Got an opportunity to buy a '50 Chevy on the cheap, but it's got the old school "torque tube" (I guess) setup, and some wierd steering setup where the drag link goes to the center and both tie rods come out from there. I don't know how tricky this setup is to deal with, I want to run a newer small block and auto. trans. Should I put the whole jobber on another chassis (S10 maybe), or work with what's there? Thanks for the input.
you can make the original frame work just fine, no other frame will fit the car like the one it came with. Rearend is no problem, you can buy perches to weld on to an open driveline rearend, and there are various solutions to whatever problems you find with the front suspension/steering/brakes. try out the search function on the hamb, lotsa good info already been posted to answer your questions.
...I second what Squirrel says, the best frame is the one it's got. If the front end components are in good cond., it's not a bad set-up. They make bolt-in Mustang II kits for these and they take early Nova clips and others real well if you have the skills to do that...or a buddy who can. Good luck with it.
A lot of guys swear by the stock steering setup...can't be that bad, they used the same one in the Vettes. Bryan
50 front end works good if in good shape there are kits for v-8,sand 55 to57 rear are a bolt in almost
My biggest concern was being able to get parts for the original setup. That, and I want to run a smallblock chevy, either a 5 speed or a more modern 3 speed auto, and a regular differential. I see that the tranny/rear that was there before is dramatically different, and looks pretty trashed. I just don't want it to ride like a junkyard refugee. I don't want it to ride like a Cadillac either, but I don't want to fear for my life every time I have to turn or stop!
fix the steering by replacing the parts that need it, put on 51-54 drum or later model aftermarket disks, and drive it
"What they said"..... A common ailment on these cars is the center "bellcrank" works loose at is bolts and allows excessive wobble and slack in steering... it bolts up with two bolts UNDER the front of your stock oil pan...... IF and only IF it has a COMPLETELY worn out suspension- I would then consider modifications... they are not cheap to rebuild nowadays with the one off bushings they had. Not like a modern rubber bushing it is a type of "threaded" metal bushing.........
There are a ton of part available both for the stock front end or kits for Mustang II setup, and to drop in a small block and change to an open driveline. Check out 50chevy.com and check out what he's done with a 50 fleetline. Its impressive and has a alot of great info and pics.
A couple of other things you can do. 53/54 steering. It is BB in the box instead of bushings. I replace my stock drag link with a threaded rod and ford tierod ends at each end. Kanter Auto, Chevs of the 40's and all the other parts places have all the frontend parts Todd
Mine's a 1951 Pontiac and it has the similiar front end set up you're talking about(I think) Mine is all original with a Delux front end kit from Kanter, it had all the rubber, knuckles, bushings and tie rod ends. They even have rebuild kits for those center sections of your steering. It worked great and a novice like me was able to put it on in the driveway. I also got droped spindles from Fatman(I know it's not really a spindle). I also converted the front drums to discs for the added safety. I still need to convert my master cylinder but it does Ok for now. I drove it 1300 mile last year to the Lonestar roundup and it did great, the chief drove smooth and straight.
first thing you do is get a catalog for chevsofthe40's www.chevsofthe40s.com . then you get a catalog from Fatman fabrications. www.fatmanfab.com that will get yo started. chassis engineering has some motor mounts and stuff, don't bother with thier trans mount... someone makes a complete bolt in tranny mount/crossmember for these.. not sure who. I ran the stock front suspension with discs and a 350/auto in my 49 sedan. bought the whole brake setup from RB's.... master cylinder, master cyl mount, residual valves, rotors seals bearings... everything but brakelines. had one cut coil. stock springs out back with lowering blocks. sat nice but didn't like big bumps at freeway speed. mustang II is the best way for anything but a resto. stock steering gets old when you drive your car like a regular car and need to park in spots made for honda's. there is a reason they had those big steering wheels back then... I put a few bucks into my original front suspension and disc conversion that would have been better spent on a mustangII. my current project has Fatman's ultra low Mustang II set up. drops it 2" lower than other kits without dropped spindles. stay away from camaro clips and frame swaps and run away from anyone who mentions such a thing..
