Noob has a choice of engines for a 50 Chevy

Luckily, my ride is already converted to 12v....Car 12 Adam 1! The 3rd Gen Camaro rears are 60" and some change, right? That's too big, I thought....or so I read.

If you get a lead on one, let me know...or if you get an extra...I'll buy it off of ya! The kid down the street (buying the motor from his dad) is as much of a car guy as his dad is....they're both going to help me do the install. It's awesome, because while I'm not a small guy....this kid is a true Hoss Cartwright!

Was yours the 60" width?

 

i want to say mine was either 58 or 56 I know it was only 1" wider than the original 53 rear it may have been 60" it has been a little while since I did it

 

yeh mine was 60 and the 53 was 58.751 so it fit but the 50 may be smaller. but i thought your 50 and my 53 were the same track

 

I think it's 60.5", as long as you don't run skirts or stick to stock rims they're fine.

 

see I changed mine to the trailing arms and the coils to but i don't think you are trying to go that far.

 

I mated an 80 Camaro z28 350 to an 88 s10 5spd(truck had a 6 cyl in it) and that was mated to a 95 s10 rear end all stock with nothing done to any of the components except getting the right yoke on the driveshaft. And like the others said measure for a drive shaft and head to the junk yard...Has perfect high way cruising ability and will deffinately move when you want it to. The best thing about that is that all the parts are readily available at any parts store so if it does brek on a trip you are more likely to find parts.

 

Yeah, I was hoping to go with some wider rims on the back, but not so wide they peep out the sides....perhaps getting the 2nd gen camaro rearend....or the s10, is the right way to go in that case. The least amount of muss an fuss is what I'm going for.

 

this is some good info

 

Indeed it is, it's kind of like collecting all of the other similar questions in the past and putting them in one place....and then some.

BTW, is your avatar "The Most Interesting Man in the World"? That's the ** guy, right?

 

How much difference does it make if the rear end is posi, or not?

 

In regards to leaf springs, are the stock ones from the Camaro rear bolt in, or do I need different ones. If so, what type?

Thanks for all the advice, btw....soaking it up!

 

The Camaro rear drops right on the stock springs - that's why you need to drill a new hole for the locating pin, the stock '50 pin is ahead of center. That I know of (and I've looked a lot) there is no junkyard bolt in spring for these cars because they run 1 3/4" wide springs. The Dodge Ramcharger 4x4 front comes closest I guess but is still too wide, I don't know that there's room in the hangers to jam a 2" wide spring in.

Just get the rearend, U-bolts and bottom plates. The car I robbed had brand new shocks so I bought those too, I may do like the donor trunk pan I had and put a piece of angle across to bolt them to (but do a better job welding it to the frame than these guys did).


If it boils down to it that you can only find an S10 4x4 rearend, the perches are cheap (under $20 from Speedway for what is a Mopar part and already drilled with three pin locations), it's just a matter of if you want to weld them on or not.

 

Thanks for the info! I think I have a lead on a Camaro rear...I'll find out more in a day or so. If I have to go the S10 route, I will, I just wanted to avoid the welding for now if I could find something a little simpler. A little time here and there adds up!

 

use a 55-57 rearend then. It WILL swap over.

 

thats what I thought on the rear bbrakes... the 50's brake pads might be a little narrower than a 567 though..
I am putting a 567 rear in my 50.
exactly how much does the pin hole have to be moved?

 

Building on what I've already learned from you guys (and thanks a lot for bearing with me) I was wondering if anyone had specific info on adapter kits to mount the 283 sbc and the th350 to the 50 Chevy? I paroused Speedway, and I see what is labeled as motor mounts or trans mounts, but I don't know if it fits my application.

After that, I'm sure I'll have to buy a host of other parts...radiator, water pump, etc etc...not even sure...but if anyone has a parts list, or can help me create one, that would be a great help, too. I'll get an exact list of what I've got up in the next day or so, as I'm getting headers, intake, etc from him with the engine...and he said he'd see what else he has on hand to throw my way. I *do* know that I need to get a good carb for it in the mean time.

