Help with 350/350 in a '53 bel air-new rear?

Got my hands on a 350/350 tinking bout putting it in the '53. I've heard two sides.
One side says it should work with the stock closed rear- I may have to change the driveshaft and joints to get it to mate.

The other says I will need a new rearend. Does any body have any suggestions?

If I do need a new rearend does anybody know one that bolts in relatively easily. This is my daily and I get one day off a week need this to transition smoothly. (yeah right)

Thanks guys

huh driveshaft, huh mate, huh joint

 

A buddy o' mine picked up a '77 Camaro 10-bolt to use in his '54 Chevy....

 

The 'new' combo is not going to work with the stock closed driveline..
for starters, the 350 transmission has a yoke where the closed driveline has a u-joint mating up to the inner driveshaft.
Plus, the length of the new set up, is different that the stock stuff.

The u-joint's that are in the stock torque tube are very small, and more than likely wouldn't hold up to well, if at all to a 350 if it even would fit..
With all that said,
i would recommend changing the shaft and rear to an open set up.
One rear that will fit is a 55-57 chevy rear, they are the right width..

You will have to change the spring pearches on the rear end to fit the narrower 53 spring's, and the locating pin on the 53 is not in the center of the pad like the 55-7, it's offset, so if you make your own pads make sure to take that into consideration.
Once you do get the rear end in the car, just measure for a new shaft and have one made up.

 

I think the 70-81 camaro may be a bit too wide, but depending on wheel offset, it may be fine.

I have heard many people use the 55-57 Chevy rearend with nearly bolt-in. The 67-69 Camaro rar is about the same width, but the leaf spring pads need to be moved.

Your stock enclosed driveshaft rear can not be used without modifications, and its not worth the hassle, just get an open drive rear to swap in.

 

I have a 383\350 combo in my 53. I used an early 70's Nova 10 bolt. I had to move the spring perches but the width is very close.

W Vaughan

 

Chassis Engineering has bolt in motor and transmission mounts for this swap. Call them at (319) 643-2645 and ask them to send you a FREE catalog.

You are going to have to replace your rear end and have a custom drive shaft fabricated. You are also going to have to convert your electricals to 12 volts. All of this is very doable and you will be very happy with the results. But you are not going to be able to do this swap in one day. And even if you could the machine shop is going to need several days to fabricate your driveshaft. And then there is the question of exhaust pipes and mufflers.

You are going to need an alternative source of transportation while you are working the swap.

Good luck.

 

The swap is easy it just takes forever, lots of grinding on the old rivits. I did it on my 54 and it should pay off.

69.3

 

Thanks guys lots of good advice.

 

I used a 80 camaro rear. Just cut off the original mounts and welded on reegular pads with the three holes and used the closest hole to the front to center then used mopar lower plates and bolts to hold it all together. I even used a stock S-10 driveshaft. It don't get any easier. Less than six hours start to finish with all the parts there and ready.

 

The old stuff wont work.

The best bet, and the easiest to find will be a 70-81 Camaro/Firebird. The stock spring perches are the right width to fit over the springs. You will need to drill a new pin locating hole to center the rear in the wheel wells.

Oh, and you should run a traction bar or something to keep the old springs from twisting up. The old torque tube took care of this, but without it, the springs cant take the torque.

55-57 Chevy rears and 67-69 Camaro/Firebird rears will work too, but they are getting harder to find these days.

Here is a mock-up pic of my 51 with a 78 Camaro rear (those are the stock perches on the rear end).

 

Well, Colorado51's pics show that the 70-81 camaro rear looks about as bolt-in as you can get. Get one out of a Z-28 or Trans-Am and you have a better chance for a posi rear. Those 70-81 camaro's are everywhere in the junkyard. Be careful that many of these have really high like 2.41 or 2.56 gears in them. That rear is more than strong enough for any small block. The S-10 or similar driveshaft is a good idea, I am sure you could find a correct length driveshaft at the junkyard, just measure after the engine/trans and rearend are installed and then go searching at the junkyard.

 

38chevy 454, should I be careful to NOT get 2.41-2.56 gears or to get 'em?

Colorado51 thanks for the pic it makes more sense.

 

I got lucky and pulled one out of a Z28. Its was a posi with 3:08 gears. When I rebuilt the rear end I switched to 3:73's.