I thought that the S-10 frame swap was the hot set up? stay away from camaro clips and frame swaps and run away from anyone who mentions such a thing..
Im on my fifth early 50s chevy with stock suspention. I have smallblocks in some v6 in a couple and one still has a 216. All have power drum brakes with 51/52 backing plates. If you have any questions about set up pm me. I have several front ends if you need parts. Pooch
There's a guy on some other site that swears by the Caprice chassis swap. Says it's a slam dunk with the right wheels. I can't find any thorough tech on the specific swap, but a few people have confirmed that it's a do-able thing, and not that tough (you know, relatively). Most of the people I have heard argue against it are coming from a purist perspective, or are referring to a different swap: i.e.- " My brother new a guy who had a shop, and he had a customer who tried to swap a Dodge Dakota chassis under a 1915 Model T, and it didn't work, soooo....chassis swaps don't work." I truly value the input of everyone here, so please don't misinterpret what I'm saying. I have the means to get my hands on a 1950 Chevy coupe for a good price, but it's basically a shell. The chassis, steering, and suspension are lookin' rough. I'm not sure if there's any brake parts left. Now, in a perfect world, I would have enough available early Chevy parts to rebuild the stock stuff, and it would ride like new. But in the world I live in (the one that doesn't have the money to drop big bucks on an aftermarket suspension and brakes) I want to try to find something that would package most of the stuff I need in one all-encompassing swap. Enter the chassis swap. If any of you guys have done one, I really need to hear a no-BS list of pros and cons. I am by no means insulting folks that rebuild stock parts. That's awesome, guys, and I have much respect for you. I'm just not sure my budget can support it (or a mustang2 setup from heidt's either) Keep that input rolling in though, you guys have easily got to be the nicest, most helpful group of folks I have ever encountered on a message board. HAMB forever!
You guys misunderstood. I said keep the advice rolling in, not stop the advice. Lately I've been checking out alot of these cars with stock suspension/steering setups, and have been quite impressed. Plus the guy with that shell of a car couldn't come up with a title. I'm looking at going that route, but is it necessary to perform trans tunnel or driveshaft tunnel surgery to convert to open driveline?
Sorry, I'll stop asking. I got intrigued by some of the individuals responding to this thread, but I apologize for making your HAMB experience redundant.
Cause you know, the gig is that when you search about the chassis swap, you find a couple of posts about what works, followed by a few guys saying that swaps are stupid, followed by 11 pages of arguing, followed by namecalling, followed by some guy telling the curious party to use the search function, and so on. I did a search on cowl steering, and came up with an outstanding tech piece. The chassis swap thing seems to only bring out the worst in people.
i say stay with the original frame . you put a new frame then it looks funky under neath, also WALTON FABRICATION specialize in 49-54 chevy they have a nice fire wall brake booster mount , they also have a V8 motor and tranny kit wich the transmission crossmember is adjustable from a power glide to 700R i've used it good luck
if you look, you can buy whole parts cars for scrap prices, or hit someone on eBay parting one. Parts for these are no challenge at all other than odd things here and there. This same front end was used under the Corvette until 1962, it can be made to handle reasonably well, unless you're building an all-out racer. V8 actually weighs less than the 235 as far as that goes. 55-57 Chevy, 70-81 Camaro, '75-'79 Nova, '82-up S10 4x4 rearends all go in pretty easily, run 51-54 backing plates and you can redo the brakes for around $150 (more if you need drums). As for a master, 68 Chevelle all drum manual brake with a 55-64 Chevy pedal mount or later model pedal mount depending on how wide of a pedal you want, just drill and bolt, no need to spend bucks on any of the kits.
The Camaro sub is fine if you know what you are doing. The thing that scares people away is the amount of work and skill needed to do such a thing. My car has a 76 Z28 sub with full air bags and I love it. stay away non-skilled custom builders
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