1950 chevy Bel-air in the making

I'm using a fiero column too, just FYI it fits a toyota power steering box without issue on the double D area like early 80s toyota truck. And I think I have the wiring pinouts for it if you need it.

Good that you got the column issue fixed.[cl
Take as much time as you need. I surely do.......
Torchie.

moving along....

Steering column mounted in place... I still have a bracket to make for the lower mounts, but at least I can steer the car along easier now.

1949-54 Bel Air/Coupe/Sedan on Caprice Chassis Tech Notes 2

I'm at another good stopping point add some more important information.


Steering:

I decided to drop the steering column from the 1983 Caprice and pick up one from a 1984 Pontiac Fiero. the Caprice Column was too long, so the options were shorten a column with a column shifter, find another column with no shifter and shorten it, or find a shorter column. I didn't research very long before I discovered most GM columns were to long, I did however pick up a Fiero column that was much shorter. It turned out to be about 4" too short. I also steering shaft had no hole at the end of it, so I cut the Caprice end off approx 6" and picked up a sleeve and welded the two together making my new column, still have tilt, still have the GM wiring harness and swapped out the cruise control selector so I can retain cruise


Channeling Notes:

After getting the bodies together I notice that with more time you can probably blend fenders 100% without adding any extra metal. However, i really don't have too much to add back. The fender-wells are large enough to fit the tires from the Caprice comfortably.

the firewall was spot on on the passenger side, the driver side is about 1" further forward, this was noticed after the body was set in place and I thought I was 'seeing things'. Lastly, the channeled area will be cleaned up sit some metal cut, bent and welded in place.

1949-54 Bel Air/Coupe/Sedan on Caprice Chassis Tech Notes 3

Tires and Wheels:

The track on the caprice is wider up front and in the rear. The rear fits decently with the stock rear wheels and tires. I swapped out the front for some 14" S-10 wheels that fit the fenders well. I will caution you that there is a newer S-10 wheel that does not properly fit the hub of the caprice, I had to use a puller to remove it from the hub... just a little friendly FYI. I'm still not sure what wheels I'm going to run, with the proper offset I can run just about anything...

I am planning at some point to lower the ride height with springs or bags, so this will also affect either the tire/wheel size and/or the fender size, but we will cross that hurdle when we get there.

the top pictures are the larger wheels up front, notice the style of the S-10 rally(the one that was stuck)... the lower show another size S-10 wheels that fits better, both hub and fender

2 things pop into mind.

1: swap the caprice spindles for 76-81 F body (Camaro/Firebird) spindles. This will bring your track back in 1/2" on each side.

2: GM fire walls are almost always deeper on the drivers side than the passengers side. It gives extra space under the pedals.

Looks like it is going well CC.
And thank you for taking the time to detail exactly why you are doing what you are doing.[cl
Carry on......
Torchie.

jfg455 said:

2 things pop into mind.

1: swap the caprice spindles for 76-81 F body (Camaro/Firebird) spindles. This will bring your track back in 1/2" on each side.

2: GM fire walls are almost always deeper on the drivers side than the passengers side. It gives extra space under the pedals.

Click to expand...

THANKS! I did not know this, but that 1/2" can make a big difference... do you know if they would use the same caliper or if I should snag those as well?

Torchie said:

Looks like it is going well CC.
And thank you for taking the time to detail exactly why you are doing what you are doing.[cl
Carry on......
Torchie.

Click to expand...

thanks torchie, I figured that this may save someone else some headache if I have an ooops...lol

Test Fit

I tossed the back seat in and tightened up some more bolts on the engine, maybe I'll get it fired up Friday I've got to yank some circuits in the fuse block as well as mount the fuse block and the brake pedal...lol.. oh and do something with the shifter....hmmmmm[S

christcrusader13 said:

Steering column mounted in place... I still have a bracket to make for the lower mounts, but at least I can steer the car along easier now.

Click to expand...

Don't know if you've noticed or not but you have a loose wire there.
Steering column looks good.

