49 merc on impala frame

i got a 49 merc and a 62 impala frame ,hads anybody ever put a 49-51 merc body on a 58-64 impala x frame ,wheel base is the same ,rearend is the same , front is 1 inch wider

 

You do this, that would be hot, all the of the lowriders like the impala frame because of the 2 piece driveshaft, the frame can go lower all the parts available for disc and power swaps, v8 conversions and all. You'd have to basically cut our the floor on your merc and if you have the impala donor car blend in the the impala floor, sort of the way Winfield does his mercs. I would just channel the body ver the frame.

 

Chevy wheelbase is 115" Merc is 119" that's why guys use 77-85 or so full size Buick or Oldsmobile frames under these, you can fudge the half inch difference there but it's a lot harder to fudge 4 inches.

You would have to cut out the entire floorpan and weld the merc top to the Chevy floorpan to make it work, too. I suppose the Chevy frame could be stretched 4" maybe up front behind the crossmember. Lot of work though, you cant just pick it up off one and put it down on the other. It would be less work to swap in a carrier and make or adapt a two-piece driveshaft into another frame if going low is the goal.

 

all 2 doors and 4 door impalas have the same frame, the wheelbase is 119 inch just like the merc,just checked my shop manual and it says 119,so i think the wheelbase is ok

 

I stand corrected. But you will still need a floorpan from a Chevy to make it work, or else make one up from scratch -

 

i was going to use the merc floors if i can and fab the rest

 

The 49-51 Merc wheelbase is 118 inches, according to theLincoln Mercury manual.

 

A friend of mine had Dick Dean do a body swap to his 49 Convert years ago. He used a mid sized Pontiac from the early 70's, used the chassis, cut the floor and firewall out of both cars, and put them together. He drove the Pontiac from Seattle to LA with the Merc on the trailer, then drove the Merc home towing the empty trailer. It drove well, but was kind of a mess to look at underneath everything.

 

You may find this post helpful, it was from a couple weeks ago.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1416402#post1416402