Here is my way to re-place the buggy spring rear suspension under a fat fender Ford. Or any frame that is wide enough for the GM metric chassis rear suspension to fit. First measure the donor rear suspension to determine how much to narrow it to fit inside the rails of the receiver frame. Next measure the frame to determine how much needs to be removed for the donor to fit. Weld in braces to keep the frame from springing out of shape. Make sure you have everything level. Next, drill out the rivets holding the crossmember in place as well as some of the side boxing of the frame. Remove said parts. Cut out the frame legs to the dimension needed. [IMG]http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq343/edzolz/frame%20build/chassis030.jpg Some friends that were inside the crossmember !! Make cardboard templates to simulate the two frames. This determines what needs to be trimmed from each individual piece. Trim the donor to fit inside for a tight fit. Match the two parts together. Align the bottom of one to the bottom of the other. Level it all out. Make sure the donor is true to the original frame before tacking it in. Use the cardboard template to cut the pieces from the donor to fill in the exposed areas of the donor in the new location. Tack in the filler pieces and weld solid all around. Putting the body back in place and stance. The pinion angle is 4 degrees with no load and increases with weight so it should be OK after assembly. Really an easy way to get four link triangulated suspension with losing the factory geometry of the setup. I might even use air bag setup in place of the springs. Any GM metric chassis parts fit for rebuild or for suspension upgrades.
Still undergoing construction. Will update build soon. Have a tech to post this tech week on making a column support from scratch.
so hows the build going i have 46 to interested in seeing yours done how it sits and r you doing anything to the front
That's lot's of welding to do a fairly simple job. El Polacko and I used the same rear under a '46 we built about twenty years ago with the stock lower arms and some tube uppers. Lots easier to make brackets to attach to the frame in my opinion. We also used a Corvette rear single leaf spring and the stock Ford crossmember too. I'm not tying to condem your work, 'cause you did it well, but just seems like the long way 'round...
I did it like I did because I didn't want to lose the factory geometry. Not saying it couldn't be duplicated, but I didn't want to mess anything up. I have since installed a MII type front suspension. Haven't gotten very far in the build. Only work on it in spurts. Had a setback when i purchased Helix lower control arms. Never again will buy from that company.
After lots of set backs, I am nearly ready to resume build. Had back surgery to fuse three vertebrae and can't do much heavy stuff. back soon.
This suspension was used in my '47 convertible when it was built 20 years ago. It needed a floor pan redo above the GM crossmember to get it all to clear, but it rides great. Steve