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I have a 55 Cameo truck that I have got an LT1 motor and both the front and rear suspensions for it from a Corvette. I found a kit out of Seattle for installing the suspension. Has anyone done this before? I like the idea of doing it and it will be my wifes truck, not mine.

If anyone has done this please let me know how it went? Thanks

good find on the vette suspension. Truck will handle great. Cant help you putting the Vette suspension into the truck, however I am putting it into an Opel GT (no kit, just a custom frame)

Each to his/her own on this, but I think you might want to think real hard on this. A stock Cameo is quite a find, before modifying just be sure that is what you want to do. As I said everyone has an opinion as to what they like (and rightly so), but there are a lot of people that would just love to have a Cameo in stock form. There aren't many of them around anymore. Either way, good luck and enjoy it.

I'm with Donsz, if you wanna vehicle that drives and handles like a vette, restore the Cameo and sell it and you'll be able to buy a vette of your choice PLUS another old truck

that said, a friend of mine put vette front and rear on a TF frame - nice, but a bit low for my taste

Bill

Hey,its your truck,Cameo or whatever. You bought and paid for it and if you want to go the Vette route,more power to you.Do it up to please yourself and your wife,and to he!! with everyone else.

If the truck had the original running gear in it I would leave it alone, but it's got a non-running 350 in it now. The rest of the truck is original though.

My thoughts about doing this is that my wife has always loved these trucks, so buying a Corvette is not going to get her what she wants, and that's a Cameo that drives like a new car. I understand about keeping it stock as I have two cars that are totally stock, a 65 Mustang hipo fastback and a 67 Camaro SS vert, but they both have the original running gear with stamped vin on the engine blocks.

I like the idea of stock, but she wants to drive this thing everyday. If I only took it back to stock it would more than likely just sit in the shop and look pretty, but with the upgrades she would drive it. I respect the guys who say to keep it stock. If it had the original motor and transmission I would keep it stock, and find another one without the original running gear.

Here is the link to the place that sells the kits to adapt the Corvette suspension to the truck. I had a friend want to just build it ourselves, but by re-invent the wheel.

http://www.flatout-engineering.com/products.html

That actully looks pretty easy. Measure twice, cut once.

Steve I've not done this swap but have thought about a similar one. I recently found a partially parted out C4 Corvette offered real cheap and keep thinking I need to go buy it. I would put it under a '54 Chevy pickup if I were doing it.

My usual driver is a Corvette and the crisp precise responsive handling would be fun in an old truck.

A friend of mine who lives in Woodland, WA, has Corvette suspension under a '36 Chevy car and not old does it look cool, but he enjoys handling the original suspension could never provide.

I believe in building whatever you want and can afford. Go for it!

Dale937 has it right, it's your truck and you go ahead and do what you want with it. I completely agree with your idea to put Corvette suspension under it, you will have a great handling truck!

i agree with the others build it how you want it.i knew an old time rodder guy.had been doing this stuff in his garage for years.the last two he built was a 33 buick and a 36 ford pu both with corvette suspensions.he loved em. said the truck would take off like a dragster.said it was scary quick...........dave

My wife loves the idea of being able to get into the truck and driving it like her newer car. I would do the doors up with auto locks and windows. They have the old style handles that you just push down on for the electric windows. I worry about it sitting too low, but I think adjustable shocks or air shocks would help to fix that issue?

Do you think the vintage heat and A/C would be the best option for the cab? Are there other units out there that are better for truckS?

It would be a shame to loose the handling advantages of the Corvette suspension through height adjustment.

I'd suggest choosing the wheels and tires carefully to get the ride height you want while keeping the handling. Otherwise you may as well take an easier and cheaper approach.

Would that be the same with air ride shocks? I don't know much about that stuff honestly?

cut it!

Basically your suspension is going to perform best with the a-arms in their ideal position at rest. Once you do anything that moves out of that position at rest you can assume you'll have less than ideal performance unless you know enough to make changes for the better.

Suspension is complicated, and the more sophisticated, like the Corvette, the more compicated it is. You need to make sure the a-arms are mounted correctly in all three axis to make the suspension movement right.

Then the steering gets complicated too... A line drawn through the center of the ball joints through the ground ideally intersects the ground at the center of the contact patch. Once you change ride height, back spacing or even tire size, you have changed that relationship. Getting that one right affects steering effort, turning performance and tire wear.

And then mounting the various steering components in the wrong relationship is likely to lead to bump steer, meaning that when your wife hits a bump her truck turns. Not likely to be pleasant.

Small changes do not usually cause huge differences but once you start adapting a suspension from one type of vehicle to another if you don't have a good understanding of the issues you are likely to end up with big changes.

While the Corvette suspension swap is not real common on these trucks, other suspension swaps are. If you read the threads where people talk about them, you'll find there are not many that are actually on the road daily after a backyard suspension swap.

I'm not a fan of the Mustang II kits, but the better ones probably offer the best chance of success in this kind of modification. I say that because they have been road tested a great deal, and enough people have done it you can get good advice.

You've done the right thing asking if others have done this one, and ideally you'll find someone who has before proceeding. I would encourage you to get a first hand look at some finished trucks before moving ahead, and learning from the owners about their experience and satisfaction.

You've done the right thing by starting with research before making the modifications. Keep asking questions and looking for the right experts. I am not the expert you really need, I'm just another guy trying to figure out a different suspenion swap and I'm beginning to get a headache trying to understand the questions. I sure don't have all the answers for my own swap yet.

I do own a Corvette and the car is a joy to drive because of the way it handles. A truck that felt the same would be fun. My bet is the closer that suspension is to set up the way Chevy put it under the Corvette the happier you will be with it.

SteveA what part of Oregon are you in?

I have family all over the Portland metro and get down that way every few months. If you are in that area I'd love to get together and see your truck and talk more about it. I'll even buy coffee, lunch or a beer...

[quote=OldSub]SteveA what part of Oregon are you in?

I have family all over the Portland metro and get down that way every few months. If you are in that area I'd love to get together and see your truck and talk more about it. I'll even buy coffee, lunch or a beer... [/quote=OldSub]

Currently I am in Hawaii for another six months. I will be back in Molalla, Oregon southeast of Portland about 45 min from the 4-10 of Feb. I am also hoping to get back there for the big swap meet in the first of April. I would love to meet up with you and have you look at the truck.

Thanks for your input. I want to make sure that this is the right thing and I would like to see a truck and talk to someone who has done it. I like the idea of having the Corvette running gear under it.

I should be in Portland for both the swap meets in April.

My parents live in Gladstone, I have a sister in Oregon City and a brother in Aurora, so I'm near Molalla frequently.

We'll try to conntect in April. The February dates fall over my wifes birthday and she won't want to travel to Portland that weekend.