Prostreet
01-02-2007, 12:37 AM
Hi Guys
I have been working on a 51 Desoto carryall for a customer who would like to build a sleeper that consist of a crate motor 360 cui with a 727 torqueflite and Dana 60 posi rear.
The reason for this post is because no one makes anything for front IFS and it may spawn some ideas while we get this land cruiser at its intended ride height without giving away its underpinnings.
This would be a good exercise for getting a front suspension under a car nice and square with common shop tools, and making most frame parts from scratch.
I may have to edit some of the photos in to the post because I'm on the home computer and don't have all the access to my computer at the shop.
I do expect lots of questions and still stress the fact you should be a seasoned welder with a welder that is capable of the heat range and duty cycle it takes to complete this job.
I started out with a length of 2x5 3/16 wall rectangular tubing. Then I called my friends at Welders series in Canada to purchase all the parts to fabricate a front cross member that had the closest tracking width which was 56 inches.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/welders-series-cross-member.jpg
Now this is a time saver and gives me the opportunity to do all the welding myself.
Now after a day and a half of disassembling and scraping grease, I plumbed the frame and mark the floor beneath the car with all pertnant lines that would aid me in the install of my front IFS, these lines gave me wheel base and center line all the way back to the rear axle.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/desoto-014.jpg
I tack welded the main cross member to the stout 2x5 rails that I cut earlier to length. Before doing that I marked spindles center lines on the 2x5 and made a small curse line with my cut off wheel so I would not lose the line to handling it.
This helped when I tacked the cross member to match centers and gave me some thing to measure when setting the rails in place.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/desoto-013.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/desoto-015.jpg
Now I used my plum bobs and torpedo levels to set the rails and had plenty of bracing on hand so I could tack it in place and not worry about it moving.
The plum bobs would reach down to the floor and contact the marks on the floor while the level would keep me knowing the rails were sitting level at all time so I would not have a problem with alignment later on.
I have been working on a 51 Desoto carryall for a customer who would like to build a sleeper that consist of a crate motor 360 cui with a 727 torqueflite and Dana 60 posi rear.
The reason for this post is because no one makes anything for front IFS and it may spawn some ideas while we get this land cruiser at its intended ride height without giving away its underpinnings.
This would be a good exercise for getting a front suspension under a car nice and square with common shop tools, and making most frame parts from scratch.
I may have to edit some of the photos in to the post because I'm on the home computer and don't have all the access to my computer at the shop.
I do expect lots of questions and still stress the fact you should be a seasoned welder with a welder that is capable of the heat range and duty cycle it takes to complete this job.
I started out with a length of 2x5 3/16 wall rectangular tubing. Then I called my friends at Welders series in Canada to purchase all the parts to fabricate a front cross member that had the closest tracking width which was 56 inches.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/welders-series-cross-member.jpg
Now this is a time saver and gives me the opportunity to do all the welding myself.
Now after a day and a half of disassembling and scraping grease, I plumbed the frame and mark the floor beneath the car with all pertnant lines that would aid me in the install of my front IFS, these lines gave me wheel base and center line all the way back to the rear axle.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/desoto-014.jpg
I tack welded the main cross member to the stout 2x5 rails that I cut earlier to length. Before doing that I marked spindles center lines on the 2x5 and made a small curse line with my cut off wheel so I would not lose the line to handling it.
This helped when I tacked the cross member to match centers and gave me some thing to measure when setting the rails in place.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/desoto-013.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/prosheetmetal/desoto-015.jpg
Now I used my plum bobs and torpedo levels to set the rails and had plenty of bracing on hand so I could tack it in place and not worry about it moving.
The plum bobs would reach down to the floor and contact the marks on the floor while the level would keep me knowing the rails were sitting level at all time so I would not have a problem with alignment later on.