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Thread: 57 BelAir from Holland

  1. #1
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    57 BelAir from Holland

    It has been a while that I posted on 55/57 Chevy forums, but I collected my pics and will post some of my progress. The work took me a while, because it ain't easy in Europe building a hotrod or classic car. Shipping and import are expensive. When I have the money, I don't have the time and when I have time I don't have money...


    But anyhow I sold my old chassis and then had the luck to find two one piece framerails of a '57 four door sedan here in Holland. I ordered the narrowed frame clip from Progressive Automotive with the parts for mounting the 1987 C4 Corvette front suspension.


    Here is the old chassis with Ford 9" ladder bars and the C4 donor car in front





    The replacement frame rails and Progressive frontclip





    I did not have a jig, so It was not easy to get started
    I had lot's of measurements (my old chassis, factory frameplans etc) but none seem to correspond. Maybe I was to serious about measuring





    I finally bit the bullet and just took the sizes that fitted my body best. There for I had to cut the bodybrackets of PA clip and reweld them in other places





    I bought the Morrison crossmember, because I ilke that one the best
    Used an old muffler to test if there was enough room for it





    I studied numerous www pics and some place the rear crossmember in front of the body brackets and some in the back. I choose the later, but I cannot recall why anymore. The holes for the exhaust tubes are a crime to get in, especially those in the front that are angled





    I test fitted the frame under my body and it worked out. The nose of the car and frontbumper all fit fine and are straight. I still have to mount the C4 IRS rear axle. I have bought the C4 rearkit from Laszlo/Classic Edge for it. I want my car to be low. My idea is that on most C4 builds I see the rearend sits too high to my liking. I will use Shockwaves all around and that will help a lot. But I want my 20 inch rear wheels deep in my mini tubs
    Here are the rearaxle pieces after I cleaned them up






    That's it for now

  2. #2
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    Well I have done some work on my firewall as well. This Chevy used to have a 5 inch engine set-back from his Gasser history. There for the original firewall was pretty much butchered. I have lived with it for more then 20 years, but not anymore. I really liked the Direct Sheetmetal firewall, but at $450,- and pretty much the same amount for shipping plus some custom duties the total price would come over $1000,- so I decided to make one myself.


    This was the original firewall, I counted some 60 plus holes in it







    First I cut the butchered part out of the middle and welded plates over the left and right sides too shut all holes





    This is the DS aftermarket firewall I liked. I looked at it and saw that it was basically made of two parts of bended sheetmetal





    So I bought two pieces of 1.5mm sheetmetal overhere and bended them to my liking





    I welded them together and I think it looks nice (for just $60,-)






    Fitting to the body took some time, because the 57 model has an extra lip on top and is not quite symmetric





    I have plenty of room now for most engines, but for now I stay with just a simple small block.
    I would like to have an LS type engine in the future though...
    Last edited by mrbelair; 07-31-2014 at 10:06 AM.

  3. #3
    Registered Member carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)'s Avatar
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    nice job, looking good.
    ARMY NAM VET, very proud!

    56 210 4dr

    drive and enjoy them while you work on them, life is to short.

  4. #4
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Nice work MrBelair! I installed one of those Progressive clips a few years ago and it was a little scary to cut the frame in two. They're nice but the downside is you can't use the C4 rack or swaybar. The advantage is that you get a narrower wheel mounting surface. I think those firewalls are way too expensive for what you get. I also built mine for about $60.

    Keep posting pics of your project!
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  5. #5
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    Definitely looking good. Keep us posted on the progress.

  6. #6
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    I found some time to post an update of my project.



    This was the status of the last update. A Progressive Automotive framestub and AM crossmember fitted, now it's time for the C4 IRS rear axle



    Here is my engine test fitted. For the rear I first went for the traditional set up, with the C4 batwing mounted under the tri-5 framerails.
    However I was afraid that this didn't gave me the stance and the suspension travel I wanted



    So I made a wooden Jig for the independent axle with my tire height at ride height. I want to use 20" rims with 28/29" high tires and I want the body to sink over them



    I decided to narrow the aluminum IRS batwing, so that it would fit between the framerails for a lower stance.
    Here the batwing before welding, I think it's narrowed between 2 and 3 inch aside



    For more suspension travel I gave the framerails a C notch above the driveshafts.
    It did ended up like this.



    I made batwing brackets to fit the IRS with 3 possibilities in height, 1 inch apart. This is an upside pic of the frame rails

  7. #7
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    While cutting the frame rails open for the welding of the C Notch, I found that sometime ago a rodent used it for a living room





    I foreclosered his home and removed his stuff

  8. #8
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    On the bottom side of the frame rails I had some 'not so nice' parts made by previous owners with jacks or jackstands
    Not knowing how to pull out the dents and pits, I decided to cut the bad parts out and replace them with fresh and straight metal.












  9. #9
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    The downside of making the C notches in the frame rails is that the body must be modified too



    I measured and cut a big hole above the rear axle area
    Also two small ones for the top C4 'dogbone' links
    As you can see my body is mini tubbed, so there is plenty of room for big wheels and tires
    The inside of the wheeltubs is covered with a thick layer of rubber from all the burnouts during the years...



    I had a 2mm sheetmetal plate bended to fill up the hole



    I welded this in between the minitubs and now there is enough room for the C4 axle, even in the lowest ride height position


    Funny thing is that this is an ex-California car and not a single piece of original sheetmetal has ever been replaced.
    All sheetmetal is original, but the body has been cut and welded many times for racing and streetrace purposes.
    Firewall, trans tunnel, wheel tubs and now the thrunk bottom...

  10. #10
    Registered Member 5Clint7's Avatar
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    Man, you sure do work fast and do excellent work. Looking great.




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