I've been looking for a magazine article I read years ago where a '39' GMC truck body was put on a late '70s early '80s Plymouth Volare frame. I think it was a Street Rodder magazine from the late 80's early 90s. Thanks in advance.
The Volare was a uni-body car. The front suspension was a removable sub-frame (If my memory is working today...) Russ
I sounds more like a Rodders digest, I did a f body clip swap after reading a article in rodders digest
The Volare front suspension was once a popular swap under 50’s era trucks. Not so much any more plus the last Volare were built in 1980.
Twenty five years ago I did a Valarie clip (technically an F, M & J body clip used on those Mopar bodies from 1976 through the end of the rear drive cars in 1988) on a 54 Dodge pickup. I had the Tex Smith book I used as a guide. I had an 85 Chrysler 5th ave as a donor car (much like the dark blue one in the background of the first picture). After I got started into it, I discovered that the Text Smith book was missing a few critical measurements (like the length of the tubing pieces that were required), and that a few of the given measurements were not accurate. Trudging forward, the next thing I discovered was that Tex said I should weld the 2" x 4" tubing on top of the original truck frame. After I had everything tack welded together and the subframe bolted on, I sat the ch***is on the ground and quickly determined that it was way too low. I ended up dissembling it, and cutting the top flange off the truck frame and sinking the 2" x 4" tubing 2" into the frame. I did get the truck built, and I did actually drive the truck 44,000 miles over 5 summers, before something came along I just had to have worse the the 54. I know, pictures or it didn't happen. As you can see, even sinking the tubing into the frame 2", the front of the truck sat pretty low. The front bumper had gouges in the bottom just getting in and out of my driveway (and that was at an angle). The front edge if the running boards had 5" of ground clearance, and they also s****ped the ground several times. The truck did drive nice, but don't buy into the concept that you could raise up the front of the truck by simply adjusting the torsion bars up. In a matter of weeks, it would be back down again, the bars could not maintain the lifted height past the original designed range for very long, before it would settle back down into the design height. Once back down to the designed height, it would remain there. That bright purple motor was a 360, backed with a 727 trans and an 8 3/4 year end with 3:23 gears. Those pictures are all that I can post from my computer right now.
The Jalopy Journal
