The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Updated '49 chassis

Been able to get a lot of work done out in the shop the last few months and have achieved a milestone of sorts. My '49 pickup project has 4 wheels again!

Updated \'49 chassis

Since I took the pictures, I've set the bare body on the frame in preparation for building the steering column and hooking it to the rack and pinion.

Had some minor problems with the Gibbon kit. The anchors for the strut rods didn't seem to be in the right place and the mounts for the rack and pinion interfered with the steering housing. The crossmembers, (both front and rear) fit perfectly and the geometry of the front end appears to be right on.

As some of you may remember, I've tried the late Chevy pickup crossmember upgrade (too tall and too wide) and the Camaro subframe upgrade (too wide unless you narrow the xmember) and too much cutting on stuff to make it fit. The MII stuff just doesn't look like it belongs on a truck.

This suspension looks like it belongs on the truck plus I was able to upgrade to the 'tank' (Chrysler New Yorker) brakes.

The rear suspension came off a truck so it looks right and should be a good match for the front.

You have been busy
Looking good.
How many hours so far?

Not sure how many hours I've got into it. It's been a couple of years since I tore it down to the frame and got serious about the project.

Seems like I spend an inordinate amount of time just looking at it, thinking about what to do next and talking to the dog. :rolleyes:

I saw the dog was in a few pics supervising

Gotta love that torsion bar setup. From picture #10 it looks like the new crossmember mounts to the rear of where the original x-member was located - correct?

Great job, Olblue. No question this looks "hell for strong".

sixpack,

The torsion bar anchor is in the same line as the rear battery box mount holes. I need to work on the battery box next. The PO had moved the front side of the battery box forward into the running board bracket. The bracket might be salvageable but I would like to come up with a solution that lets me keep the larger size battery. I see another discussion with the dog coming up...

The back of the '69 xmember is 10-1/4" from the center of the existing xmember that runs right at the back of the cab. That places the centerline of the rear end (at ride height) in the same place as stock.

OlBlue-

Great job on the frame. The dog must be proud - - or perhaps just a good consultant! I'm envious of your shop space too.

I haven't had to mess with the frame so much but am looking at it, talking to my dog, pondering the brakes on my rebuild. With the "tank" brakes on your rig, will you be using a power booster on the frame or switch to a firewall mounted unit?

I've got relatives just south of you in OR. Hope all is well in the WW valley.

51PhatBoy

51PhatBoy,

Shop space wasn't always as nice when working on the '49.
Original \'49 shop space

I bought the '49 in Pullman in 1976. In the picture I was getting ready to paint the 5-bolt 15" wheels for the 1st upgrade to the truck. '54 passenger car brakes and hubs followed shortly by a '56 passenger rear end and 3-speed transmission.

On the current upgrade, I'm going to keep the non-power (1" bore) master cylinder under the floor ('76 Nova) that I had with the Camaro disks and the solid axle. I ran a '69 Impala 12-bolt in the rear and used a proportioning valve from a mid 70's Chevy 1/2 ton pickup.

I did a bunch of digging in the parts books and discovered that most of the front disk/rear drum applications used a 1" bore master cylinder for manual brakes and 1-1/8" bore for power brakes.

The setup I took out worked as good as any vehicle I've owned. Very nice pedal pressure with lots of control. Back wheels locked up just a second before the fronts when running empty. Plenty easy to lock up all four without using both feet.

I always ran DOT 5 silicon fluid and you could feel a bit of sponginess in the pedal but it didn't bother the operation any. It's my understanding that the silicone fluid is slightly compressible which would account for the pedal feel.

Blue-

We get it done wherever we can, on gravel or in a nice shop. I'm too embarassed to post a photo of my single car garage filled to the ceiling with parts.

Your brake configuration sounds great. I still think I am going with power so that all members of the family feel comfortable behind the wheel. Lots of fun ahead.

51PhatBoy

I did a Gibbons front cross member on the front of my 54GMC no big problems...Everything fell into place..Had to re thread the Omni power rack to recieve the new tie rod ends..Drives like a dream.Hardly any body roll..I drive it real hard as a work truck loaded down with lots of stuff. I knew parts off a heavy Chrysler car seemed way better than parts off a mustang/fox platform car or trying to make nova sub frame work(although my 2nd choice.)

G

Signpainter,

Got any pictures???

No electronic pictures of the install..Seems to look just like yours except the mounting bracket for the rack is different.I installed it over 4 days..All the sheet metal was left in place.Running a camaro rear.Have not solved the bolt pattern mismatch just carry 2 spars to solve this problem