Hmmm...I did say Wayne Osborne in that old message, but it's a different Wayne. Don't know his last name. His project writeup is at
http://www.itswhatsnext.com/ifs%20project.htm here are a couple more links.
http://www.50chevy.freeservers.com/Bolt_on_Independent_2.html http://home.att.net/~bobsplayce/trkifs.html
Hindsight is 20/20. I spent probably two hours figuring exactly where the IFS should be, fore and aft. Locating the suspension is complicated significantly by the fact that the ball joints move rearward as the suspension is loaded because the a-arms are at an angle, so you have to guess how far back the spindle will be at ride height. I think I did pretty well. See what you think.
[img]
http://www.brakecylinder.com/images/52chevy/frontwheel.jpg[/img]
Note that the left lower a-arm was all the way to the rear of its travel where it clamps to the crossmember. I moved it forward about a half inch to about the center of its adjustment range, to match the right side. I expect that when I get it aligned, they will install shims so as to move the upper ball joint forward the same half inch, which will move the tire about 1/4" forward in the wheel well. When that happens, I think it will be as close to perfect as I could hope for. If I should decide it's still a tiny bit too far rearward, there's another 1/2" or so of adjustment left in the system.
Now...after the suspension was removed from the donor truck I made a cardboard template of the bolt holes in the donor frame so I could locate the steering box and idler arm. Here's the driver's side before I trimmed it to fit down onto the crossmember.
[img]
http://www.brakecylinder.com/images/52chevy/template.jpg[/img]
After I drilled the holes in the '52 frame to match the crossmember I set the template in the space between the frame and the crossmember and stuck four bolts in through the template. I found that the forward hole for the steering box was exactly in line with the middle bumper bracket hole but about 3/16" high. I just pulled the template down 3/16", stuck a bolt through the template into the middle bracket hole and marked the other two steering box holes. (The top steering box hole is above the frame, and an angle clip must be fabricated to secure it.)
So...if ever I do this again, I will simply stick a bolt through the forward steering box hole in the template into the middle bumper bracket hole, and line the crossmember holes up with their template marks. Easy, huh?
Joe
