I've done a little work on my modified, slow progress, been helping on a '69 camero and '57 chevy for other people. I decided to go with quarter elliptical springs in the rear, trying to get it as clean as possible in the rear. Springs are from a Dodge caravan cut, drilled, bolted, and clamped inside the frame rails. Notched the rear frame rail so the the springs run thru the frame. This will not let the springs have any side to side travel. Upper trailing arms are out of something at FLAT-TOP's salvage yard. They will stick out of the back of the body.
The tall uprights that are welded to the rear frame rail will be the mount for the fuel tank if I decide to go the way. If anyone can see a design flaw please let me know, I think this setup will work.
The spring mount, the bolt in the end will keep the spring from moving in and out. The clamp will hold it in place and the notch in the frame will not allow it to move side to side.
guys, these pics don't do this thing justice. i saw it on my last tour of wellington. the work is amazing on this. you should see how he curved the frame to fit the body. awesome!!!
Love it! The 1/4 sprngs looks great. Design flaws?? Looks as solid as a rock! Thats some mighty sturdy tank braces you got there. Good job>
Looks kick ***! You are doing great. Looks like a well thought out plan. Making us guys who build rods fulltime look bad!LOL. Keep us posted. Oh,and why the hell you working on the "me too" xhevys? Get this thing done......Shiny
Rear suspension really looking good!! I thought that the verticals were probably for tank mounting.........good planning ahead!! And I noticed the curved frame rails first thing, fine attention to detail! Thanks for sharing the pics!
Amazing work. Definitely one to save in my tech files. If I have any constructive comments... I think I'd feel safer with a little beefier motor mount. Don't get me wrong. I think it looks plenty cool. It's just in my gut I can imagine that thing flexing and maybe breaking after a while at the weld between the rod and the flat mount plate. Maybe two or three gussets would reinforce it. .
Exactly what I was wondering. Hillbillys must think alike. It looks great. Gives me some good ideas for my next project. How did you decide a Caravan spring would work? Did you consider the weight of the car and all that **** or just find a caravan spring lying around? JH
fab work & frame looks great! but i have a couple of thoughts... how do you set pinion angle & wheelbase? (looks like all rod ends are fixed) what are you planning for shock mounts? are all the front spring mount bolts grade 8? i think i would remake the plate that holds the spring in place with a flange bent up at the back to insure it does not bend when the spring force pushes up on it. the motormounts are trick as hell, but a bit weak in reality. i would definetly beef them up, but i am into overkill on stuff like that. it all depends on how much power your motor makes. my 392 is around 400 hp so i need some heft. keep the pics coming, they are inspiring!
Thanks for all the comments, guys. * Ratster - no panhard bar will be needed the notch in the frame is just wide enough for the spring to cleat this will keep side travel low. * '29murraytub - you can't see in the pic there are two tubes that weld to the mounting plate and are triagulated from the plate down to the pipe. the weight of the motor and the torque of the motor will be directly in line with the tubes. but you may be right a few gussets would'nt hurt. * harrrison - Caravan springs? cheap, plentiful, and the first thing I came to. * tim burns - guessed at the pinion angle, may need to change at final ***emly, I plan on friction shocks front and rear if the total car weight is not to high,all suspension bolts will be grade 8 at final ***embly,not a bad idea about the bent flange thing, motor mounts should be OK plan to use 283 or 327 stock to mild build.
The salesman at one of the local steel yards says there's no such thing as s**** metal, its all "remnants" Cars lookin good!
you could weld a threaded bung in one end of each top bar and mount a threaded rod end, then you can set your pinion angle once the car is finished and all the weight is in. quick & easy to do and the car will drive much smoother. (less harmonic imbalance).
front end will be mounted like tbuckets spring mounted on top of bracket welded to a 3" thick wall pipe, split wishbone, 4" drop tube axle
That is amazingly close to mine. I'm just mouting the springs now ,maybe some pic's shortly . LOOKS FINE YOUNG FELLOW!!
Really cool. I just wonder if the rearend, pushing on the springs, will cause wheel hop. The rearend wants to twist (up in the front)... If the springs were on top and the bars on the bottom, you'd be pushing on something solid, and the spring would just be taking the weight, instead of weight and thrust. You're trying to make forward thrust. Alot might be lost in spring deflection. The pull on the top bars is residual, and it might be you'll want to switch the bars and springs around, so it pushes the bars and pulls the springs... The way you have it, the amount of spring deflection is unlimited. If you switch them, the spring will only be able to straighten, and that is a limited. I'll be curious to hear a road report. I love "off the wall" ****.... JOE
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