Just picked up my dream car,(50 Fleetline), (pics to come soon), and plan to do an open driveline swap. It has a 216 and 3 speed column shift now. Wanting to build a more highway friendly drivetrain, as I plan to put a lot of miles on it when finished. Just wanted to see what you all had for suggestions. I know the final decision is mine, but just looking for feedback from those who gone through this process. I have a 70 model Nova rear already that I can use, just wondering about a good engine/trans combo to put in front of it. I'm looking for a budget friendly swap, if there is such a thing. So, later model inline 6, smallblock V8, T5, TH350? Open to any proven combos that you may know of and may be currently running. Also considering a front suspension change, so hit me with some ideas there also. Plans are to build a mild 50s customs and "NO" I'm not asking anyone to build it for me, just cashing in on the wealth of knowledge that resides here!
I'd sat t5 over a 350 tranny if you have a choice. I'd go with a 327 and some4.11 gears .youd be good with that extra gear. Let's see some pics, I love fleetlines
Here's a social group for fleetlines that you might join here on the HAMB, just click on the fleetline icon. Originally Posted by Cruiser Kustom Fleetline Cruisers On a budget the best combo would be your Nova rear, a 283, 327 or a 350 with a 350 tranny. Look around for a budget car with a SBC/350 combo. SBC Chevy will beat all other combo's for price. Good luck on your build. I'm building a '52 fleetline. CRUISER
Glad to hear you've got your dream car! Mines a 50 fleetline too. My fleetlines getting a 250 straight six, a TH350, a 57 back axle, and jaguar front end. Read up on lots off the HAMB is my advice. Theres some great people and information to be had on here.
If you use the modern [1962 and up] inline 6, no adapter is needed to bolt up a 350 trans. That said, I used a smallblock chevy [406 cu in] with a saginaw 4 speed in my 50 delivery. I notched out the original 216 motor mount brackets, welded a tube in the notch and used 60s-early70s chevy pickup motor mounts. Redrilled the original 50 trans mount crossmember to accept the 4 speed/350 turbo tranny mount. It's a lot easier to buy the comerically available motor mount bracketry, believe me but I was on a shoe string budget. I used mid-70s ford pickup clutch linkage, cut, reoriented and rewelded and a lakewood scatter shield. I had a pair of 8.5" americans [photo] I wanted to use on the back with fat radials so to accomodate the 1.5" offset of the wheels, I used a little 83 cutlass 10 bolt rear axle. It's about 2-3 inches narrower than the original axle so it works with the offset wheels. If I had it to do over, I'd use a little smaller tire than the 285/70R 15 I used. I cut out the outte wheelwell lip and did some creative hammer work on the inners to get the tires to clear. I used 1953 front brakes and steering box. The original 50 steer box has bushings and the 53-54 box uses tapered roller bearings...makes a world of difference when driving the car! I used a 71 chevy van steering column, shortened it and filed out the original column mount to fit. Cut the shaft and mast jacket [column] off the 53 chevy steering box about 8 inches from the top bearing. Popped a seal in the top of the box where the shaft enters and carefully welded a rag joint receiver on the stub shaft ....I did the same with the column and used a new rag joint. I used a pair of 71-72 chevy pickup exhaust manifolds [twisted rams horns] but even after grinding on the manifold flanges and the pitman arm, the two pieces would touch on sharp left turns. I'd suggest different manifolds or headers made for this installation. I found a really good deal on a new 47-54 chevy pickup aftermarket radiator at the local swap meet so I grabbed it for the delivery. Had to trim the bottom of the 50 chevy's core support to get it low enough to clear the passenger car hood and gently push the filler neck down about 3/8th inch into the top tank...it worked and gave me added coolant capacity with a stock look and minimal cutting.
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