Project '53 Bel Air...Turbo?
 

I am starting a new project and thought I would share for those that may also be interested in my twisted plan. I am an avid musclecar fan and have had a 69 Camaro, 70 Chevelle, and two different 70 Camaros (still have one of them), along with a lot of late model muscle as well. I also have an interest in some Rat Rods...when done right. "Right" for me is modern suspension,wheels/tires, brakes, and driveline - in a Rat Rod shell. All of my previous cars were setup this way with a modern flair on a timeless body style. What makes this build so ambitious is that I want to combine a lot of features into one build, more than I ever have before. Kind of like a semi-Rat Rod/Classic/Pro Touring car with focus on streetability and handling. What makes this so ambitious? The must haves. Key elements I want to implement in this build are: turbo LS power, manual trans, rear IRS, and 345's out back.

While most of my previous cars were muscle cars/Pro Touring style, I have always loved how a 53/54 Bel Air looks layed out. This is usually done with some kind of linked rear end and either a Mustang II based front IRS or a grafted GM front subframe, combined with air bags. This combo rides nice and is the simplest way to update the suspension....but I want it to really handle too. Like a late model. I want people to point at the big, curvy 50's era car hauling ass around a road course or Autocross and putting down impressive numbers. And I don't plan to spend a ton of money to do it. In fact, I am hoping to do it with mostly stuff I have lying around my shop. Stuff I have collected over the years because it was a "good deal" or was leftover from a previous project.

So before I even started to look for a car I put a basic plan together. There are things that absolutely must happen to satisfy my "wants" and then things that I can hopefully make work. Everything else will have to be figured out along the way.

Here are things I already have in my "inventory" that I hope to use in this build:

· An aluminum L92 6.2L truck motor. I had this in a late model truck I built. It already has a Comp custom turbo grind cam, valve springs, and timing set. The motor had overheated and just needs gone through to make sure it is still in good shape. This motor made 420 to the rear wheels through the trucks' 4L65E trans NA. Hoping for an easy 550-600 with the turbo and manual trans.

· A 68mm T4 Turbonetics turbo. This may be too small ultimately but I am more interested in keeping good throttle response with the turbo than with peak horsepower. If it does end up being too small I can swap it later but it will get things going in the meantime. I also have a large Precision wastegate that I can use.

· A Speartech intercooler. Not sure if this will work but it's worth a shot.

· A built T56 6-speed manual from a 4th Gen Camaro with a Spec dual disc clutch.

· A complete front and rear C5 suspension with brakes. These were originally planned for my 70 Camaro but now I want to make them work in this car, if possible. I have literally had these for 15 years...

· Front and rear C6 Z06 calipers and rotors

· A brand new Viper differential. A race team was selling these for $250 each on Ebay about 8 years ago and I picked up two of them.

· A set of Viking coil-overs and a set of QA1 coil-overs. I think both are 4.25" stroke.

· A 4" PST aluminum driveshaft with billet yoke and 1350 series joints. I had this made for my late model truck about 6 years ago and never used it. I think I can just have it shortened and it will work fine.

· I also have a lot of little things that can be used. Things that add up and slow a project down. I hope to make use of a lot of the following if possible just because I have them already: A Summit aluminum rear battery box, lots of 3" stainless mandrels and straight tubing for the exhaust, a whole box of Ebay aluminum 2.5" and 3" mandrel bends for intercooler plumbing, black braided line and various fittings, lots of various polyurethane bushings for making motor mounts, etc.

So.... LS turbo power, manual trans, IFS and IRS, big brakes, big tires....big car. Should be a lot of fun.


I found a car on Craigslist after searching for about 3 months. It was down in South Florida (I live in the TampaBay area) and from the pictures and phone conversations it seemed to be just what I was looking for - a complete car with all the trim and interior, minus a motor and trans. Unfortunately it was more than I was wanting to spend though so I had to get creative. I had a 2007 Silverado that was worth about $6500 according to KBB.com and the guy wanted $8000 for the car. Hesitantly I offered him a title swap and he agreed.

