Project '53 Bel Air...Turbo?

[Ketzer]

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?

[tterbo]

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.





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...



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...

[tterbo]

Originally Posted by Ketzer

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?

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?

[Ketzer]

Originally Posted by tterbo

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...

[CHAZMO1986]

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

[aidanfancystang]

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