If you find one with 2 series gears, you will need a ring gear spacer (or a new carrier) to go to a 3 or 4 series gear.

 

I was trying to say that you do NOT want one of the 2.41 rears. Unless you plan on some real high speed driving. A good gear would be in the 3.0-3.5 range, these numbers would give decent acceleration but still able to make a road trip without running at 3500+ rpms. A 3.0 gear will be approx 75 mph at 3000 rpms, of course it depends on your rear tire size to be exact, but close enough. The 2.41 gear would be like an OD gear whenever it is in 3rd (high gear), along with real sluggish acceleration in first gear off the line.

 

I used a stock '92 S-10 4x4 10 bolt and some new perches from Speedway...
The rear is 3:73 stock with locking differential....
Speedway perches are already drilled to center the rear...

 

I'm doing a similar swap in my girlfriends 53 bel-air,it's a 350/700r4.So far I have ordered all the new mounts and crossmember from www.waltonfabrication.com .I've got a new 12 volt harness from painless.So far I have found out that a rearend out of 55-57 chevy,68-72 nova,or 70-81 camaro will work.I believe the width is 60 inches,backing plate to backing plate.It's good to hear from people that have done this already.Thanks for the info.

 

I put a 9in. in mine ( was tired of breaking 55- 57 rears ) I used one out of a 70 Ford pickup but one out of a ranchero works also. Its measures 56in. backing plate to plate.

 

Yea, a lot of guys are using the S-10 rear, however all 10 bolts are not the same. The thing that I dont like about it is that it is only a 7.50" ring gear, 1.438" pinion, and 27 spline.

The early 10 bolts (70-81 Camaro) are 8.50" ring gear, 1.626" pinion, and 30 spline, much stronger.

If you are not laying down a bunch of power and running an automatic you are probably ok using the S-10 rear.

Im running a 454 and a 4-speed, and even my 8.5" 10 bolt is still a weak point in the drive train as far as Im concerend.

Just some stuff to think about.....

 

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There is a adapter (old timey) the adapter mates the SBC to the stock transmission (manual shift). I have seen them on EBAY.from time to time.......

I do not remember the maker...

 

I had a 56 Pontiac rear end in the 'ol Watsonmobile......It was a 327/350 setup.

 

Okay after reviewing the who's got a straight six in their hot rod post I've decided to stick with the straight six. I really appreciate all y'all coming out to give pointers. Good lookin' out my brothers!

 

Well

The rear ( have a 9'' in mine) is not the biggest "problem" you'll run in to.
Getting the 350/350 combo to fit between the frame rails and not hit the stock steering is a task that demands some thinking. It's absolutely doable, especially if you have somebody to help you !!

Klaus

 

that adapter is available in the P A W catalog made by TDperformance part#tdp0020,,,,,,,,great catalog

 

I thought to get around the stock steering with a 350 combo you can use those special headers from Sanderson made for this conversion ?

T

 

try walton fabrication on the swap parts, real easy!

 

"Oh, and you should run a traction bar or something to keep the old springs from twisting up. The old torque tube took care of this, but without it, the springs cant take the torque."

I keep hearing people say this but it was not the case in my experience. even with 4" blocks. original springs are narrow compared to later stuff, but on a regular street car that does an occasional burnout or stoplight holeshot the springs will work just fine.

as for the motor fitting... they fit fine so long as you do not want to put exhaust on it. I had sandersons on one... a bit pricey but nice. there is only a couple of factory exhaust manifolds that work. early 265 manifolds work, and somewhere I just saw someone who used late model manifolds like off an Lt-1.

 

The rear springs are a bit weak for a V-8 swap. The original torque tube driveline depended on the STRENTH of the transmission crossmember to handle the pivoting and torque; just look at it's design and at the size of the transmission mount. I'm going to try overload shocks and traction bars before going to aftermarket springs. Oh, and I have one of those comp-lete adapters that uses the stock 3-speed trans. Originally, I was going to use a 194-292 style six cylinder, but the nephew wanted to go V-8/automatic/tri-five rear. I still have a few copies of the 1968 Hot ROD Magazine article V-8/53 Chev swap they did, and they DID'NT cut the firewall supports. Butch/56sedandelivery.