Anyone have experience with running a 57 Vette front end on a 49-54 Chevy? Is it a direct swap , or are mods needed. Yeah, I'm scouring the internet too …and headed to the garage with a tape measure. But experienced advise always appriciated-Thanks!
Same suspension should be a bolt on. They used the old king pin suspension on the Vettes into the '60s.
To the OP: It's the same suspension so it will be a big waste of time . To Pork: I always wondered why Chevrolet continued to use that King Pin setup on Vettes till 62. In 1955, Chevrolet drop the King Pin Suspension for the new Ball Joint type for their cars.
@jcmarz this is second hand info at bets and probably way more than that so take it with a grain of salt. I was told that the engineers thought that it was a better suspension, tried and proven. The new independent was, well new?
The center pivot ass'y was a lot heavier in a Corvette, so that MIGHT be an improvement if it would fit & clear your engine.
I put one out of 1961 Vett. in my 1950 Chevy. Direct bolt in and lowered front end about 1 inch.. The only big diffenence was the third arm. The arm is longer and stronger and will take some miss match of both ( 50 and 61) drag links parts. To me the car drives better on the hiway. It will not turn as sharp. The brakes are a upgrade as they are the Bendix brakes. I have a 1957 Chevy rearend so i was rid of the old Huck brakes.
Saw a very nice 54 Chevy at a car show a couple years ago. Guy had a fine hand painted poster board listing all the car's cool features in front of it. Third item was "Corvette front suspension"! Having two 54's myself, I peeked under to have a look.....it was BONE STOCK. I looked over at the owner sitting there watching me....he just winked and.we had a bit of a chuckle.
Yes, I used FatMan's fabricated "lowered" upright to bring my front end down a couple inches. Nice parts....no issues.