[udu56]

Hello.
I am thinking of getting a '39 Chevy sedan. Only the frame and body is there, no axles or drivetrain. Then I'm planning to buy a 80's Caprice Wagon as a donor, and want to know is this donors front suspension suitable for 39s frame?
I found out that original front tread is ~57.5", Caprices 62.2". Is that difference acceptable?
Can it be compensated with wheel offset?

Does anybody have a picture of Caprice front separatelly or with frame without engine on it?

Any other ideas? PS: Want to keep it all GM.

[OneMoreTime]

what you have shown is that the Caprice is about 5" wider than the 39..that is too much to make up with backset..Try an S-10 chassis instead as that is narrower..we try to get within an inch or so of original if possible..

Sorry,

OMT

[musky2]

I agree the s10 is a good choice with lots of option on parts. Also the intermediate GM cars Montes , Cutlass, Regals etc should work out too. The s10s and Medium GMs are a dime a dozen around here. Use everything off the donor then junk the body, be suprised all the parts you will use or need. Then you will also have the basic small Chevy pattern wheel bolt patter instead of the larger 5 inch bolt pattern of a truck or big car. Alot more wheels choices or wheels available.

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by udu56

Hello.
I am thinking of getting a '39 Chevy sedan. Only the frame and body is there, no axles or drivetrain.

As one of the Moderators here.......I would like to.....

WELCOME YOU HERE.......

We have a lot of good members here with a lot of knowledge. The width of the Caprice is too wide........IMHO. WHY the GM only...? ? Ford has the best rear end ( 9 inch ) IMHO.........and Ford brakes are great too.

Mix and match...

Again.......WELCOME...

[udu56]

Well, things are not that simple here. "Medium GMs are a dime a dozen around here" doesn't suit for my "here", because I'm in eastern Europe, Estland (officially estonia). Most widely spread US cars here are Chevy's (Caprice, Van, camaro), other GM fullsizes, mustangs (from '80&up), Lincolns (from '90s), Dodge vans and a lot of FWD cars. Mopar is allmost not represented, not too many trucks of any kind.
Ofcourse here are some cars from any type and year, but they are rare enough to not be used as a donor.
I know I will need a lot of parts from donor, that I cannot think of right now, so I'm planning to get a driveable donor.

Two s10s are for sale here at the moment, but both are with 2.8 V6 engine. I want V8 or at least R6. Also I guess the V6 and V8 bolt pattern is not the same, so I will need to refabricate engine and trans mounts, when I would like to change it to V8 later. I would prefere a bolt on swap possibility, when thinking of temporary engine.

[OneMoreTime]

Then we need to get a bit more serious...I would suggest that you get some of the chassis books from steve smith autosports and study on making your own crossmember of the correct width using the caprice spindles..I am not sure just what you may wind up using for a rear end in such a circumstance but somethign will turn up I am sure tha tis more available in your part of the world..

There are even some software packages that allow you to evaluate a proposed chassis for roll centers and such..most of that stuff is geared for the circle track racers but it is very applicable to a street rod..

OMT

[ckucia]

Originally Posted by udu56

Two s10s are for sale here at the moment, but both are with 2.8 V6 engine. I want V8 or at least R6. Also I guess the V6 and V8 bolt pattern is not the same, so I will need to refabricate engine and trans mounts, when I would like to change it to V8 later. I would prefere a bolt on swap possibility, when thinking of temporary engine.

S-10 V8 swaps are a pretty easy proposition. Do some Googling or search this site's archives.

Lots of info on this site about S-10 frame swaps. I don't think too many people choose to stay with the original powerplant - they only want the chassis and the odds-and-ends that go with it.

V8 S-10 swaps are pretty close to a bolt-in, although in your part of the world, it may be a lot less so.