51 Olds project

DRD57 · February 15, 2009, 12:38:58 AM

My first customer brought in this 51 Olds right before I left for Europe so, he basically got about 4 months of free storage while I was off baby sitting some computer programmers.

Everything that wasn't where it belonged was piled inside the car.

A prior owner and/or shop had started a chop using a lot of mud

I think they used the rear glass and about six inches all around from another car. They welded it right over the Olds roof with about a five inch overlap. No chance of doing any hammer & dolly work there so it was filled with mud too.

The customer wants the car bagged. I told him the only way I'd do it is if we clipped the car. So, out came the old Olds stuff and in went a GM Gbody clip. Out with the old:

In with the new:

Here's what the rear looked like before I tore it apart.

To bag the rear I needed to get rid of the leaf springs and build a triangulated 4-link.
Here I started laying out where the top bars would go.

I made a bunch of patterns for brackets

Then I basically worked on other stuff for a couple of weeks because the computer controlling my bro's CNC plasma table crapped out.
Here's the Chevy 350/TH350 engine mounts and transmission crossmember.

The computer is still out of commission and I got tired of waiting so, I cut all of these brackets out of 3/16" plate on the band saw.

Here are shots of tacking all the rear suspension pieces in place.

Next up will be installing the front air bags and trial fitting the body to make sure everything works with out hitting. Then I'll blow it apart for chassis powdercoating.

enjenjo · February 15, 2009, 12:53:44 AM

Nice job so far Don. Is that the stock rear end you are using? Looks to be a 98 Model. And a 51 Merc rear window opwning.

DRD57 · February 15, 2009, 01:26:27 AM

Quote from: "enjenjo"Nice job so far Don. Is that the stock rear end you are using? Looks to be a 98 Model. And a 51 Merc rear window opwning.

Thanks.

It's the rear end that was in there when it showed up. It didn't look like it had ever been out but it also looked like new inside, bearings, gears and everything.

I was wondering if the rear window was from another car because it overlaps the roof all the way around by at least 5 inches.

zzford · February 15, 2009, 07:17:02 AM

Very nice work, Don. I hope you'll give us updates. Fred

GPster · February 15, 2009, 09:49:38 AM

The design, placement and length of the four bar set-up certainly appears to be well thought out. Reflects the body off idea rather than the "can be done in a week end" approach. What do you use for bushings in the ends of the bars? I hope he's not the type of a guy that's telling everybody that you had his car for four months before you did anything to it. GPster

Crosley.In.AZ · February 15, 2009, 11:00:37 AM

Don,

looks good so far.

How heavy wall is the tube cross member for the rear air bag and shock mounts?

DRD57 · February 15, 2009, 12:28:03 PM

All the tube is 1.5" diameter .120 wall.

The bushings are 1.75" diameter tubing with urethane bushings. My bro's Off Road shop gets them from Kartek. They use a lot of them for making long travel A-arms for pre-runner trucks.

The owner is ecstatic to see weekly progress on the car. It sat in a hay barn for a couple of years collecting dust and spiders before he dragged it over here.

jaybee · February 15, 2009, 05:16:10 PM

The chassis looks like it's really coming together. I can just about imagine the factory marrying up that front clip to those frame rails exactly the way you've done it. How about that chop? From your description and the pictures it seems like you'll be practically back at square one but without the advantage of a stock roofline to study before you get started.

Fuzzy · February 15, 2009, 07:28:36 PM

First class work there,Don.The chassis work is very impressive.

Fuzzy

DRD57 · February 15, 2009, 09:40:40 PM

Quote from: "jaybee"How about that chop? From your description and the pictures it seems like you'll be practically back at square one but without the advantage of a stock roofline to study before you get started.

We're not going to re-cut the roof. We already stripped off all the old pink bondo. All we're going to do is finish the doors, A & B pillars and re-fill with Mar-glass.

Normspeed · February 15, 2009, 10:10:02 PM

Don, at least the interior is done.

Good to see ya back in the shop doing what you do best.

39deluxe · February 16, 2009, 12:29:46 AM

Nice work. Being an Olds nut I'll be watching this one.

tom

57larry · February 16, 2009, 05:03:10 PM

nice looking bkts what's the clip from?

DRD57 · February 17, 2009, 02:03:57 AM

Today I worked on mocking up the front air bags. Since it has a GM G-body clip, I bought a G-body "kit" for the front from Air Ride Technologies. In addition to shocks and brackets here's what you get in the kit.

Here's what it looks like assembled.

Buying the kit saved me from having to fabricate the brackets that go above and below the bags.
The instructions say to cut and arc 2" high and 5" long on the side of the spring pocket area of the frame.

That still looked a little close on the front and rear edges so I marked it for some more cutting.

With more cut out it was a much better fit.

With the lower control arm on and the air bag compressed it still had plenty of clearance.

With the front suspension all mocked up the top shock mount was a bit close to the upper A-arm so I moved that back about 3/4". Then everything cleared all the way through suspension travel.

It has about 8" of travel.

GPster · February 17, 2009, 08:45:36 AM

Maybe you should send Air Ride your pictures and explanation. I'm sure there are a few of their customers that don't have their projects as camera ready as yours. I can't imagine you'll ever have a customer that would have a reason to fault your work. GPster