49 chev fleetline

[riverrat44]

Went out in the deep freeze and took some pics of my fleetline. The body is sittin' on an 88 S-10frame, with 350-350combo for power. Tilt column from a Cutlass. Lots of work left to do on it. The rear wheels are 2inch offset racin rims from a swap meet. The tail light housings were made from a 4inch driveshaft, then angle cut and welded in. Will post more pics as work progresses......[P

 

[RoddingRon]

I always liked this body style. You gotta good start and I'm looking forward to the rest of the build

 

[Rust Rod]

is the wheel base on the frame and the fleetline the same? what frame did you use?( an ext cab short bed?)
im going to be doing this same swap on a fleet line im picking up. is there any advice or trouble spots i should look out for?
nice lookin car btw, looking forward to more pics

 

[riverrat44]

is the wheel base on the frame and the fleetline the same? what frame did you use?( an ext cab short bed?)
im going to be doing this same swap on a fleet line im picking up. is there any advice or trouble spots i should look out for?
nice lookin car btw, looking forward to more pics

I used a long wheelbase from a S-10, had to shorten it 4inches so the wheels would center, then boxed and plated the frame... I ran into a little problem with the wheelwells on the rear, had to trim em up some. I used wheels with a 2in. When you put in your floorpan, you'll find that the brace for the S-10 arches up in the center. It will interfere with a back seat placement...

 

[Rust Rod]

where did you take the 4" out of?
and i would put the car on bags so the wheel wells would have to be altered any ways.
how much is in the way of the rear seat? can you still get a seat back there?
thanks

 

[riverrat44]

Rust, I took the 4in. out just aft of the carrier brg crossmember. I had to move that x member when I shortened the driveshaft. The x member for the old bed mount has an arch that is higher than the frame rails, so it interferes with a seat placement. I'm leaving mine there, as I'm going to put a flat, raised floorpan in the back, no seat. I'm leaving this car at this ride height because it'll be a daily driver, I won't need to worry about speed bumps etc. Thanks for the interest.

 

[Gregster]

The tailight frenching looks good, that just shows that you don't have to spend the big $ on a kit --- make it yourself !

 

[Shea Laking]

If you wanted to be able to run similar sized rims all around, you could swap in a 4x4 S-truck rear axle in place of the 2WD piece. They're something like 31/2-4 inches wider.

Cool lookin' car, thanks for sharing your pics![P

Regards,
Shea

 

[riverrat44]

If you wanted to be able to run similar sized rims all around, you could swap in a 4x4 S-truck rear axle in place of the 2WD piece. They're something like 31/2-4 inches wider.

Cool lookin' car, thanks for sharing your pics![P

Regards,
Shea

Yes, I thought about doing that, but in keeping with my low budget, I opted to keep the original rear end....... I found a 4x4 Blazer rear end at the slavage yard where I got the S-10 frame, but the price was 150 bucks.. Not a bad price, might reconsider it, come warmer weather........

 

[riverrat44]

The tailight frenching looks good, that just shows that you don't have to spend the big $ on a kit --- make it yourself !

Thanks, Gregster. My son works at the local salvage yard and I get parts and pieces cheap.......

 

[JohnnyC.]

Cool project. I am a big fan of the fleetlines.