My 48 Chevy update for November, December, and January

[Fat Cat]

It has been a while since I did an update on the Chevy. It is not because I have not been working on it. I have been quite busy finishing up repairs to the frame. In mid-November I started on the coil spring rear suspension. I am using a 76 Malibu rearend and a set of Speedway control arms for the same car. We had to fab up a set of mounting point and spring perches. Here is what we started with...



After a couple long weekends and a couple of redesigns we ended up with this...



While I was building the control arm mounts I added a set of mounts to hold the emergency brake cables.



Next we moved on the front suspension. I purchased a Welder Series crossmember kit. It is a real nice deal if you want to weld the crossmember up yourself. We spend a day installing and welding up the front crossmember and this is the final result...



Next we moved on to the trans crossmember. We used a crossmember of our own design which allows for removal of the trans mount without pulling the brake assembly. The legs of the K unbolt from the main leg and allow the brake assembly to be left in place. We also manufacture a brake pedal assembly that uses the factory brake pedal and locates it in the factory location. We then mounted the booster and master cylinder and have that all tacked together.





At this stage we are left with welding up the underside of the front and rear suspension and brake pedal assembly and installing motor mounts. Once all that is done I will be sandblasting the frame again and prepping it for paint.

I hope to have the frame work done this weekend so that I can focus on replacing the middle body mounts for the body, filling the firewall and notching the trunk floor for the rear suspension. I am hoping to have the body back on the frame by the first part of March.

I lost a few weekends in December because I went to Dallas for Christmas. The I lost a few more while I was out looking for a new car for my wife to replace the one that blew up in the middle of Missouri on the way home from Dallas. On the plus side though we did find the color for the Chevy while out looking for a car. We are going to paint it 2008 Buick Cocoa Metallic, it is a lighter brown color. The interior will be a light tan color.

[Fat Cat]

Here is a shot of the color we plan to paint it.

[Bugpac]

Looking good, all thought i cant recall what a 48 chevy looks like, the chassis looks like it is coming along nicely....

[tomslik]

Looking good, all thought i cant recall what a 48 chevy looks like, the chassis looks like it is coming along nicely....

me either (or should i say i can't remember what mine is supposed to look like)...

hey FC, what're ya gonna use for rear springs?
oddly enough, i've done the chevelle thing before but never could find the springs i liked...

[Fat Cat]

Looking good, all thought i cant recall what a 48 chevy looks like, the chassis looks like it is coming along nicely....

me either (or should i say i can't remember what mine is supposed to look like)...

hey FC, what're ya gonna use for rear springs?
oddly enough, i've done the chevelle thing before but never could find the springs i liked...

I am using stock Malibu springs

[Jbird]

Looks good Frank. Independant rear suspension?   You came out of hibernation? We need someone to smack us around a bit, the asylum kinda been gettin out of line.
  Jbird

[Charlie Chops 1940]

That must be the new solid style IRS....good work nonetheless.

Charlie

[Fat Cat]

That must be the new solid style IRS....good work nonetheless.

Charlie

Actually none of those shots show the spring perches. Here is a shot of how we setup the perchs and where the springs will ride.

[jaybee]

That looks nice and sturdy.  I especially like the way the K member is constructed.  A lot of drop out crossmembers look to me as if they don't provide as much chassis stiffening as they could.

[48builder]

That must be the new solid style IRS....good work nonetheless.

Charlie

Actually none of those shots show the spring perches. Here is a shot of how we setup the perchs and where the springs will ride.

Your upper perch looks like it sits where mine does. I ended up buying springs froma '67 Tempest. The book says ride height of 7.5". It is sitting a couple inches high now, but I hope once I get the engine, seats, and everything else in place it will settle down a bit.

Nice work!

Walt

[enjenjo]

Here is an update on Fatcat's Chevy. Since he is going to school full time, and working full time, and coaching bowling, the only free time he has is between quarters. So it has taken us about a year to rework the floor. We finished this weekend. Several patches in the floor, new rocker panels, inner and outer, replaced the floor braces, and replaced the ends on the rear body sill.  After paint it is ready to go back on the chassis.

[purplepickup]

We like pictures....thanks.  For me it's always cool seeing how everyone deals with our salt belt "rust buckets".  I was checking out the '48 when we were working on the Crosley and you're making it good and solid.  

Having the body on a rotisserie sure is nice too.

[48builder]

Thanks for the update, Frank. At least he is making some progress. I have done nothing to mine in almost 2 years. My company has me working in either Boston or NYC most every week and in the middle of that I re-did the kitchen in my house. Then last month they announced they are outsourcing my whole department. That's how they say "thanks for the hard work". I'm hoping to get back on the car in the spring.

[Russco]

Looking Good

[enjenjo]

An update. The body is back on the frame and bolted down. Frank was hanging the front end on it today, moving right along.