 

I would go with the mounts from Ch***is engineering. If your car is currently a 3spd they make a kit to midify your original ****** crossmember. My car was a PG so I had to fab my own. Todd

 

I got mounts for mine from Walton Fab, everything lined up perfectly, just follw the instructions, but ask the for the dimension Before you order, they say that there are two trans crossmembers and a 1% chance of it being the oddball one, I got the oddball one and had to modify it instead of sending it back for exchange.But the big issue is exhaust manifolds for this setup. There is a guy on here that has a set of cast exhaust manifolds for $80, otherwise sanderson has headers for $400???? I'm in the middle of this swap right now so it's kinda familiar to me.

 

I surfed over Ch***is Engineering's site and Walton's, and priced out their motor and trans mounts, but I saw structural differences in the two. Allegedly the Walton ones make slipping in the engine much easier to accomplish. I don't know how true that is. The CE one says that it's a simple bolt on, but I'm ***uming that you have to do quite a bit of measuring, drilling holes, etc. The differences in their trans mounts was the bigger difference, though...both in structure and price. From the looks of it, the CE one, you cut your existing one and weld on another plate? With the Walton one, it seems to be more involved, but makes it easier to drop the trans...but you have to drill out the rivets to do it. Any thoughts? All totaled, the CE stuff is about 150 with tax....the Walton, about $290. Maybe it's worth it? Hmmmm....

Do you remember the name of the fellow with those manifolds? So stock ones won't fit?

 

the issue with the manifolds is the steering arm being right in the way, you need a rear dump on drivers side and center dump on p*** side. The dude was from texas. I'll look

 

his login is "derangedfckr"? put"manifolds" in parts search

 

lots of good info here my 50 was done many years ago when frist done it had a 57 olds rear i put a 57 chevy rear in almost bolt in , the 50 rad. will work fine with a 283 or any sbc the top outlet tube is too small you can have a rad. shop change it or use a smaller hose as a filler and put your hose over it we did this on a 49 till we could get the rad. done i will do the v-8 open drive train a 6 will run good had 2 235 in the past but still like the v-8 better

 

Pin holes have to move ahead about an inch and a half, and on a 5-6-7 rear they have to move inward I think half an inch or so, best to measure on the car when you install the rearend.

If he can't find a Camaro rear, a 5-6-7 isn't going to be any easier.

Several people make mounts, I would just fab the trans crossmember, it looks pretty simple on most of the cars I've seen it done with.

As for headers, just hit the junkyard and find a mid-90s V8 Caprice, Roadmaster or the Olds wagon (maybe the Caddy RWD cars too?) and pull the manifolds off one of those. They come up with a long arch shape to the top, and dump in the rear. You'll have to cap a hole for an O2 sensor - or just leave it in there - but that's what a lot of guys are using, and they'll bolt up to pretty much any SBC head. I think I can get pairs for $20, the worst part of the job pulling them off the car.

 

I'm running an S-10 4x4 rear w/ 3:42 gears. It's a half inch narrower than than the stocker which will help getting the tires off on lowerd cars. and used RB's rear drop block setup for the 52 springs . They are 2" drop and I added another 2' to it for 4' drop.

 

When i first got my 50 i didnt know much. Everyone kept talking about open driveline and 57 chevy rear ends. Ive actually got a 57 rear end/shaft/trans in my garage. When it came down to making the swap i found it doesnt just bolt in like so many on the internets say....

So after thinking about it, and understanding that my car was designed to run with a torque tube, and that i wasnt going with a 350, i put an advert on craigslist asking for a 53-54 powerglide rear end. Had one for 100 bucks in 3 days, bolted it in in 2 hours. Combined with my $100 235, i put 7000 miles on a $200 drivetrain. Drove 800 miles to chicago and back at 65 miles an hour. I just replaced that 235 with a $400 261 a few months ago and already have about 2000 miles on it. Ive got another 261, full oil, that i scored for $100 bucks on a stand getting ready....

Point of my story, keep it simple, keep it cheap, keep your car on the road.....
The old stuff works great.

 

what he said!!!!!!!

 

Will an 81 trans am rear/3.23 work with the turbo 350 and my existing perches? I figured that was the same as the 2nd Gen Camaro rear.

 

70-81 are second gen camaro/transam