Nerd Rods chassis-DIY 1955 2DR Hardtop

[NickP]

JJ, looking at this picture I have a question. The two holes are for the dogbones. Are they just through holes or is there a tube in each and welded in place?

[JJ55]

Chevynut do you have a Facebook account

We cut that datum hole off of our conversion frames, but we use the bumper bolt holes for reference locations, as they were specified in the GM drawings from the datum. They are actually pretty accurate, more so than the body mounts since they're punched into the frame rails along with the other features.



I almost do.

Without bumper bolt holes, datum holes, or anything else to go off of maybe the best bet is the body mounts and radiator support. It's kinda hard to accurately measure the axle locations, but it can be done with a plumb bob and marks on the floor. If it's off, I would suspect more things wrong with the frame.

[JJ55]

there's a heavy tube that's welded in, should be in the other photo's

JJ, looking at this picture I have a question. The two holes are for the dogbones. Are they just through holes or is there a tube in each and welded in place?

[chevynut]

The frame is square and flat! great that I had a 6'X 12'x 2" thick machine ground table to build it on but not 100% sure on the wheelbase, I'm hanging the front suspension tomorrow afternoon. I welded my K member in place, no bolts

Cool, sounds like you had the right equipment to do the job. And it's good to see that you didn't use the bolt-in k-member. Personally I think it looks bad and it's scary to me to have the entire k-member secured by only 8 small bolts.

The GM drawings pretty much have everything you need, but there is a little calculation required for some dimensions. I went through all that when I built my frame jig. Since you KNOW where your k-member has to sit, and it's welded in already, I would use the front axle centerline as the reference point. The only issue is that you have to align the suspension to the proper 6 degree caster to use it. If you have your a-arm spacers, using them and two one-eight inch shims in front and back will set the suspension close to where it's supposed to be. The thick spacer goes in front. Then set the toe and measure the radiator support centerline and rear axle centerline from there. You could also measure the body mount locations if you want.

Let's see some pics!!

[JJ55]

Do you have a Facebook account?

Cool, sounds like you had the right equipment to do the job. And it's good to see that you didn't use the bolt-in k-member. Personally I think it looks bad and it's scary to me to have the entire k-member secured by only 8 small bolts.

The GM drawings pretty much have everything you need, but there is a little calculation required for some dimensions. I went through all that when I built my frame jig. Since you KNOW where your k-member has to sit, and it's welded in already, I would use the front axle centerline as the reference point. The only issue is that you have to align the suspension to the proper 6 degree caster to use it. If you have your a-arm spacers, using them and two one-eight inch shims in front and back will set the suspension close to where it's supposed to be. The thick spacer goes in front. Then set the toe and measure the radiator support centerline and rear axle centerline from there. You could also measure the body mount locations if you want.

Let's see some pics!!

[chevynut]

Yes I do....Laszlo Nobi

[JJ55]

My wife will friend request you in a couple minutes there's and album called Jason's 55 Chevy frame, I plan to update some progress tomorrow

Yes I do....Laszlo Nobi

[JJ55]

Can you clarify the shims comment

Cool, sounds like you had the right equipment to do the job. And it's good to see that you didn't use the bolt-in k-member. Personally I think it looks bad and it's scary to me to have the entire k-member secured by only 8 small bolts.

The GM drawings pretty much have everything you need, but there is a little calculation required for some dimensions. I went through all that when I built my frame jig. Since you KNOW where your k-member has to sit, and it's welded in already, I would use the front axle centerline as the reference point. The only issue is that you have to align the suspension to the proper 6 degree caster to use it. If you have your a-arm spacers, using them and two one-eight inch shims in front and back will set the suspension close to where it's supposed to be. The thick spacer goes in front. Then set the toe and measure the radiator support centerline and rear axle centerline from there. You could also measure the body mount locations if you want.

Let's see some pics!!

[chevynut]

Hi Jason, I took a look at your album....looks like you're doing a really nice job of putting that frame together. Your welding and craftsmanship looks great. You said you welded your k-member in, but your pics don't show any k-member. Actually that might be good since you can check the axle centerlines before you weld it in.

There are a couple of things I noticed that you may want to check before you put the body on. It's not obvious to me that you'll be able to remove your driveshaft without removing the differential. The cutout in the rear crossmember is pretty narrow and not very deep vertically. I just wonder if the driveshaft will clear the center section and slide out with the body on. I'm building a frame right now and we had to address that since it's getting an AME-type center section.

I don't see any swaybar mounts....do you still have to install them? What about rear axle bumpers?

What are the 4 tabs on the rear crossmember for, a pinon support?



It looks like you have bumper bolt holes in the frame. I would check the length from the frontmost bumper bolt holes to the rearmost bumper bolt holes. The dimensions are in the GM drawings. Frames have a tendency to "shrink" with all the welding so I'm curious how that turned out since there is so much welding on that frame. If that's okay, I would check the radiator support location and the axle centerlines from those reference points.

Keep posting pics here. All you have to do is cut and paste from your album.

[JJ55]

Thank you, your work is awesome

Hi Jason, I took a look at your album....looks like you're doing a really nice job of putting that frame together. Your welding and craftsmanship looks great. You said you welded your k-member in, but your pics don't show any k-member. Actually that might be good since you can check the axle centerlines before you weld it in. Those picture are outdated, the K member is 100% welded in

There are a couple of things I noticed that you may want to check before you put the body on. It's not obvious to me that you'll be able to remove your driveshaft without removing the differential. The cutout in the rear crossmember is pretty narrow and not very deep vertically. I just wonder if the driveshaft will clear the center section and slide out with the body on. I'm building a frame right now and we had to address that since it's getting an AME-type center section. I hope things clear, Russell and his Dad Jim have built many of these frame

I don't see any swaybar mounts....do you still have to install them? What about rear axle bumpers? I have them installed, I hope to have new picture posted tonight

What are the 4 tabs on the rear crossmember for, a pinon support? You got it!



It looks like you have bumper bolt holes in the frame. I would check the length from the frontmost bumper bolt holes to the rearmost bumper bolt holes. The dimensions are in the GM drawings. Frames have a tendency to "shrink" with all the welding so I'm curious how that turned out since there is so much welding on that frame. If that's okay, I would check the radiator support location and the axle centerlines from those reference points. I have looked at the GM drawings briefly and I don't see where there is a call out for axle centerline, I likely missed it. I think Nick is sending me a CAD file he made, maybe that will help me

Keep posting pics here. All you have to do is cut and paste from your album.