i am about to reclip my 56 gmc, using a 80 camaro front frame and suspension, the frame appears to be original and unmolested. the wheelbase is 112". anyone have any specs on this, everything i can find says it should be 114". when installing the clip, everyone seems to be moving the front wheel centerline forward about 1.75" to center the wheel in the wheel opening. any thoughts on this? and lastly, some people were welding the top of the lower portion of the camaro frame to the bottom of the truck frame, others welded it up into the truck frame so that the bottoms of both frames will be even, thus lowering the truck another 2 inches. i plan on bagging the truck. what have you guys done to get it really low?
I did mine that way and it came out very nice. A lot stronger than splicing. You should hang your fenders before doing any welding, I lenghtened mine only an inch. One nice thing is that it make the body lower but not the suspension. if you get any tire rub you can put a thicker body mount at the front of the cab. You will need to make your own bumper and radiator bracket and misc.
I don't know the answer and have never done this job, but I'm giving you a bump for now and later today I'll try to reach an old friend who put an IFS of some sort in a '56 Chev. Cameo for his brother. It was a one owner truck when they got it.
i looked at your photo album on that truck, it looks good, an inch will probably do it, your look right!
Adjusting the wheelbase plays better on the 58/9 since they have a different shape opening that looks more offset when lower. We just did one and laid the truck frame on top as shown in the pics. I don't care for the spliced style, haven't done it but it appears to be messier and more complicated to get straight. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
My 55 GMC is done with the lapped version wich I feel is a better and stronger setup, if you take the time to notch the lower rails a little on the truck you can even retain the stock tranny x member for an easier install of the drive train. My wheel base is approx 114 with the tape setting on the ground next to the truck( not exact ) i just did a quick check because I couldnt remember its been along time!
The Cameo I wrote about had a Chevelle frame stub installed by a shop in Atlanta, says the brother I thought did the mod. Makes sense because there were an awfuil lot of Chevelle frames floating around from dirt oval racers using Chevelle, Chevy !!, and Camaro bodies with "55-'57 Chev. frames (with adjusted wheelbase to match body) undeneath back then.
i agree about it being stronger, i'm still confused about the wheelbase, mine is 112". i checked out your truck in your photo album, very cool!
The manuals say 114" I have yet to measure a stock truck at that length. Most 112"-113", seems its at the rear where it's weird. I adjusted mine when I flipped the rearend (dropped stock axle in front) moved mine an inch to center up with the bed. Check out the GM heritage center archives, there's some good info there. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Jen's 58 was done with a 82 camaro clip... I like it mucho better than that over lapping thing that eveyone does (YUK!). It just looks so much cleaner!! Can't tell me it's not strong either!!!
It was already done when we got the truck, so no in progress pics. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see? Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
today is the day...i striped the front clip yesterday. i think i have a game plan for doing this now. i'm going to cut and notch the existing frame and set the camaro clip up and into the old one so that the bottom of both is even. or thats the plan anyways, i'll post pics when i'm done.
there is a method to set it up, you need the front guard on before you do anything, sit a wheel up in the wheel opening at the desired ride height, set it in the gap to look right, measure it, do the other side, measure the wheel base again, the lower you go, the further forward you need to push the wheel forward, and before you cut, measure again, good luck
Not a GM but a 46 Stude M5 that we did a Camaro subframe on and we did the butt weld style, not the "stack" style as we wanted it lower but not dragging rockers. Warrens build album: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=24147&pictureid=377126
i think i'm going to go 1.5" forward from stock, that measurement seems to be the average of what people are doing.
alot of guys are doing the butt weld style, however i think the notched "stack" is ther way for me, i think i'll have more success doing it that way
atotalnincompop, Ive had the same ? bouncing around in my head also. I'm in the process of doing a clip now on my 1958 apache ,I am going the grafted route following the No Limits Engineering video T-101, I did research and decided to go that route. However I am going to add 1"+ to the wheelbase.(test and fit route) I would also like to see pics of the different years 55-57 vs. 58&59 and their measured wheelbases to center the front wheels better. A couple of good threads on both ways graft and stack are : http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=220256 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148978
i went with the notched into the old frame technique, i'll post some pics later today, i'm pretty happy with it. now i just have to step notch the rear.
Sombody told me once about using the front suspension off a 67-72 chevy truck. I Have not measured to test this tho.
I measured my wheel base prior to disassembly was 113 1/2", marked centerline +1" which should've given me 114 1/2" wheelbase . Using the front of the shock hole as the Camaro centerline, hung the fender, the wheel centered nice in the opening However the wheelbase actually came out to be 115". Came to be 1/2" more than expected but right were I wanted it . If I had gone 1-1/2" and NOT hung the fender ,I would've been too far forward. I think the fact that the bushings were wallered out on the front leaf springs were part of the reason the math didn't add up as expected.
The thread below had a ton of good info, unfortunately it got locked recently (this one probably will as well) Clip you Chevy in one day! At least it didn't get deleted... Been working on my '55 as well, trial fit and trimmed the fenders last week. Hope to have it back on the road in another week or so.
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