need suggestion for bodydropping "CHANELING" 54' chevy

Extend the rockers and fenders down an inch. It's subtle enough that most people won't notice it, and much less work than channeling

 

Here is a picture of my last car. It was lowered 6" in the rear and 5" up front. Lowered, not bagged, everyday driver for 3 years. Never damaged anything on the car. If you want a lowered car so bad, make it low and drive it that way. What is the point of just making it low when you park it?

 

Maybe you could add a little metal to the rockers and rear quarters which would make it look lower without channeling which I'm sure would be a bear on that body .

 

Very nice ride!! welp, we are in a difference of opinions. rather than speaking my mind to others who only "lower" their vehicles i can appreciate their work and praise them for the work and efforts that they so choose to do. but truly, throwing comments out like an aimless tard is very effective! it just shows how one way-minded people can really be sometimes and its ashame because this community thrives on diversity.. good luck on your "idea" of the hobby and keep up the good looking ride!

 

The Z's the key...look up Bass' fleetline build or Gambino's Fuck You '54. You'll need it to get low, especially with that front crossmember...and, you don't want to be bottomed out while rolling, channeled or not.

Bryan

 

I am not trying to put you or your car down. I am only trying to follow what this board is all about. It is about traditional hot rods.

People can argue how traditional airbags are because they did come out in the late sixties. But as far as ride height is concerned, lowering it the traditional way is the point I am trying to make. Yes, there are some things on my cars that are not traditional, like modern brake and seat belts, but that is a safety issue, but for the most part, I try to stay more on the side of traditional than not.

 

..now that has always been a bullshit argument if there has ever been one!

i have been into cars my whole life and never heard of people airbagging a car untill the 90's in a custom driver controlled adjustable format to lower your car down on the frame........sure,,airbags came out on a ,what '58 impala...but not in any since that we know them now,,,these idiots that argue this would have you beliveing that people were cruising around and letting the air out cruising around since way back when,,,,

 

hey rusk, i tried searching both those on here and couldnt find a decent link. do you have one?
i'll try google next and try to find more info on the "z" approach. this one is also new to me. thanks!

 

,not that i have any thing against them!!! hahaha,,,i will probably be bagging a car in the near future as i want my 52 on the ground,,but dont want to fuck with hydros this time around....

 

If you channel that car you are going to have to deal with major door alignment problems on all four doors. That will be a nightmare.

 

Here is a pic that shows how the frame is cut and moved up when Zing the frame. You must also move the frame down the same amount in front so you move the core support down. This alignes the front sheet metal. Your basically just raising the section of the frame that the suspension and crossmember is located on.

 

PM RacerRick on here, he channeled a 50 chevy.

 

yep a four door wagon is a real "traditional" choice for a custom though

 

i believe you are wrong Kustom, when i do searches on the forum, i see a lot of rides outside of "traditional". but whatever.. to be honest, i dont care about any of that! im only after what i want it to look like and i havnt put one thought about what "class" it may fit in. in fact im putting a whole mess of modern shit in this thing, but what i do know is this forum has a huge amount of combined knowledge that "most" people are willing to share and since my car falls well within type of car well liked in here the knowledge i need to pursue this is here. How i get to my end result is up to me and i dont care what it is to the traditionalists.

 

aha! now that ive seen that pic, it makes perfect sense to me! i am going to really look at this more! i believe this really is the answer i was looking for!

-but wht does that do to the rear? do i still need to cut those body mounts or something?

 

Here's Gambino's...kinda hard to see the front suspension in some of his pics...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140582

A couple of my pics...





Bass' build...there are some great step by step shots in here...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168229

Do an advanced search, enter the username you're looking for, and then choose "threads started by user"...that's how I find stuff people posted. That, or a Google search.

Bryan

 

take an inch off the bottom of the frame and re weld it. its a lot easier than channeling a full bodied car

 

..or how about a set of 1989 IROC ground effects ..most people may not notice that either

 

From what you are saying, it sounds like the front suspension is holding you up.
If the front cross member is on the ground and holding the car up, Z the frame. If the cross member isn't holding it up, then your bags are fully compressed. For this situation you need to cut them off and put them on so the car will lay out.

That might satisfy you. If not, you'll probably end up cutting the floor.

 

alright!! thanks for all the info from everyone!, and the links provided which i thouroghly read thru. after what ive read and what people are saying im defintily going to z the frame. i just got out from under my car for bout an hour and was figuring out what to do about the rear to lay body too so that it wouldnt rake after modding the front. i have a solid game plan and going to start first thing in the morning. im going to use the k.i.s.s rule for the rear, and wouldve never thought to z'ing the frame either had i not seen it.
-damn i like this forum, its like working with 100 minds right here in my shop! lol. i will post my progress......or demise, here as i enter this new level of modding for me!

 

I also z'd my chev to get a better angle on the suspension, raise my cross member and oil pan. I also had to push the fire wall back and up and redo the tunnel all the way to the back. take a close look at what might get in the way or be hard to get at if you need to fix something like lower control arm bolts and front rack and pininon. make sure you allow your self enough room to work on these items.heres a pic of mine all aired out, notice how the tires are still straight up and down. I still have the original cross member but when I get some time I will cut it out so it lays down a little more and I can cruise lower.

 

I don't know, sometimes this lowering thing seems like the automotive equivalent of anorexia!

 

It's simple... Looks!

 

There's a dude around here that has (or had?) a 54 2-door that sectioned his frame rails-- about 3/4 inch. basically just cut off the bottom part of the rail, and weld a new plate to the bottom. He kept the "top hat" shape, but used a thicker plate (like 3/16 or 1/4") for the bottom. The OEM bottom plate is only 14 ga. iirc.

Of course the entire trans crossmember had to be tucked up inside the car, and the driveshaft/transmission tunnel had to be raised.... still a lot of work, but unless you got some rust that needs taken care of in the door sill areas anyway...

 

Yes, Fatmans Ultralow is the most tucked MII for our cars, The lower crossmember is flush with the frame (frame is notched for rack clearance) and the hats sit higher above the frame, it's meant to get low without dropped spindles but guys like us install them anyway. Since you've already installed a different setup it appears z-ing the frame; as stated, is your only option. As far as engineering, you're well beyond "flat tire, bad" news anyway.

 

well, thats exactly what im doing today, gonna just knock off the bottom of the frame enough to lay the back all the way and cap it back off. as for the front, i thought i did enough research and found the "right" MII for the look i wanted. but its all good cuz it sounds like z'ing the frame is going to resolve this and i really like the look of this MII than all the others i looked at. and since i thought i was already going to be layed out level, all the "extra work" raised tranny, driveshaft tunnel, etc, is already done!! if everything goes smoothly today i should have this layed out by the end of the day.

 

I know what you mean. My car is static dropped so the frame rails are 3" off the ground, with only 1.5" on the skid plate, and I look at the car and think "That's not low enough."

 

How's this project comming along?

 

-fatmans get 2" lower?? i only have bout 3/4" to go. doesnt that go against engineering safety. (flat tire, bad news) i thought any setup would have to modified to go past safety issues at your own risk?? so please tell me more.

you are building a car with air ride that will lay frame. the whole concept is against engineering safety. lose air in a bag or 2?? have a tire explode while driving low?? both bad scenarios

the FATMAN ultralow crossmember is not spaced away from the frame like other crossmembers. the whole suspension is 2" higher in the frame making the car 2" lower with everything else being the same. if your current crossmember is hitting when aired out, the ultra low crossmember most likely won't.