Technical 1931 chevy front suspension identification

I just purchased a 31 chevy sedan. It has 15 x 5 steel rally's on front with 2-1/2" b.s. and the tires still stick out about 1/4" outside of the fender. I would like to narrow the front track width at least an inch on each side, but after looking at the thing, I'm not sure what this guy actually used. It rides and handles fine, just ugly. The guy I bought it from said the person who built it used an early GTO front end. I'm not confident thats what this is.If I can identify what control arms he used, it would help when shopping for narrowed arms. Can anyone help me figure out based on the crappy picture attached? Also, any help on the spindle if possible.

 

Hard to guess with what we got. That top A arm is sure sitting at an odd angle isn't it.

 

I'm with you on that. It is looking like something is definitely wrong there.

 

Its almost like a late second gen Camaro spindle on an early '60s Chevy. I am not saying that is what it is but that is about what you would get if you tried that.

no doubt someone will recognize it though.

 

GTO would be way too wide. looked at Corvair frontend?

 

Haven't looked at corvair yet. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

It looks like it was built using some stock parts (could be GTO, or some other GM donor from the 60s-80s), and a home made crossmember.

More, better pictures would help...but even then, I don't know what you expect to do with it?

 

Not sure, was hoping I could identify the control arms and see if I could get a narrowed set. May be better off putting a dropped axle under it.

 

Yeah, a dropped axle would be more appropriate for a 31

 

That upper ball joint is at an undesirable angle. Yes, it looks to be something cobbled together from this-n-that. Over the years, there seems to have been builders who scrounge- build their stuff not knowing the basics of IFS function and design. And yes, best to start over on that one.

 

is it a tan 4dr?

 

No. It's baby blue with black fenders. 2 door

 

Do you have a picture from the rear it looks Corvair to me, many years ago I had a 33 and 34 Chevy coupes and they both had the Corvair front ends, they bolted to the frame and had a point to the rear that was a mounting point, but I can't see that in the picture you have posted. It looks to have front steering linkage which the Corvair had. Post a rear view if you would.

 

Here's a photo of a stock late model Corvair front suspension I found and borrowed from a page of a place that rebuilds them. The control arm looks similar but as the others said that front end has a lot of cobbled together pieces on it from what we can see. It looks like the disk brake spindles may have been added at a later date during an "upgrade" . It also looks like you could swap wheels for some with a positive offset and get the tires moved in a fair amount and not hit the tie rod ends if you were game for swapping rims.

 

Thanks for the reply. That's the reason I started this thread. It confirms what I was starting to think. Best to redo the thing.

I'll try to get better pics tomorrow. I appreciate the replies.

 

I'd save time, and just cut it out.
A dropped Axel would be way nicer, and solve the wheels outside the fender issue.
Of course there is a standard aftermarket front end, that ends with a two, that's popular for 30s Chevy's.

 

Wow, that looks like a nice clean old Chevy, you don't notice the tires sticking out at all.

 

put skinny wheels on the front. Although you may be wanting to lower it, too?

 

Yeah, I would like to drop the front an 1-1/2" - 2". I think I found some skinny front wheels to match that have an additional 3/4" backspace. I'm gonna try that route. If I can identify the spindles, I may try to get a dropped spindle for it.

 

If you can get the car up in the air on jack stands, and get a few more pictures from different angles, maybe with a front wheel removed, we might be able to do more identifying.

 

I hate to bring it up again - we HAMBers like to beat this one to death. Judging by the angle of the steering arms, the Akerman looks like it is opposite to what it should be. Does your outside wheel turn sharper than the inside wheel when doing a sharp turn such as you would do maneuvering through a parking lot? Way too many guys change the spindles side to side to deal with oil pan/front pulley interference problems in rear steer situations. I'm wondering if this is what you have here.

 

I'll have to check that out tomorrow. Thanks.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/dscn0306.209150/full

I have a 4" wider then stock aftermarket Pinto/MII Xmember with some steel chevy wheels with BS I know not. They don't stick out. A Chevy dropped front axel would have been less money. I'm sure you can find one if thats the way you go.