1949-50 3100

[dwcsr]

With a ZQ8 spindle and dual piston caliper bracket. Using this setup allows us to use C5 vette 13" brakes and calipers with few mods.

Next week it s on to the other side and then see if I can get a gear box fitted to the frame or if I have to use a rack.

[99 to Life]

nice

[dwcsr]

We have the other side done. The A frames and spindles are in place and it is going to have to be a rack. I have a junkyard 95 camaro rack coming for $50, to use as a mock up. I was hoping I could use a regular gear but I would have to rework the front crossmember more than I want to so a rack it is.

For the rear suspension I ordered the Trailing Arm kit from Early Classics.com. Once that arrives i'll post picture of that setup. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully this will be a roller in about 10 days.

[dwcsr]

We changed direction a bit. The front engine radiator support was very rotted we were going to patch it but decided to remove and remake the crossmember without the engine support part. With the new S10 crossmember in place it gives more than enough support for the frame, it also allows for more room to mount a rack. I used my plate brake to bend up some new side pieces. Tomorrow I'll make up the radiator support part and weld it all up.

The rack is a TRW model from a Dodge Monaco, I have a Grand Am rack coming looks the same but the piping is in a different place. The TRW rack has the input shaft at 86 degrees versus the Camaro that was at 72 degrees and would require notching the frame for the u joint.

[ghettoluxury]

Looks good. Who makes the cross member you are using for the S10 control arms?

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by ghettoluxury

Looks good. Who makes the cross member you are using for the S10 control arms?

Scott Danforth, He has a thread over on the Stovebolt.com site

[dwcsr]

I just got the trailing arm kit from Early Classic and laid it out to see how close it is and what we need to do. After a quick look at it we need to widen the cross member 3 inches. Make a coil over shock top member and mount up the rear. Heres to it being that easy. But I do have to finish the front first.

[dwcsr]

Ran into a problem on the front . Neither of the two racks is going to work I was hoping they would because of the 6.5" travel they had. I'm going with a T Bird rack , it has a little shorter travel but is wide enough. I don't know why I didn't do that from the beginning since I had already done that conversion years ago on my 58 with a C10 front end. My 58 has the same front frame dimensions as the 50.

Got a little more done on the rear. The crossmember was very tight fitting and we had to jack the rail a bit to slide the member in between the top and bottom of the rail. Once it was in place we could move it forward and backwards so I don't think it was to tight. Another issue is the member is to short by about 1.5 inches on each side. It just sits on the rail about 1/2" to the outer edge of the bolt holes so we made up some brackets to bolt on and extend the member into the middle of the rail. We will drill and bolt them all together. We also had to make shims so the clamp laid flat on the rail and flat on the member.

The Early classic member will have to be flipped so the loop hangs lower and closer to the original position in a 72. The member was designed for a dropped truck and we are not dropping this one.

The trailing arms are positioned so I may be able to use the coil springs and shocks from a 67-72. Worst case I end up with coil overs.

[99 to Life]

if it was easy, every one would do it!! Not a huge fan of the trailing arm system because it just eats up space, never experienced the ride though. Ever check out popeyes build he went this route but with a factory set up, not sure if your kit is different or not.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=383265&page=4

keep up the good work.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

if it was easy, every one would do it!! Not a huge fan of the trailing arm system because it just eats up space, never experienced the ride though. Ever check out popeyes build he went this route but with a factory set up, not sure if your kit is different or not.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=383265&page=4

keep up the good work.

The ride is very good. My 72 long bed rode better that a car. I think the early classic parts are very close to a factory setup. I couldn't find a factory one here so i went with the new parts.

Not sure what you mean by eats up space. Its only under the truck space and I'm not putting anything in that place.

There were a lot of truck arm setups on the web I looked at and I think the link you posted was one of them.

[99 to Life]

eats up space on options to run exhaust and gas tank, just depends on the route your going, especially with a bag setup, though your not going that route you have less worries.

[dwcsr]

No new pictures but I did figure out that the the 86 T bird rack fits nicely. I'll have to come up with ends but that an easy fix. The rack mounts like a Mustang rack with 2 posts on the crossmember. We got the trailing arm crossmember flipped and bolted in. Also finished up the radiator support member.

[dwcsr]

We have the rack installed and all thats left is tapping the Camaro rod ends to 9/16-18 and putting them on. We did have to notch the crossmember so the steering shaft housing and u-joint will clear.

[dwcsr]

As a note I used ES3238RL rod ends and tapped them to 9/16-18 to fit the 86 TBird rack. So the front is done except for cleanup and painting. The brakes we will add later.

[dwcsr]

One more picture

[dwcsr]

The rear is coming along. We have the basic fit up done. We will have to remove the ebrake cross shaft and use coil over shocks

[ghettoluxury]

Looks like everything is coming along nicely.

[99 to Life]

def coming along. nice when you have a nice clean rolling chassis, good feeling.

[dwcsr]

A little more progress while we wait on parts and the cab to come back. I decided to use the stock type coil springs. I got some 5 inch drop from Early Classic and am in the process of making the coil brackets from 3/16 steel.

[dwcsr]

Little more progress. We welded the spring seats in place and have a 2x4 tube placed for the shocks to mount to. We have to mount the shocks and make up the track bar hanger and the back suspension is for the most part done. Next is the gas tank. Looks like I'm using a 67-78 Camaro tank with a rear fill, 18 gals.

[dwcsr]

The suspension is done front and back we do need to mount the track bar but are waiting until I do the pinion angle later. Gas tank is on the way. We will box the frame while we wait on the tank. We may get it down on the ground and put some weight on it to see where is will ride.

[dwcsr]

The chassis is on the ground and we finally got the 68 Camaro tank with the fuel injection pump tray in it, I'll get that mounted tomorrow. I have engine mounts coming and all the body parts are on the way back in primer so we can fit it all.

Next week is engine mounting and set all the body parts on to see how it all looks. I know the rear is just about at the correct ride height but the front needs softer springs. I used stock v6 springs and it does give at all with the engine, trans and myself on the front end. I ordered 4 cylinder springs we'll see if that works out, I may need a drop spring. The back with and engine on it sat at the stock height so thats good.

[Denee007]

Looks GREAT! Now that's progress!

[99 to Life]

I was gonna ask about the pan hard, I see you have it on there. Luv to see a rolling rolling chassis. Good feeling.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 99 to Life

I was gonna ask about the pan hard, I see you have it on there. Luv to see a rolling rolling chassis. Good feeling.

I haven't welded in the upper panhard bar bracket yet It may need to be lower once the bed is on it. The bar is longer than a stock bar due to the frame being over 40 inches in the back. I used the bar kit from Early Classics and got another bar and made a long one out of two.