The Jalopy Journal

zero to fear · 07-08-2007, 09:17 PM

In the winter after the shows and rod runs we have a chassis dynamics and fabrication class that normally runs three days. Last year one of the students was faced with a dilemma: He had a cherry condition ’54 Chevy that he was in the process of restoring almost 75% completed. He wanted to hotrod the car but earlier on a similar ’53 Chevy of his hot-rodding turned out to be a disaster. His purpose for the class was to establish some perimeters for this type car and fulfill his dream of an all out ’54 Chevy rod. In class he told that the first car built by a reputable local builder ended up falling short of his desired car. The ride height was 13 inches at the rocker panel and because of the after market Mustang II kit, the engine centerline was over 16 inches high. The front tread and rear tread widths didn’t match. The after market front installation was done according to directions but when finished the geometry was far from desirable. The car handled poorly but looked good in a parade.

After looking over both cars and suffering withdrawal symptoms from not building a single car since moving our shop from North Carolina to Tennessee, I decided this would be a neat project for our students to work on. The only sticky point was the ’54 was in almost perfect shape, no rust anywhere, the owner quickly reminded me that a perfectly restored ’54 was worth $10,000.00 at the best a ’54 all out hot rod would be worth at least $50,000.00 so cut away like you stole it! When I remember, I have taken pictures of the build so I thought I would post them so people could see what we are working on. I remind students on a daily basis that you have to choose between Comfort-Queen or Steve McQueen – this build is about performance!

As you will notice, I like adjustability in every component, light, simple and strong. We have spent a lot of time establishing a strong handling package. The chassis theme uses the majority of the stock chassis but in some areas we had to take some liberties to get our desired result. The stock chassis had not been challenged in 53 years and was in great shape.

The stock frame was set up on the jig we cut the stock frame on the kick out angles 8”. The 8” inch sections allowed us to slide the rails back and out to achieve 29” between the rails. 29” minimum allows you the ability to sink the ZZ-4 crate motor and headers down to 12” crank centerline.

The frame was spliced back together with a gusset on the inside and out, the inside gusset is an 1/8” box style gusset that allows a cross-member brace to be attached.

More pictures to come.

BadLuck · 07-08-2007, 11:52 PM

Looks like your off to a good start....gonna keep an eye on this one..

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 08:51 AM

The front end is a strut rod design coil-over. This picture shows how the frame was cut and a 2 X 3 .083 was spliced in . We maintained the length of the frame horns.

Strut rod set up and slice area for the 2 X 3.

More pictures coming soon.
Mark

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 12:51 PM

The cross-member is fabricated. Left and right side are symmetrical tied together with 3 – 1” square tubes. The rack fastens to a cross bracket

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 12:53 PM

Another view of the tubing cross-member

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 01:08 PM

Coil-over tower, cross-member is tied to A-arm plate

**wvenfield** · 07-09-2007, 01:42 PM

Nice work and it must be cool to teach young guys the ins and outs. Small nit pick. As far as I'm concerned it's worth more with the 235 in it.

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 01:49 PM

Slugged plates allow changes to anti-dive and roll centers

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 03:02 PM

Slugs can offset 3/8 off center giving ¾ of adjustment

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 03:36 PM

Towers are built out of three tigged together plates .125 PIO cold plate.

zero to fear · 07-09-2007, 08:08 PM

Rear engine mount is a solid style mount

independentcustoms · 07-09-2007, 08:27 PM

Looks killer

zero to fear · 07-10-2007, 07:40 AM

Front mount is a solid style that works as a gusset or motor plate insuring strength from side to side

Chaz · 07-10-2007, 08:35 AM

Beautiful work! Awesome welds! great engineering. What more can I say than "I wish it was mine!" You could be easy to hate.

zero to fear · 07-10-2007, 10:57 AM

Motor mount bolts to the rear of cross member with 4-5/16 bolts spreading the load. The mounts are symmetrical left to right. Notice the notch for the rack.

Bigcheese327 · 07-10-2007, 11:05 AM

How very cool. I always thought the best way to build a hot rod would be to have a 100% restored car and a nice bare chassis. Build up the chassis with all the best parts and a cool engine and trans, transfer everything from the restored car and be on the road. Of course, I'm sure it's nowhere near that easy, but it sounds good in my head. Best of luck with this.

-Dave

Jalopy Joker · 07-10-2007, 11:26 AM

Great work.Very interesting set up, guess this will be a road course type race car with the HD suspension/ engine setup. Looks like you are shooting for a $50K car. Way out of my league, more power to you.

Bigcheese327 · 07-10-2007, 11:48 AM

I forgot to mention - the only problem I would have with this whole deal is that I couldn't bring myself to run wheels and tires worthy of this nice suspension.

Has anyone ever engineered a good-handling chassis to work under a heavy fifties car running skinny bias plies?

-Dave

zero to fear · 07-10-2007, 01:30 PM

This shot shows the cross member mount and rack

zero to fear · 07-10-2007, 01:51 PM

Chevys always seem to have issues of clearance on fuel pumps. This set up gives worlds of room

Engine is 12 inches on crank center at ride heights, 1^st plug on right side located on axle centerline.

