51 chevy - winter means time for projects

last summer I bought a 51 chevy because my other rides are in non driveable projects (27 Modified is going slower than plan, 48 woodie just has never gotten past a front end install.)

I told myself I would not touch the car (except installing a new radiator and fixing a gas tank leak) until after the summer and I would try to just enjoy it. Well I am glad I did that as it gave me a chance to see what was right and what was wrong with the car.

Over the summer I bought a set of lowered springs (part of the Courtney auction) and I bought a shaved decklid just last week from craigslist, the lowering will occur over the winter. ( still need some more susp parts before starting into the lowering)...

Winter is here so it is time to dig into the car. First thing is the wiring. The previous owner converted it to 12v but he had no business attempting it, sure everything worked but using wire ties (like in a house wiring job) or using wire the size of telephone wire or the fact that he just cut the factory stuff and left the original wiring tucked out of the way... it all told me it was time to rewire the car.

I know this is going to lead into a full interior redo but that is how it must be I guess. Here are some pictures of my progress so far

Here is a reminder of the car I started with



and



first step was to rip out the wiring and gut the interior





pull the first layer of carpet (two sets), all the gauges, radio and anything in the way.. (love the door panel carpet.. vintage bathroom rug)


Next step was to figure out where to put the new fuse panel. after asking around and getting some good advice, thinking ahead to where the heater might go or a future master cylinder/ brake if I upgrade to disk,

I decided a fold down panel on the driver side would work best.. I got some 16 ga scrap at the local metal distributor and bent a flange (was originally a 90 degree but had to reduce to about 45 to clear the headlight switch. Used a simple hinge and bolted it to the bottom of the dash so it would be removable if I never need to. not high tech, very basic but effective



welded in a bracket and post under the dash so the panel would hinge up out of the way . treaded rod off a bracket welded to the steering column brace. a wing nut allows easy removal to allow it to swing down.



I am using an American Wire kit, here it is with the panel installed.







upcoming projects
* install the wiring (questions will be coming)
* decide on either aftermarket gauges or update the factory units with 12v component.
* painting the dash
* interior (using 62 impala buckets or stay with bench... and chosing an interior color
* adding tunes
* a lowering of the suspenion
* maybe putting a late model trans and rearend under it

Stay tune, I will continue to update this thread as I work on the car over the winter..

 

This will be helpful to me when I start rewiring the 51 coupe!!

 

nice start

 

Looks good Ken,,,subscribed! HRP

 

I agree with chad! I also have a 1951 hard top that needs rewirring.

 

little update, got the wiring 95% done (just need to finish the turn signals) and fired the car up again to ensure everything worked as planned. Installed a new firewall pad which helps clean up the undash area. Still need to install the gages but waiting for the stainless around the gauges to get polished before going back in.

decided a few weeks ago I was going to jump in and get the car ready for a motor/ drivetrain swap. put the rebuilt motor/trans forsale and it sold in a few days.

Last weekend inbetween business trips, the motor got yanked. the car is now sitting on the lift minus motor and trans. Took pictures but my camera failed to keep them. so I have to take some more of the empty void between the fenders. I will start removing the firewall braces and wait for the trans mount to arrive. (went with a Walton Fabrication unit)

I will post pictures as I make progress.

 

looking forward to more updates/pictures as that is what i'm doing with my 50' right now too...

 

pictures of the engine getting pulled and the empty void.



today I cut the ribs off the firewall with a sawzall (will do the firewall pretty next winter when I add the MII front susp.) and cut off the E brake assembly. I will go with some else once the motor is in and I know what will fit near the motor and under the dash.



a little more trimming and then I will start prepping the frame for the motor mounts.

 

made some progress, got there firewall cleaned up some. I went with Walton Mfg Motor Mounts and Trans mount. first class quality from what I see so far. Install is straight forward.



got the trans crossmember out..



and the new trans X member mocked into place.



Next step will be pull the Xmember out and paint it and then install my mock up motor and trans to verify the exhaust manifolds will clear the factory steering..

 

Lookin good. Will be definately following this one.

 

always thought it unusual those Chevys had the front brake lines routed under the frame

 

brownfoot, you and me both but looking at the car, it would be difficult to impact them based on the other x members from the factory.

 

Which wire kit did you get? What all will you be running as in acc and what not.

 

I bought a Highway 15 kit (American Auto wire I believe) the 18 or 21 would have been better if i was running AC and PWR windows. but I am not so the 15 curcuit is fine

 

Oh ok. Im just not sure how many circuits I will need for my hard top.

 

a little weekend update

got tranny mount painted and installed and the mock up motor installed. that was a challenge as I could not get the exhaust manifold to work as bolt holes were not aligning (I posted a seperate question about that) but got advice I needed to manifold spreader tool. with that it bolted up.



