The guy asked an honest question. There's a bunch of stuff out there to update the front clip, so that it's not necessary to cut it off. But I've seen S10, Camaro, because of useing SBC. There's a bunch of info on here-do a search.
if your asking the question then you prob dont want to use the stock,,, i have rebuilt many...and tho they drove fine @ 40-65max70....lets face it ..unless your cruising back roads ,,its 2012 most people drive 70-80mph in day to day trafic....so i think the s10 works best..and the rearend fits perfect..and alows for the skirts....oh,,,and btw a ford 302 fits awesome too...
I used a 70 Nova on my 51. I chose it over S-10 for the steering gear behind the axle center line. With it there no need to cut up the core support and find another radiator. I run all stock sheet metal around the stock rebuilt radiator. The front body mount got adjusted a little and with a double joint I hooked up the stock steering column and wheel. It all looks un molested the way I wanted it. No tilt columns for me. The car sits 6" of the ground at the front corner of the rocker and 55" at the front corner of the drip rail. It also runs on stock un cut coil springs. Your going to get all kinds of answers on this. If my stock frame had not been damaged beyond repair I would have built dropped spindles and left the rest alone. When a stock front end is healthy they drive just fine. Believe it or not, drum brakes will stop ya quite well also. Good luck,,,The Wizzard
Sound advice above. Clipping a car.. been there, done that... takes a lot of time and skills. Unless you're a top-notch fabricator, you may be better upgrading the stock frame. There's a ton of options out there for doing so. Bob
I gave an honest answer. When properly set up and maintained, the stock suspension and steering on these cars is great!
Jerseymike clipped his Shoe using an S-10 setup - looks pretty nice . Pics are in his "Idea of a dream custom" thread .
I agree. Most often when asked these type of questions my reply is " why do you need to clip it"? Generally the answer starts with " I was talking to some Guys and they told me I should". The Wizzard
Clip it why? Rebuild it right, if lowering it(i used lowering springs you will come with negitive camber. Just mill 2 slots where the control arms bolt down and slide controls out toward the shock tower. Use jamco sway bars front and rear. Mine handles like it glued to the road. I came up with 1/2 camber and 3 1/2 caster this way. No problems in 10 years.
My two cents worth: Every time someone clips a Ford, the front wheel track seems too wide to me, and the car just doesn't look,.. Well,.. correct, ya know. The lean of the tires when the wheels are turned is all off, the track is wrong, the whole thing is wrong. Stock suspension works great.
Thanks to every one for the information,I appreciate it. Pist-n-Broke that is a beautiful shoebox. Thanks Dennis
Thanks for the compliment Dennis. I hope your as happy with yours when your done as I am with mine. The Wizzard
I used ford Aerostar springs and shocks. Handles great. Cheap and easy swap. Also dropped the front end about 1.5".
i know this isnt true for everyone,,, but i cant justify spending money on 40-50s technoiogy,,(except for open fender cars or g***ers),,,,if its still in good working order i have left it and only done the brakes,, just to not cut the car,,,but if its wore out im upgrading it,,,BUT IN NO WAY SAYING THE STOCK CANT HANDLE,, ive had many both ways,,,i just prefer a clipped car for a daily driver
A sbc is '55 tech, a donavan drag hemi is designed strait off a '56 354 hemi, and flatheads were in use by france's military until the mid 90's, holley 4bbls came out in '57, and the afb is right around that era, the top drag racing ****** is the powerglide which is a '40's design for godsake, the us military's std 50 cal machine gun is a WW2 design i belive, hell even VW bugs were in production 'till something like the mid '90's in some countries, and you say old technology is bad??