I can't complain about the car. The bumpers, grille, trim, interior, glass, etc. are all in perfect shape and everything works. This is a 64 year old car so the rockers and lower quarters are in rough shape but the floorpan is completely solid. The paint is decent but there is lots of bondo in the lower half of the car. It's a perfect 20 footer.

http://i65.tinypic.com/25hjqmu.jpg
^The ad on Craigslist:

http://i64.tinypic.com/24wfx8i.jpg
^Me leaving with my truck to trade the guy:

http://i65.tinypic.com/15ocryh.jpg
^Not a very good start to this project. This happened coming back with the car.....the rear straps broke about 5 miles from home, letting the car roll forward and fall off the trailer, destroying the trailer jack and my truck bumper. Oh well, this sucked but I guess it could have been much worse. The car survived without any damage and fortunately no damage to my tailgate either. On with the project...[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

That last pic is ugly...but at least you got the first hiccup over with. Smooth sailing from here on out...right?

I have a 54 wagon that I am doing TBSS w/AWD under. The toughest thing is the track width on modern suspensions, its a bit to wide for these old bodies. Do you have a plan for narrowing the IRS?

http://i66.tinypic.com/142cw9s.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/14xcfb6.jpg

So I got the car up on the lift to look it over. Very solid car except for rot out at the rockers and the lower quarters. I can fix that later. Doors open nice, windows work perfectly, hood, trunk, and door lines are pretty good. All good news. On with the plan. The first thing I did was pull the gas tank, wheels/tires, rear axle, and leaf springs off the car. These are all things I don't care about but might be worth something to someone else. I also unbolted the entire front suspension. I had no clue these cars had a removable subframe up front, separate from the frame. It made it really easy to drop out as an assembly.

http://i63.tinypic.com/2n7mnpj.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/o1grq.jpg

I listed the wheels/tires on Craigslist and sold them for $500 within two days! Maybe I should have listed them for more, I don't know. At least I have $500 now that I didn't have yesterday.
I began looking over the rear end and it was actually pretty nice. Somebody had put a 55-57 rear in the car which back in the day was a major upgrade. They also spent time sand blasting and painting it with some real deal paint, not just a rattle can job. It had new brakes and what looked like a new yoke as well. Not a posi though. Listed this on Craigslist and got $200 for it 3 days later.
No luck selling the other parts yet...

http://i67.tinypic.com/zsu32v.jpg

I also pulled both font and rear bumpers to get ready for dropping the frame out of the car. Everybody assumes that these big bumpers on early cars are heavy but I was really surprised, they weren't heavy at all. I decided to weigh them to see. Front bumper and bumper guards together weighed 22 pounds while the larger rear bumper with guards weighed 37. More than I thought by how they feel but still much lighter than they look. The bumper brackets are nothing more than essentially 1/4" x 2" flat bar formed and welded together. They were 8 pounds per side. I will sell them also and make something tubular and nicer later on...

That's going to be awesome. I was at one time considering AWD as well but decided against it due mainly to packaging complications. If you have the entire frame you might be able to just narrow the rear axle and narrow the front frame rails to make it work. The narrow track width does pose a problem in the front and it will be interesting to see how that works. Moving A-arm locations inward cramps exhaust manifolds and accessories and makes CV shafts really short. I would run as much positive offset as you can in the front to keep your frame rails as wide as possible.

I have another thread on PT.com (Link)where I am further along with the project. If I remember correctly I had to narrow my A-arm mounts in the rear 6" (3" per side) from the original location on the Vette cradle. I am doing the front now and with wheel turn radius it is going to be tight.

Can't wait to see your project. Do you have a build thread going?

No build thread on that one. It has stalled while I'm working on other stuff...

Very cool! I have a Turbo'd LS in my 55 4 door BelAir, can't wait to seem more progress!!!

Ha i started a 4 door 53 a couple of months ago wit ha 6.0 ls and a 4L60 trying to make a sleeper out of her. this is waaayyyyy cooler then mine though:G-Dub: