I still believe that MoPars of the late 40's are the most affordable foundations left. We are building a 48 DeSoto 4dr (traditional build), We cut the frame rails about 6" behind the front axle centerline & installed a JIM WEIMER Mustang II ***embly. I will say that there is not as much room under the hood of these behemoths as you would think. A '68 New Yorker 8 3/4 rearend will drop right in with the same spring pad dimensions. Keep the pics coming.
a few more pics from today. i first pinched 6" of the rails and then slipped them into the old part of the frame to hold it all in place along with mounts at the cowl. tacked it all up and will remove the rail and weld everything up tomorrow and also sit the front clip back on so i can take measurements for the front frame pieces and rad support
i did set the front clip back on so i can see what i have to do for the front section of the new rails. also cut up a few chunks of 2x4 for temp 3" lowering blocks and put rear tires on to get a look of how it sits, will be going 4" or reverse eye spring to give the extra i need. im debating on just welding the new front rail into the rear section of the stock ch***is (only to save a few buck) or just go and build the rear section right away. as of now the way it sits the front of the rocker is 8" off the floor and rear is 9". i figure with m/t in it will about this height or alittle lower depending on which drivetrain i go with. also split the one innerfender and it will clear the control arms, just need to trim up the lower section of the inner and ill be good to go. anyway a few pics but are alittle dark as my camera ****s and low lighting
alittle progress, welded in some 3/4 sqr tubing to the rockers which will tie in the same size tubing for the floor supports, will be drilling a 3/8th hole close to the rocker/door jam for a body mount bolt. there will be 3 places total done the same way for now. once i get the frame done i will make 3 upside down ( U ) driveshaft, trans tunnel hoops welded to the floor supports, then install 2, 24" floor section from the rockers inward and then trim out the cented piece between the hoops. i willbe making one hoop tomorrow nite so you can understand what i mean. anyway a couple of pics
time to clean up the garage abit, so i pulled it out and took a few pics, even the kid jumped in for a shot (the smart*** that she is)
thanx guys but im making changes to the whole thing, gonna go to a nova front clip. will post pics later this week.
ok well its ben over a week since i showed any progress. as mentioned before i switched to a nova clip. i welded the 2x4 rails to the side of the clip and made up new cowl body mounts. will be adding boxing plates to everything after the body is off the ch***is View attachment 955095 now i did want to run a mopar m/t but finding a stick setup for a V8 is a no go around here. so i was lucky enough to get a 350 4b main for FREE, and i snagged a bell and 3spd from my buddy to use for mockup View attachment 955096 so i got it all sitting in place, but will be moving it back about an inch or so as i have have clearence to do so View attachment 955102 now that im going to run the stock b&c pedals i have to do alittle fabbing to make it all work. m/c will be behind the trans member and a new rod will go forward to the pedal ***embly after i fab something up for them. and if it works out right i will be able to use the stock Z bar for the clutch. have to do alittle tweakin to the clutch pedal to get the proper throw. will get more done this week
a few more pics. got the m/t moved backed about 2" closer to the firewall. doing some mockup on the b&c pedals, and m/c before after
nothing real exciting going on lately, but did find some other fenders for the car. also got a left front fender too and will be the right side along with the inners also rusted old one nicer ones
progress has slowed down some on account of the busy season at work and getting ready for a few repairs around the house. hope to make more progress soon tho
im not happy with the way the ch***is coming along. just not satified with the way it looks, its frustrating at times so i leave it sit a couple of days and go back at it working on other things
been awhile since i posted updates. as mentioned , i didnt like the ch***is setup tract width to wide for my taste. so i built a new front frame section. i know i will most likly get **** for going with a corvair ifs but i had been talking and asking ?'s to an older local rodder who has used a few of the "vair setups in fat fenders chevies, 1st being a 39 coupe and he also is into the corvairs. new setup View attachment 978739 View attachment 978740
Remember rear steer subframes are so much easier in a 48 plymouth, but finding them now is getting harder.
heres a shot of it sitting outside with front clip on. did snag a nicer pr of front fenders last weekend. iwill have to install a new pr of v8 vega or m2 springs to bring the front up a couple of inches. will also be running a narrower pr of front wheels. and once i have the front mounts done and half the floor in i will be running new rails for the rear section of the frame. goal is to have the car sitting fairly level and low
will be running 2x2 on the outside of the rails which will be for my body mounts. as for steering gonna run a 60's chevy truck box and if possible a cross steer setup like the 70-80's jeep cj's use
i have a issue with my upper windsheild area being rusted but i dont want to chop mine but was thinking of maybe a grafting in a flat window section from a 48-50 ford pickup which would give the chopped apearence
couple of new pics. added 2x2 side rails new trans mount i made up today went to a 5 spd truck trans and a couple of shots outside with nicer front fenders
thanx farmer12, its slowly getting there to my liking. as for the stance, it will be getting allitle lower in the as end once i get my rear frame rails made up, but that wont be till i get the front section of the frame all done with the steering in place, which i will be working on today yet
couple shots of todays progress. steering box and linkage from a late 60's volvo 122 mocked up, will need to re-angle the column allittle and get a few joints and it will fine. will need to get corvair outter tierods ends and sleeves to make it all work prefect
well i guess we all live and learn. the volvo setup didnt work out liek i had hoped. so i went to a rack and it will work fine once i get all the correct joints for it andyway a few up dated pics. just used some stuff i had here in the garage to make it easier to move around
well i did some other work on the car this week. removed the rear bumper and started fixing up the tail end of the car. got about 8 hours in to it so far. well finish up the lower piece below the trunk lid tomorrow. not sure what im gonna run for lights yet
The Jalopy Journal