no,, i never said it was bad,,,,some people on here just love to start shyt,,, the stuf you listed is the stuff that simply worked..so why change it..doesnt mean its the best,,it was the cheapest the big 4 had that worked,..and i dont like a sbc in every fukin thing,,,,i dont like holleys either,,,but maybe im just different,,, or maybe thats why they made different stuff,, but fill free to put a sbc in your stock ford sus, car with a holley 4bbls and powerglide.getting 10mpg @385$ a gal..god forbid you try something new...ill drive by you @ 90mph with my ac blowing ..efi motor gettin 29mpg....building a rod with cool old parts that you hafta trailer is less traditional than using upgraded modern drivetrain that you trust to drive 400mi to the show
sorry but i think ya kinda missed the boat on this one. modern drivetrains are for street rods not hotrods.i too build my sbc and other engines with old traditional parts and i dont trailer them anywhere. well i do trailer one but thats because i cant drive 2 at once.i drive a 62 galaxie as my dd with a 352 2b and a cruiseamatic. gets about 10 12 mpg.also drive my 53 ranchwagon as a dd and its got a 383 sroker with 2 edelbrock 600s. it gets about 6 mpg. dont care much how much mpg it gets. its about tradition here.and the only reason the wagon has edelbrocks on it is because they are of a carter design.and id have driven both of them on 600 mile trips.
well lets just agree to disagree,,,im just sayn i dont have the money to restore really cool stuff...just to say i have the MOST traditional car ever... but why did alot of old hotrodder pull out theyre flathead to use a (nailhead,,or caddi motor???hummmmm???..maybe cause they were newer and better..hot rodding has always been about useing the newest best stuff to go fast,,, so yall can keep following and ill keep leading...
I put a 84 Monte carlo front clip on my 51....it fit like a glove. It was the perfect width and not narrow like an s-10 clip....I had 8,000 miles on the car and it was trouble free....I sold the car after 8 years and it is close to Greensboro, NC. Here is a link to the car so you can see it and it also shows a utube link to see and feel the 84 monte front end. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=633555&highlight=1951+ford+shoebox
Edit: Another thread.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527233&showall=1 S10 is sketchy. Abunch of guys have done it, it works, but... Camaro/Trans Am is the way to go if you are going to do any clipping. Pist-n-broke's shoebox is a perfect example. As to not spending money on 50's technology.. That will land you in hot water mighty quick. Some guys like spending money on old stuff or "****" becuase its cool.
That is "hot rodding".. NOT Traditional rodding. You are right you won't have a cool traditional rod. So you can keep following while tradition keeps leading.
really,,,,, please look up the word traditions!!!! please,,, you were so eager to be the tuff guy and defend the hamb you made yourself look stupid,,,, a tradition is something done over and over the same way to honor the way it was done first.... so there is no way a tradition can lead!!!!! ... and further more i have tried to bow out of this arguement,,and i will do so again,,,,i love old cars and old traditions,,, but i also love to ride and enjoy them on my budget.... you will never see an ifs on one of my 30s cars, nor any thing but www and steels,,,,but if i can put a dependable efi motor over an ifs in a full fendered car and drive it everyday ,,,i will.... so sorry if that offends sum....
I wouldn't do the S-10 clip myself because it has the worst ball joints of any gm vehicle. they are constantly breaking. I used mustang II suspension on mine, it's a little pricey but I don't want my 61yr old car to drive like a 61yr old car. as far as "traditional", don't let anyone else's opinion dictate how you build YOUR car. It's yours, build it your way. But you are going to come across several of these arrogant *****s on here that feel obligated to tell you how you should build "your" car, they've commented on my build thread many times. here's the mustang II I did on my 51
Ding ding ding ding!!!! We have a winner! I'm fairly sure I have never gone to the HAMB to find information on modern suspension or EFI. I was under the impression if you had modern stuff on your car it was sort of an unwritten rule to hide it so it still looks old. I personally like the old stuff better, but sometimes newer stuff is just nice. My daily is a 1964 Comet and not that anyone can tell by looking at it, but it has updated steering and overdrive (22 mpg) but it all looks old and it does have a carburetor and points. I had a 51 Ford and it drove and stopped just fine with the OEM stuff and if you need to replace any of it a lot of the parts are really cheap. If you do want to clip a car you should make sure you have the talent, or find someone who does and have them do it, as I have seen horrible things under cars, someone wants to make their car safer and end up making it more dangerous by having something cobbled together.
I rebuilt the entire front suspension on the wagon and the wagon drives & handles great,,I could have clipped the car but why change something that works like it should? HRP
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