nova subframe front and rear? body swap question

[Tim]

hey guys

i see alot of people using nova/chevelle front clips for a variety of differnt cars and i also see alot of people using the rear halves as well.

i was wondering if anyone has ever put in subframe conectors and then just used the whole frame or did an entire body swap like the s-10 swaps.

i know you can take the two subframes off the body so i dont see why you couldnt weld in some sturdy conectors and then pull the body off? doing it with the body on you would be sure to get it all straight and inline ect.

and if you needed to make it shorter after you have the body off you could just slide it closer together ect.

im sure this has ben done, i was just wondering why i dont hear about it more often. it seems doing the conectors with the body on would be the easy way to go rather then lining up and blocking up an asortment of lose peices and trying to get it straight

so,i guess what i what im asking is, is if doing this is a bad idea or not. and if any one has any advice or tips in doing so

---i realize that might be hard to read, i wasnt realy sure how to word it

tia
tim

[38Chevy454]

Nova's do not have removeable rear subframe. It's welded to the body. Uses leaf springs to mount the rearend. When people say they are using a Nova or Camaro rear, they mean just the rearend itself. Nova's do not have a full frame, they are unibody cars. Chevelles are full frame and have a four-link reand mounting with coil springs.

A S-10 has a full frame and the body lifts off. S-10 is a popular donor because it is correct width and also has lots of suspension parts available such as dropped spindles and springs. S-10 rearend is a little on the weak side, especially compared to the Nova rearend, but several people have used S-10 rearend behind V-8's and they seem to hold up, so maybe my comment is not really valid.

I understand your thinking to use the donor body to keep everything lined up, but it won't work as the rear subframe does not remove from the car without a lot of work, and the rear frame would not have sufficient strength once removed form the body anyway.

Get a full frame donor if you want to do a frame swap.

[sawzall]

what he said...

and for what its worth nova clips are about the uglyiest way to sub a car...

[tomslik]

what's a "pretty" subframe?

[Fat Hack]

I think I know what he was asking...and it's something I wondered about and considered doing (in a slightly different fashion!) myself.

Novas, Camaros, and their various GM clones are uni-body type cars with a bolt-on front subframe, and rear "rails" formed in as part of the floor.

He's talking about installing subframe connectors (aftermarket or home fabbed) to stiffen the "chassis", then cutting the Nova body off and welding a different (likely older car) body to the Nova floorpan and chassis...effectively making...say, a 1953 Chevy into a 'modern' uni-body vehicle with a stiffened subframe, and more likely than not some additional gusseting and such here and there.

I may one day get brave or foolish enough to try my "stretched and re-inforced Celebrity chassis" idea under my 49. The track widths are dead-on. and the wheelbase (on the Celebrity) just needs about a five inch stretch. No big deal when lengthening and strengthening a FWD chassis!!! I'd have to incorporate some 'hoops' up front tied to the new chassis structure to support the front struts...but it'd solve all the issues my old rustbucket has in one radical, different way!

Alot of work, but it should be do-able!

[Tim]

yeah hack preety much nailed it . i could have sworn that i have seen nova rear halfs taken off the car before.........hmmm oh well