Thread: Frame work

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I maybe opening up a can of worms for a first time project. Clip is under the frame to answer Shine's question.

good. it will be a huge pia to cut the welds loose but if you can the clamp the clip and take a bfh to it and move it centered in wheel well and square up to frame and rear end .
this is my preferred way to do it .

Originally Posted by BAM55

I had to move a clip on a guys car before but it was the cut and butt installation. Here are some pics of what I did.

Here was the issue with who ever done the original clip.


Here's a close up pic of how it was tied it together may give you some ideas. I cut the cut lose and removed enough metal to make it center and butted it again. The area final weld it was boxed on both sides and the diamond shaped plates reinforced over the vertical welded area. I don't believe in leaving vertical welds with no reinforcement. It could be over kill but its safer at least in my head.lol Its just one of those things I do and other may not agree.



After

Nice work.
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Wow, you did a fantastic job cutting the frame and making look correct, I see you plated it correctly also. I'm sure it was a PITA but if your like me you would have looked at whats wrong every time you look at the vehicle. It was worth your time to do it. I had a similar thing with my 53 when I did the rear end. I had all my measurements double checked and I had everything perfect according to how the original 53 frame measured. The problem came in where they put the rear end from the factory caused wheels to be too far forward making then un-centered in the rear fender. I never really noticed until after the pickup was painted. My fix wasn't as involved as yours but I did end up moving the rear wheels back 1 1/2 inches.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Wow, you did a fantastic job cutting the frame and making look correct, I see you plated it correctly also. I'm sure it was a PITA but if your like me you would have looked at whats wrong every time you look at the vehicle. It was worth your time to do it. I had a similar thing with my 53 when I did the rear end. I had all my measurements double checked and I had everything perfect according to how the original 53 frame measured. The problem came in where they put the rear end from the factory caused wheels to be too far forward making then un-centered in the rear fender. I never really noticed until after the pickup was painted. My fix wasn't as involved as yours but I did end up moving the rear wheels back 1 1/2 inches.

Thanks for the compliment man.

I had to fix one that was way more involved than that one. That one was fairly straight forward because it was put in nicely just a little to long. But man I have another buddy whos clip was installed ugly, unsafe, and just a complete mess. People were talking him he need a new clip at the least maybe a new frame. I figured out a way to set it right. It drive nice and looks decent now.

Before





Is that just unbelievable that he was driving around on that. The guy that done that awful work had the nerve to tell my buddy his truck was dog tracking one day when he was driving behind him.lol

Well here are the after pics






This is it at one of our local carshows. My buddy is happy and the truck handles really nice now.


I've seen a lot of bad clip installations over the years but that was by far the worst I've ever seen or fixed.

Wow, what a difference. That came out real nice.

Shame that someone considered that mess even adequate.

It's difficult to find a craftsman who really cares about the quality of work he turns out, but you have a flair for making everything turn out OK and are a credit to the hobby.
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That one gives bad a bad name. Nice save.

That went from butcher block to art, nice work. Do you have a preference on what clips you like to work with? I hear the Dakota one is a popular swap also.

Yeah Guys it was a horrible installation. Like I said it was the worst I've seen. Angle iron, different gauges of metal just slap together with what ever was laying around.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

That went from butcher block to art, nice work. Do you have a preference on what clips you like to work with? I hear the Dakota one is a popular swap also.

I've installed many clips and if we are talking about donors I like the 78-88 Monte Carlo for that for the mid 50's trucks and S10 for the late 40's and early 50's trucks. I don't know why people use the whole frame but they do I just use the S10 front section. I try to stay very close to the original track width, so of course it depends on the car or truck as to what I start looking for. The Camaro is also a very good clip but I perfer the 78-88 Monte Carlo because of the 58 inch track width I like the steering box a little better also. But the Camaro is an easier clip to work with because of its reference points it's easier to get square.

I don't touch the Volare anymore but it was a very popular donor in the past because of its ease of installation. Notch the frame and install and no worry about sheetmetal alignment like with any clip that you have to cut the front section of the frame completely off. But its hard to find parts and you have to offset your engine because of the big steering box and header choice is limited.

I have a buddy who just installed a jag frontend on his 57 Chevy truck. It came out nice also no cutting the off of the frame you just notch it. He also installed the IRS. The rear was a little more involved but he did a pretty nice job. People take them out of the cage but he used it and modified his rear frame and made mounts like in the car.

If we are talking aftermarket I love the Flat Out Engineering cross member. You just bolt on vette stuff after you install the cross member you can do front and rear if you like. They also sale the same for the Dakota and I have a friend who installed that and he likes it alot. Its a pretty nice healthy looking cross member.

Imo it all depends on what you are looking for. For simplicity of installation I would always go aftermarket but if you are on a budget nothing is wrong with a donor clip that is installed correctly.They ride just as nice in my opinion and are proven. Now if you are building for bragging rights or shows thats another story.

Very nice save on that hacked mess! That was worse than my 40 for sure.

Ok, back to the front end after getting a good look at everything its not to good of a job on the welding. It's been patched to-gather looks rough. I'm thing about just cutting it off getting a new clip for it. Any input on what year to go with. I was told what I have is a 73. It seams to be a little wide can't get much tire size under it without it rubbing on a turn.

Originally Posted by 39 Chevy

Ok, back to the front end after getting a good look at everything its not to good of a job on the welding. It's been patched to-gather looks rough. I'm thing about just cutting it off getting a new clip for it. Any input on what year to go with. I was told what I have is a 73. It seams to be a little wide can't get much tire size under it without it rubbing on a turn.

You are good with using a Camaro/Firebird from 1970-1981.

It pleases me very much to have you as a member here. I love doing frame and clip swaps because it makes so much sense and now we have you to lean on for information. Great to have you here.
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Originally Posted by techinspector1

It pleases me very much to have you as a member here. I love doing frame and clip swaps because it makes so much sense and now we have you to lean on for information. Great to have you here.
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If that was directed at me I thank you. Its nice to have a place to share knowledge and learn from others. That is what this hobby is all about. So thanks for letting me know I'm doing that.

Originally Posted by 39 Chevy

It seams to be a little wide can't get much tire size under it without it rubbing on a turn.

Sorry I did not notice this part of your post. I thought you simply wanted to replace what you already have. It is true the the Carmaro/Firdbird clip is a little wider than the stock track with but most offset this with wheel offset or using narrower a-arms. The 67-70 Carmaro/Firdbird clip is narrower but it is rear steering like the clip I posted of the fix I did. This can affect your steering linkage or header choices. This is why I stated eariler in this thread that my donor of choice for 55-59 Chevy trucks is the G-Body 78-88 Monte Carlo, Cutless Supreme, Riveria, etc. The track width is 58 inches and works great I also like the feel of the steering box more. The only draw back is its not as easy (still easy if you careful) a install as the Carmaro/Firdbird because the Camaro has great reference points to get the clip square. The G-body you have to be extra careful when trying to get it square.