Holy Shit!!! I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last posted or really works on this car. I've been insanely busy with work opening a new restaurant. time flies. I just got back and had a few days to get cracking on this. I decided to shift my focus and energy from repairing the sheet metal and instead build a solid foundation for the body first. This is large and in part due to my frustration trying to weld on the rusty sheet metal and burning holes and the time it takes to repair that. I am going to try to have the body dipped before any more major welding takes place on the body. I think the quality of work and progress will greatly improve going this route. As previously posted, I found a really solid '49 chassis on craigslist awhile back and for a 12 pack of Anchor Steam it was mine. The guy I got it from even wire wheeled it and rattle canned it so the rust is really light. A few brackets were cut off but no big deal. I was really torn about the approach I wanted to take with the chassis. Part of me wanted to keep it super- old school with the OG suspension and typical mods such as blocks, dropped springs etc. After much deliberation and weighing pros & cons, cost, safety etc. I decided to go with a Mustang II front end from TCI and a truck arm rear end both bagged. I have no desire to lay frame or anything like that, but the country roads, speed bumps, pot holes and steep driveways around here make having an adjustable suspension all the more attractive to me. This car will be a family cruiser so I wanted handling, brakes, new components vs old and rusty and weighing time vs cost, this seemed the way to go. Part of me feels like I sold out, but I am happy with the direction I'm heading. If this gets too off topic for the HAMB, I'll stop posting the chassis work and catch back up when I get to the body, paint, interior etc.
Until I realized that they packaged 2 passenger side spindles in the kit! TCI was super cool and sent a new set to my door literally the next day and took the old ones back even though they were painted already. Mistakes happen and the customer service was great.
ordered some Firestone 6.70s on steelies from Performance Plus Tire in SoCal. Super awesome communication and service. Definitely will be my go-to from now on. I had some 7/16"-20 lug nuts which wouldn't fit. The rotors take a metric 12mm-1.5 thread so had to wait before I could really secure the wheels and let the chassis sit on it's own weight.
I picked up this '56 Chevy rear end with 3.08 gears for $50. It will need to be rebuilt but it's pretty solid. I also have a spare 3.55 chunk in case I want to play with the gearing or go overdrive. The current plan is running my 270 GMC inline through a saginaw 4 speed (3.11 fist gear) into the 3.08s. I think this will get off the line well and cruise just fine. I am going to locate the rear with some retired NASCAR truck arms with a home made crossmember and a pan hard bar. This should be super solid and simple and I don't anticipate any interference or need to cut the floors other than the notch. I'm still trying to determine the ride height. Right now I've got the frame rails about 7.5" off the ground. I am thinking this is probably a good ride height but need to do more measuring. Anyone with options or experience with this want to chime in? As stated previously, I have no desire to lay frame, but I'd like this fucker to be low when needed. I might cut the notch down a few inches as it's huge for my needs and will preserve a bit more space in the trunk.
Also, I forgot to ask if anyone has definitive measurements where the rear axle centerline lies? I sort of have it figured but I read that TCI moves the front axle centerline back a little bit to center the front wheels in their wells but I'm not exactly sure how much. The stock wheel base is 115" so I figure if I measure 114" from the TCI c-line is should be close. Id rather have a definitive measurement. My current suspension on the old chassis is a little whacked so I don't trust it. thanks
Glad your back after it. The 49 I'm working on is all original so let me know if you need any pictures or frame measurements.
Hey One Wrench, actually I would really appreciate if you could provide me with a rear axle centerline measurement from a reference point such as the edge of the rear crossmember of the frame. I think my rear axle might be 0.5"-1" too far forward but I'm not sure. My original frame is tweaked so I don't trust it. I think it got hit from the rear at one point. Many thanks
Installed the pan hard bar and Gambino notch. Can't believe it took me all day to not even finish. Getting that pitted metal clean for welding is a bitch.
Thanks guys! Nibbled at it a little more. I need to re-work my lanyard mounting approach as it hits the notch when dropped. Not too big of a deal.
Shocks mounted and no bind. I just need to re-work the panhard bar and mount for a little more clearance and the rear suspension is done!
Yup. Planning on flipping the whole chassis over after everything is in place and finish welding the bottom and removing bracketry. Wish I had a solid chunk of time to just get after it.
The Jalopy Journal