I am using a manifold from a early 80's PU (had seen several people on here say they worked), Well I have not been able to get them to work so far, it hits the steering box (motor sitting to low) and when turned to the left, the pivot arm hits (so motor to far forward). I am going to move the Walton mounts around to see if I can get it to work.



decided to take a break from the exhaust problems and move to the rearend. Had someone on here want the third member and torque tube (its all forsale in the classifieds) so I dug into its disassembly.



removed the C clips and pulled the axles. breaks look almost new..as does the third member


and after a few hours of work I had it out



leaving a big hole in the rear and then told by the prospective buyer they found one locally and did not need the third member and torque tube.


remove some U bolts and hangers and soon it was all out





next step is to start grinding again on the leaf spring brackets to remove and prep the area for a new leaf spring kit followed by a late model rearend. grinding rivets has to be the worse thing, its noisy, messy and a real pain in the ass.

 

Getting down to business here!

 

Great start.

 

I have come to the conclusion the worse part of this build is grinding rivets. what a slow dirty process. spent several hours removing the two front mounts for the rear leaf springs. the rear mounts are going to be painful as it is impossible to get to the rivets on the inner frame lip, one side is the gas tank and on the other is the spare time housing..

 

Nice looking ride... E-brake for BelAir- went with generic '80's Toyota pick-up from the wrecking yard, cut my old chrome handle, indexed and welded it to the Toyota shaft, done. Keeps it in the stock location, but the Toyota cable does a 90 degree bend right at the firewall so it will clear the head and header on my sbc. Would love to see more dash reassembly shots if you got 'em.

 

Loving this, nice work!

 

Not much done this week visually but spent many hours grinding rivets to remove the 4 leaf spring mounts. what a pain. I am officially tired of removing rivets. Now I have to wait for the new wider leaf springs and mounts




scrubby, what pictures are you looking for. I have my build pictures located here, but if you need something specific let me know.

http://public.fotki.com/boones/boones_rides_past/1951-chevrolet/


broke down and ordered a set of headers, told there is a 2 week back order but that gives me time to get the motor on the engine stand, painted and assembly completed.

 

It has been about a month since my last update. Not alot to show but have made some progress. My new wheels are still not here.. Pat at Real Rodders tells me the polisher is about done with the fronts (rears are finished). I also got a email my new gauges shipped last Thursday..

What I can show you are the new spring kit from Walton going in.










I also finished up the motor this afternoon. Gave up trying to get the stock cast iron exhaust manifolds to work. I talked with Todd at Waltons and he said guys have used his motor mount kits with them.. No way.. Even the Sanderson 49-54 headers will not fit with his kit. After hours of moving the motor (plastic) around I have come to the conclusion the only way to make either work is to raise his mount about an 1" or more. (after buying the Sanderson's I finally got the motor high enough and set slight back to clear. I will use the headers since I bought them.



Did not feel like building a pretty show worthy motor (did that on my last motor for my 29 sedan) since I have no plans to ever open the hood. With a conservative 550hp.. it should move along nicely. A T350 will back it up. Going to pick up the torque converter this week and start the install..

 

Hey Boones- before you drop your axle in- can you do a few of us (okay, me) a favour and measure the distance between the springs on your rear inside-inside? They're 2 1/2" springs, right?

 

David, I will get you a measurement as soon as I get the opposite side in. (they are 2 1/2" wide. Are you looking from outer edge to outer edge or center of locating pin to pin

I might have to relocate mine. I was told these would sit under the frame rails. They actually stick out about a 1/4" beyond the outer lip of the frame. To me the kit could easily be engineered to sit a 1/2" inward.. Not an issue for most but I am going to be running a set of 15x8 reverse wheels and will need every 1/4" I can keep. I might be trimming the lip of my frame and moving the springs inward but wont know foresure until my rims show up.

 

interesting. If you wouldn't mind, pin-pin and outside to outside would be ideal. I've still got the factory weeniesprings under mine, and I'd like to bump 'em up to something bigger and beefier - I'm figuring about 400 horse so far with the motor I'm dropping in, would hate to have them wrap on me..

I'm contemplating making my own hangers/brackets and using < insert donor car here > springs instead.

 

I quick update. I got the motor and trans installed along with the headers, carb and a few other items. Decided to jump back on the wiring since my new gauges from New Vintage finally showed up. UPS man was busy this week as my rims also arrived. 15x8 full reverse in the rear and 15x5 for the front.

I now have to decide on Hurst Cheater Slicks (15x9 x 29 tall) and 560 x15 firestone bias fronts or running radials 255/70 (maybe 275/70) and 165R 15 fronts.








This weekend I will install the other rear leaf spring and take my measurements for a near axle.

 

for those interested, the leaf spring locating pin to pin dimension is 45 inches. the dimension from outside leaf to outside leaf is 47.5

 

Got the rear rims mounted

 

Since my last picture, I have been working on fitment of the wheels. Due to the size and offset, it has required me to move the rear springs inboard 2" and it will require me to build a narrowed rearend.



as you can see, it is a tight fit.. ( drum overlaps with springs)



further back I noted I bought a new spring kit. looking at the kit, I realized the rear hangers could be swapped from side to side giving me a 2" movement inboard (how I chose the 2" relocation). The front brackets could not be flipped, that will require some thinking. Initially i was going to build new brackets but after talking to a buddy, I am going to relocate the front mounts onto a new mounting plate but 2" over.