1954 3100 C4 Tube Chassis Build

[STOCKISH]

Yeah, he was a great friend, he would have done the same. A terrible loss for everyone who came in contact with him. 30 is to young to go.

Now, if I can get this 292 out of my garage I'll get moving on rebuilding this 5.3!

[STOCKISH]

Spent a little while in the shop tonight and finished my upper control arm mounts. 7 cutoff wheels later and a lot of grinding this is how they look. Clamped them together and threw them in the drill press as well. My DOM showed up today too so hopefully the cross member will be finished this weekend and installed in the truck!

[99 to Life]

damn, very nice work. if you haven't or don't use dewalt cutoff discs, do so. I'v yet to find anything better. you can get em bulk on ebay. I shoulda done that on my last build. This build now, I'm between 30-40 discs. Didn't get them in bulk till about 20 discs in.

[vince921]

Looking good!!

[mcbassin]

Killer progress Josh. I like the new power plant plan.

[FarmerSid]

Nice job Josh! You gotta slow down a bit. LOL! I'm waiting for my material to come in so I can build along with ya. How did you come up with upper control arm mounts from that picture of a drawing?

[FarmerSid]

Here's a few pictures of a jig a buddy passed on to me. Maybe they will be of some help.

[STOCKISH]

In post 102 you can see the template I used to make the upper mounts. I like that jig. I don't have anything like that. Just tape measures, levels, and angle finders over here. Low tech all the way! It fool yo show people that you don't have to have 150,000 worth of equipment and frame tables to do something like this. Just have to take your time and measure, ALOT!!

[FarmerSid]

I have low tech tools too. I saw the drawings you posted but can make out some of the dimensions. They are blurry when you try and zoom in. How did you make the upper CA mounts from that drawing? The lower control arm holes measurement is cut off in the first picture. I'd like to start fabbing along with you but those drawings are lacking quite a few critical measurements. Would you mind posting what those measurements are?

I find the Walter Zip disks last the longest.

[STOCKISH]

If you are asking the distance between the lower control arms they are 24 1/4 from center of the bolt to center of the bolt. Thats the only measurement I can see that is cut off, sorry about that. As for the upper control arm mount I just layed that template you see in post 102 on the 1/2 plate and traced it out.

Mike, Yeah Im pumped about the LS for sure. Now if I could just unload this 292!

[FarmerSid]

Thanks for the measurement Josh. I just reread my post and I think I may have come across a little crusty. I didn't mean to come across that way. I got to thinking, I wonder if the holes in the upper mounts should be slotted for caster and camber adjustment? Your thoughts?

[STOCKISH]

No you didnt sound weird at all. No worries man. The camber and caster is adjustable with shims just like the factory would have been. You have to move the upper arm in and out horizontally to adjust camber or caster, not up and down vertically or front to rear.

[STOCKISH]

Made a little progress tonight, I made a simple jig to ensure my lower control arm mounts stay nice and square while I burn them in. They are 1" diameter
.250 wall tool steel so hopefully they will be strong enough. I will either add a couple gussets or put a piece of 2" .500 wall DOM over them and weld them on as well. What are your guys thoughts?

[fabguy]

Originally Posted by 1972SuperCheyenne

Made a little progress tonight, I made a simple jig to ensure my lower control arm mounts stay nice and square while I burn them in. They are 1" diameter
.250 wall tool steel so hopefully they will be strong enough. I will either add a couple gussets or put a piece of 2" .500 wall DOM over them and weld them on as well. What are your guys thoughts?

Nicely done, I would do both DOM and the gussets. Better to be safe now than wish later.

[STOCKISH]

Made some kick ass progress today. Got my front cross member all welded up and installed in the chassis. Everything is perfectly square and the tire size and clearances are perfect for my ride height. Need to figure out correct spring rate and order coil covers now.

[Flames97]

Love the work you've been doing on this, looks really good.

[STOCKISH]

Thanks man. I appreciate that.

[FarmerSid]

Friggn right you've been kick'in ass! Looks awesome. Post some more closer up pictures of fab job with components installed.

[STOCKISH]

I will take more tomorrow when its light out. Super pumped!

[99 to Life]

you made that look super easy. nice work.

[STOCKISH]

Thanks guys, here are a couple more pics of the installed cross member. I still have to burn in the upper mounts completely with the 230 at work. I also added a picture showing the tire clearance in the front. The tire will be cambered in more than it is right now as well.

[oldman3]

Wow, that looks great, super nice job on the build of crossmember and components...Jim

[STOCKISH]

Thanks man, I have about $38 invested in the entire thing. The 1/4 wall I made the crossmember out of and the 1/2 I used for the upper control arm mounts I had laying around for years. The only thing I purchased was the 1/4 wall DOM for the lower mounts. Sure beats Flat Outs $1000 price tag. Sure was more work (lots more) but more rewarding as well. Cant wait to redo the back now and make it a full roller.

[FarmerSid]

Nice job Josh. Hope you don't mind but I'm going to copy the ride height, rim style and size, offset etc and tire size. That's the stance I'm after. Is the UCA mount parallel with the LCA mounting points? Kinda curious, why didn't you weld in the rack mounts and gusset the LCA mounts before you welded the cross member to the frame? You had things braced and that would have been a good time to gusset to stop movement during welding. Just wondering. That's all. A little on how you came up with the location of the cross member. How did you determine the vertical and horizontal location?

As nice as the Flat Out cross member is, the price tag is what's making me make one as well. Keep posting pictures! If only you made them a bit bigger.

It's quite impressive what you've done so far.

[STOCKISH]

I didnt do the rack mounts yet because Im not 100% set on wether I will use the Vette rack or use a T-Bird rack. The mounts for the T Bird rack are much simpler. I will add the gussets after I determine which rack Im goint to use, that way the gussets wont dictate how/where I mount the rack. As for the placement I put my fenders on and positioned my wheels where I wanted them, than marked my wheel center on the chassis. After that I used Flat Outs mounting instructions based on my wheel center. I will gladly mail you a copy of their instructions if it will help you.