thinking about z'ing the frame on my 61 wagon (X frame). looks to be a pretty straight-forward job. measure frame, cut frame, raise frame, weld frame. but like everything else..im sure its just not that easy. so who has done it and has tips on what to or not to do. thanks.
Im looking to do the same thing on my 36 chevy...I have an s10 frame that I want to Z....so btt...,.JAMIE
The cutting and welding are the easy part. Getting it squared up so that you can welded it is what takes the time and thought. I often build a jig to do a job like this.
why would you need to "Z" a frame on a 61? they lay frame great ...unless of you wanna put 20's under it?!?!
Kinda what I was thinking: my last '61 had a bad habit of dragging the front crossmember and that was just cut springs. Charlie
if i z the frame up an inch or so, it would bring the crossmember up and it wouldnt drag so bad. plus it would have a bit better ride = more suspension travel while sitting real low.
I have Z'd a few frames. My Green truck Z'd two and a half inches in the front. But in your case it would be a bitch because it would also raise the engine AND transmission the same ammount which will require you to raise the trans tunell and modify the center X for the higher driveline. Not a job for a beginner or the squeamish.
Heres a pic of my buddys wagon here... he built a whole new frame for this wagon though... There is a guy in town here that has a nice layed out brookwood though I'll have to ask him what all he did on the front of his.
thanks for the tips guys. yea i figured id end up having to cut the floor to raise the trans. and then ill have to cut the top of the frame to raise the tunnel so the driveshaft can come up. and raise the carrier bearing up. mancuso.. i posted a thread awhile ago trying to find out about that orange wagon you posted. i saw a couple of pics of it in a mag or online or something and wanted to know about it. thanks for the pic and if you can get more, please do. thanks.
Dumb question here, but wouldn't it be easier to modify the crossmember? Reinforce and trim, or maybe make a new one?
take it for what its worth, but I did a 60 Impala a few months ago. I used my TRW Spring book and found a few springs that would lower the car substantially and increase the rear spring rate to 320 lb/in which improved the hell out of the ride in back. I used Energy suspension poly bumpstops, ENE 5.6101G on all four corners. Then called Steve at RCD in San Diego for a set of Bilstein shocks (619-588-4723 EXT 109) Those shocks are truly amazing! The car sat 4" under the rocker and rode very smooth even with the 18" wheels and 40 series rubber. I don't know if anyone got a shot of the car at the November Goodguys show in Scottsdale, but it is copper with a cream upper half sitting next to a robbin's egg blue 55 Nomad (I did that one too) I don't remember the numbers on the springs but the rears I am pretty shure were from the front of a 67 Camaro. I will have to look it up again if your interested.
my frame's Z'ed about 4" like said earlier, make sure everything is true-ed up. If I can find a pic on the net, I'll post it.
We Z'd the frame on my Nissan Titan (I know it isn't a hot rod or kustom, but it was my SEMA show project) and it was a total bitch! We had to rebuild the tranny tunnel, cut into the cowl for the motor, relocate the battery and the brake master cylinder (because it hit the upper control arm) and about 50 other little things that I have blocked out of my memory because of sleep deprivation. It might sound easy at first, but it is a lot more complicated that you might think (just ask Killer, he got to watch us pull our hair out!). Have you considered sectioning the crossmember or even removing the crossmember and cutting a notch out of it and re-installing it. Notching the crossmember is a trick that is very popular on 1967 to 1988 Chevy pickups because the crossmember hangs down a couple inches lower than the frame rails...
yea, im debating on what to do with it. i want to z it because it'll give me a little more air in the bags = a little better ride and a little more ground clearance. but i agree it would prob. be easier to section an inch or so out of the middle of the crossmember to gain ground clearance, and not be able to put as much air in the bags. ognc - i saw your truck at sema. how'd you relocate the master cylinder? thanks.
Cut the firewall, slid it over and angled it to clear the control arm when the truck is all of the way down and then welded the section of firewall back in. Had to do some creative patching of the firewall, but it wasn't rocket science. There was already a heim joint in the master cylinder pushrod (where it connects to the pedal and lucky for us it was horizontal!) so that part of it wasn't any big deal.
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