I-R-POPS said:

Don't know if you've noticed or not but you have a loose wire there.
Steering column looks good.

Click to expand...

a loose wire? Where? I don't see it....[S

3 Weeks!!!!

UPDATE!

I've got some good news and some blech! LOL

Anyways, worked through the weekend around some evangelistic events and got the Chevy running ans driving by Monday morning. I had a weird popping in the carb and thought it was a bad Q-jet(fairly common) so I swapped it with the one off the caprice still had the same thing, so....

I threw it in gear did a little loop around the neighbor hood, topped off the power-steering, which leaked when I did the engine swap and the reservoir turned over....

Then I headed for my dads garage about 9 miles away.

So the maiden voyage was a success!

I decided to pull the intake a got to a torker that I had sitting around and upon doing to is when I found the BLECH! I'll let the photos explain, but it looks like that motor hadn't had the oil changed in a VERY long time I was like removing carbon bricks from around the push rods and engine valley...

I'm hoping to throw another carb on and after cleaning it up and hopefully the collapsing lifter , which is what I'm sure was causing the popping will may be hopefully heal itself? If not plan C...or is it D... or maybe E[S

Anyways, the car drove very well, stopped great and even took the corners well

If the lifter valley looked that bad my guess is, you have an intake lobe down on the cam and that's what's making it pop through the carb.

Old Iron said:

If the lifter valley looked that bad my guess is, you have an intake lobe down on the cam and that's what's making it pop through the carb.

Click to expand...

that's what I was afraid of.... people who don't take care of their vehicles make me upset..... oh well... the other 305 was running perfect, I could swap the cam and lifters there... and put her all back together yet again.....

Wow!
Thats a Nasty mess.
You did get to drive around the block though.[cl
Keep on keeping on.
Torchie.

If ya have the extra cash this Elgin cam kit is the way to go. Cam and lifters for $104 + shipping.
http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ei-cl1065pk

Chevy Small Block 2000-5000 rpm,
Adv. Dur. Int/Exh .284
Dur @ .050 int/exh .218,
Lift int/exh .458

Contains 1 ea. Elgin E-1065-P Camshaft and 16 ea. Elgin HL-1817 Lifters.

Old Iron said:

If ya have the extra cash this Elgin cam kit is the way to go. Cam and lifters for $104 + shipping.
http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ei-cl1065pk

Chevy Small Block 2000-5000 rpm,
Adv. Dur. Int/Exh .284
Dur @ .050 int/exh .218,
Lift int/exh .458

Contains 1 ea. Elgin E-1065-P Camshaft and 16 ea. Elgin HL-1817 Lifters.

Click to expand...

OOOOOh!!! Thanks Old Iron! I wonder how this would do in my 327??? [S

I just put one in the 327 in my Impala wagon and it's perrrrrrrfect
It is similar in grind as the 268H Comp cam but, just a hair less lopy

smallish update

Torchie said:

Wow!
Thats a Nasty mess.
You did get to drive around the block though.[cl
Keep on keeping on.
Torchie.

Click to expand...

Thanks Torchie... despite the mess I still enjoyed the drive!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dropped the new intake on and a new Q-jet that my dad had picked up and then changed his mind and went holley on his vette... anyway got it on, still popping... had a nasty vacuum leak... he pointed out to me, as his finger got stuck on the back of the carb...you know the spot where your vacuum hooks up to the brake booster...... Anyway after that was plugged and Mr.Goodwhrench AKA my dad issued a few timing orders to me and then moved the dist around a bit the popping DRASTICALLY decreased.... to where is now sounds like I have a lifter that is stiff rather than collapsing... so I'll run some motor flush through it and then change the oil... Then take it out and beat on it and roast some tires and post a video [cl....

thanks for all the input guys... its hard to believe that in 3 weeks I had it on the road even with a motor swap.

I also uploaded some photos or the battery hold, radiator and a seat that I was planning on using and still may use....[

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mduehO1M5TA