07-08-2007, 09:17 PM	#1
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build In the winter after the shows and rod runs we have a chassis dynamics and fabrication class that normally runs three days. Last year one of the students was faced with a dilemma: He had a cherry condition ’54 Chevy that he was in the process of restoring almost 75% completed. He wanted to hotrod the car but earlier on a similar ’53 Chevy of his hot-rodding turned out to be a disaster. His purpose for the class was to establish some perimeters for this type car and fulfill his dream of an all out ’54 Chevy rod. In class he told that the first car built by a reputable local builder ended up falling short of his desired car. The ride height was 13 inches at the rocker panel and because of the after market Mustang II kit, the engine centerline was over 16 inches high. The front tread and rear tread widths didn’t match. The after market front installation was done according to directions but when finished the geometry was far from desirable. The car handled poorly but looked good in a parade. After looking over both cars and suffering withdrawal symptoms from not building a single car since moving our shop from North Carolina to Tennessee, I decided this would be a neat project for our students to work on. The only sticky point was the ’54 was in almost perfect shape, no rust anywhere, the owner quickly reminded me that a perfectly restored ’54 was worth $10,000.00 at the best a ’54 all out hot rod would be worth at least $50,000.00 so cut away like you stole it! When I remember, I have taken pictures of the build so I thought I would post them so people could see what we are working on. I remind students on a daily basis that you have to choose between Comfort-Queen or Steve McQueen – this build is about performance! As you will notice, I like adjustability in every component, light, simple and strong. We have spent a lot of time establishing a strong handling package. The chassis theme uses the majority of the stock chassis but in some areas we had to take some liberties to get our desired result. The stock chassis had not been challenged in 53 years and was in great shape. The stock frame was set up on the jig we cut the stock frame on the kick out angles 8”. The 8” inch sections allowed us to slide the rails back and out to achieve 29” between the rails. 29” minimum allows you the ability to sink the ZZ-4 crate motor and headers down to 12” crank centerline. The frame was spliced back together with a gusset on the inside and out, the inside gusset is an 1/8” box style gusset that allows a cross-member brace to be attached. More pictures to come.

07-08-2007, 11:52 PM	#2
BadLuck Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hesperia, So*Cal Posts: 1,779	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Looks like your off to a good start....gonna keep an eye on this one..

07-09-2007, 08:51 AM	#3
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	More pictures The front end is a strut rod design coil-over. This picture shows how the frame was cut and a 2 X 3 .083 was spliced in . We maintained the length of the frame horns. Strut rod set up and slice area for the 2 X 3. More pictures coming soon. Mark

07-09-2007, 12:51 PM	#4
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build The cross-member is fabricated. Left and right side are symmetrical tied together with 3 – 1” square tubes. The rack fastens to a cross bracket

07-09-2007, 12:53 PM	#5
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Another view of the tubing cross-member Last edited by zero to fear; 07-09-2007 at 01:08 PM.

07-09-2007, 01:08 PM	#6
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Coil-over tower, cross-member is tied to A-arm plate

07-09-2007, 01:42 PM	#7
wvenfield Alliance Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 3,190	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Nice work and it must be cool to teach young guys the ins and outs. Small nit pick. As far as I'm concerned it's worth more with the 235 in it.

07-09-2007, 01:49 PM	#8
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Slugged plates allow changes to anti-dive and roll centers Last edited by zero to fear; 07-09-2007 at 01:55 PM.

07-09-2007, 03:02 PM	#9
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Slugs can offset 3/8 off center giving ¾ of adjustment

07-09-2007, 03:36 PM	#10
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Towers are built out of three tigged together plates .125 PIO cold plate.

07-09-2007, 08:08 PM	#11
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Rear engine mount is a solid style mount

07-09-2007, 08:27 PM	#12
independentcustoms Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: NY (unfortunately) Posts: 655	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Looks killer __________________ If you weren't the first to ride it, then it isn't yours. Build your own ride Who cares how it's done on the West Coast

07-10-2007, 07:40 AM	#13
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Front mount is a solid style that works as a gusset or motor plate insuring strength from side to side Last edited by zero to fear; 07-10-2007 at 07:48 AM.

07-10-2007, 08:35 AM	#14
Chaz Old School HAMBer Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Corner of Time and Space. MT Posts: 3,078	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Beautiful work! Awesome welds! great engineering. What more can I say than "I wish it was mine!" You could be easy to hate. __________________ Strange Days Garage.... Satisfaction considered http://kaparich.homestead.com/STRANGEDAYSWEB.html

07-10-2007, 10:57 AM	#15
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Motor mount bolts to the rear of cross member with 4-5/16 bolts spreading the load. The mounts are symmetrical left to right. Notice the notch for the rack.

07-10-2007, 11:05 AM	#16
Bigcheese327 Old School HAMBer Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Bay City/Caro, MI Posts: 3,914	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build How very cool. I always thought the best way to build a hot rod would be to have a 100% restored car and a nice bare chassis. Build up the chassis with all the best parts and a cool engine and trans, transfer everything from the restored car and be on the road. Of course, I'm sure it's nowhere near that easy, but it sounds good in my head. Best of luck with this. -Dave __________________ It's not "traditional" to start with a 70-year-old car. Photo Album

07-10-2007, 11:26 AM	#17
Jalopy Joker Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Rodsville, CA Posts: 1,527	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Great work.Very interesting set up, guess this will be a road course type race car with the HD suspension/ engine setup. Looks like you are shooting for a $50K car. Way out of my league, more power to you.

07-10-2007, 11:48 AM	#18
Bigcheese327 Old School HAMBer Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Bay City/Caro, MI Posts: 3,914	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build I forgot to mention - the only problem I would have with this whole deal is that I couldn't bring myself to run wheels and tires worthy of this nice suspension. Has anyone ever engineered a good-handling chassis to work under a heavy fifties car running skinny bias plies? -Dave __________________ It's not "traditional" to start with a 70-year-old car. Photo Album

07-10-2007, 01:30 PM	#19
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build This shot shows the cross member mount and rack

07-10-2007, 01:51 PM	#20
zero to fear Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Crossville, TN Posts: 90	Re: Skill Center ’54 Chevy Build Chevys always seem to have issues of clearance on fuel pumps. This set up gives worlds of room Engine is 12 inches on crank center at ride heights, 1^st plug on right side located on axle centerline.

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