I'm putting a 79 firebird IFS into my 57 chevy pickup. I have read that when installing the clip you want the shock holes to be 28.5" from the forward cab mount so the front wheels will sit right in the fenders. Is there some other measurement? anyone have any other input about installing this clip? I have read Lux Blues tech thread on installing the camaro ifs into a '59 chev truck, just want to get other ideas, thanks
i'm no expert & i've never done one before but i based mine (w/a few modifications) almost exclusively on his post and its worked well on my F100 (i hear he's done one or two of these...so i was pretty confident in his info). i'm not quite done yet, but its tacked in, so we'll see. after getting my wheelbase, i put the fender on to visually see where i wanted it centered in the wheel well at ride height...despite what the tape measure said. once my eyes were happy, i welded it up. 2nd gen Camaro in F100.
the measurment from the cab mounts only really works if you make 100 percent sure everything is square to begin with. I typically measure and mark stuff for about an hour before I ever even turn the welder on. Jcruz is right...it also depends on how low you plan on going...if you want to run the clip at stock height, and are unsure where it is gonna place the tire, it may help to "load" the front clip with either your motor, or enough weight (approx 1000 lbs) to simulate a dressed motor, trans, radiator, and all the other 1 million 1 ounce items we tend to forget about, then hang the front clip (without inner fenderwells-this is also the only time those will be easy to remove, clean and paint, by the way) to see where the tire ends up living. the Truck in my thread is also a panel...shouldn't make a difference on where the front cab mounts are, but I have been wrong in the past.-and we took 1/2 a coil from the front springs. (which is around 2 inches IF DONE BY THE BOOK.) Good Luck! Lux
Or instead of loading the front end with weight you can take out the springs and shocks and install large washers, nuts, and threaded rod to set your ride height prior to the final welding.
Not to be a ****, but have you ever tried to remove coil springs out of a ch***is with no weight on it? (especially those big ***ed Camaro springs?) I wouldn't reccomend it, unless you've got a really kick *** spring compressor, and even then, ....wear a football helmet.
Just to add my $.02....The clip he did on my panel looks right and drives great. The alignment guy I used said that he deals with a lot of clip jobs and very few leave enough room to achieve a positive caster. Lux's method set me up right. Now
Yes, Mr. ****, I actually have. Thats where the threaded rod and washers that you purchase to set the ride height come in handy. Take out the shock, install the all thread and washers through the shock hole and tighten the nuts down hold everything in place. Loosen the ball joint nut a bit, smack the spindle with a hammer until the tapered seat lets go, fully remove the nut from the ball joint and use your all thread to let the spring tension off slowly. Done it many times, really dont care to hear how unsafe it is as I never saw a clamp on spring compressor as anything but a loaded shotgun. In my opinion I would rather deal with this over having 1000lbs of weight on a subframe I was trying to place in just the right spot to weld. Sorry for offering a helpful tip I have used in the past. Wont happen again.
Also I have used the threaded rod through the shock hole on camaro subframes to just crank the suspension down to a lower point with the springs still in the subframe. Darn, there I go again. Sorry.
no thats a very helpful tip. but the original question was asking for other methods to take measurements for this application.
i take 5/8 all thread and remove the shocks and use the all thread to pull down the suspenion to ride height. the camaro/firebird clip is almost the same width as the chevy frame. i usually just make a first cut off of some of the frame and slide the clip under the frame and keep triming and sliding the clip back untill i get the wheel and tire lined up in the fender well to my likeing. this set up will get the truck fairly low if you dont want it low put a 2" of whatever spacer between the clip and the frame. the deal here is to get the wheel lined up in the fender and the frame straight. i usually measure from the lower ball joint grease zerk to a point as far back as i can measure in a x pattern and the frame will be straight.i cant empasize enough the importance of setting the ride height and mocking up a wheel/tire in the fender. so many of these end up with the wheel back of center in the fender because of sticking to the orginal wheel base #.your welcome to call me if you have questions larry 623 332 4232.
Thanks for all the help with ride heigth but since I have just a bare frame here with the cab off its too late to hang fenders and all that. I was more interested in getting the axle center line right. Lux mentioned 28.5" from the box to the shock hole, I ***ume 'the box' is the forward cab mount bracket. I was at a GG car show last week and a guy had a 57 with a camaro ifs and he told me just to make sure the upper BJ zerk is ??" from the cab mount. I wish I had wrote down what he said because I have forgotten what he said now. KYBoy I appreciate any and all input from anyone that has done this ifs before. I have a guy coming over tonight to weld it all up and I just want to be sure. Thanks again Lux, your tech article guided me through most of this so far.
Not sure if you've seen this but it should help if you haven't. http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/clip_camaro/index.html (Quote) I was at a GG car show last week and a guy had a 57 with a camaro ifs and he told me just to make sure the upper BJ zerk is ??" from the cab mount. I wish I had wrote down what he said because I have forgotten what he said now.(unquote) You won't get a true reading of squareness by locating off the upper control arm balljoint grease zerks. The upper arm is the adjusting point for wheel alignments and it will be very unlikely that the grease ******(zerk) locations are square to the frame centerline due to required caster and camber settings. If your SURE the frame is good you can get close with the LOWER ball joint locations but I'd still use the frame centerline for final measuring before welding...with due consideration given to spindle center/wheelwell positioning and initial caster setting of course.
if you put this front end on the old axle center line i would bet money the wheel will be set back in the fender well.
can i hi-jack this thread for a sec. I just have a quick question. is there a way to tell what year clip you have?
KY- Did I pee in your oatmeal? Tone it down a bit, Buddy-I wasn't bashing on you. There is no way to get an accurate measurment from a grease zerk point-they move with the upper control arm due to alignment, and the fact that they were less than perfect to begin with. the axle centerline-if left stock-will sink the tire too deep towards the rear of the truck. however...the shock mount holes, for whatever reason, seem to be the best and easiest to measure from. Yes, I was talking about the forward cab mounts. (boxes) and, finally, do not EVER weld a spacer between two sections of frame. I don't care if you can weld wheat to supermans ***cheek, You create a natural stress point-which just happens to have the ENTIRE FRONT END of your vehicle on it. If you don't want one "that low" then buy a dropped axle and a disc brake conversion kit.
P***enger side rear portion will have a vin number stamped in it...you're on your own as far as decoding it is concerned.
it really doesnt make much difference , there are front steer clips. which include 70-81 camaro and firebird,75and up nova/clones 76-80 or so caddy seville. the rear steer would include 67-69 camaro/firebird,68-74 nova/clones some where around 78 gm lighten the spindles,the only thing that interchanges between the 2 is the stg gear.
lux blue. when you have the arms of the camaro frame slid under the chevy frame, if you add a 2" spacer it makes the vehicle 2" higher. the spacer if used is for mock up only. the camaro rails get cut off and the joint plated on the bottom.
I gotcha-I use the entire subframe-which leaves about 3 feet of weld, inside and out, on both sides- I thought you were saying to place spacers in between Chevy frame and Camaro clip (which I have seen done...the accident wasn't pretty.) which is a no-no. so you prefer to **** weld the thing together?
I need to hi-jack this thread one more time. What are the brackets called that you put on your engine to attach it to the motor mounts mounted on the crossmember. I hit up autozone and napa today and neither have the part.
Tell them you need the motor side of clamshell mounts-and that doorman sells them. (I am not sure that autozone carries doorman, but I know Oreillys does.) best bet-junkyard!
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