a riveted in place trans K member, so you will lose that aspect. Of course you could make a new, removable center section while it is out. .02
So there are differences in the suspension if the '53-'54 Uprights will alter the height in and earlier frame. I thought they were the same suspensions but there must be a few differences. So if you were me would you p*** on the deal or use it. This is the cleanest one I have found. The last '54 front clip I bought is pretty roached but I could use it if I found some lower control arms and rebuilt everything. The frame also comes with a '51 Chevy body shell that I can use the rear window and perhaps some other things.
Is expense much of an issue? you can find used lower control arms on nationalchevy***oc.com. Like Alex said the earlier chevy suspension components should bolt right onto your 54 frame. The uprights are a bit different from 53/54 to earlier models. early models had the car sit i think 1/2 inch higher, so if you even just put stock 53/54 uprights on a 51 it'd lower you bout 1/2 inch. Therefore with the dropped uprights youll get 2 1/2 inches drop. That is a damn good lookin dog too!
Alright cool. I told the guy that i would take the '51 Roller as long as everything checked out. He's going to raise it up with a tractor today and send some pics of the bottom of the front clip. I think going this route is probably the best bet seeing how clean it is and all. He is also going to throw in the '51 Body shell for free. It's missing the doors but the rear window surround should help when I go to lobb a few inches out of the top. I appreciate the help and expertise guys. And Mr. Jackson would appreciate all the kind words about him too.
Fatman here. You guys are right in that the 49-52 uprights will interchange with 53-54, but the 53-54 ones were 1/2" lower stance from the factory. Weird, ya gotta wonder why they did it. (maybe 'cuz the '53-62 Vette uses the same suspension wuth different steering) So, putting the 53-43 parts on will lower a 49-52 1/2". Some guys use the early steering arms with dropped uprights fabricated from stock ones. It helps, but logic tells ya that the drop in the outer tie rod end needs to match the rise in the uprights, thus returning the outer tie rod end to its original relationship to the suspension pivot points. Level tie rods are not necessarily the key to avoiding bumpsteer. Thats why we make dropped steering arms to go with our dropped uprights. I just felt that I would rather weld new steel than old, and not have to fool with having enough original cores. But hey, properly fixtured and welded, there's not a thing wrong with cutting the forged steel originals. Just be sure to finish the job by properly modifying the steering arms to match.
I put an early Vette front end on my 50 sedan delivery - bolt on deal. looks to me like a bunch of this stuff interchanges.
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