1950 Chevy 3100 Pro-Touring Project

[Chris02rex]

Hey I just started to disassemble my truck and start the full build. I bought the truck a month ago for 200 bucks and it was complete down to the air cleaner. My plans are to have a pro-touring/autox truck when I'm done.
Parts list-
70 nova subframe
8.8 Ford rear end, 373 limited slip, disk brakes
5.3 Gm motor with a hx40 turbo
turbo 350 trans
3 link rear end setup with coilovers
tubular front control arms





Heres a pic of it today before i started teardown.




I also just ordered the new rims. They are cragar soft 8s. 17"x9"




I will be updating this daily as I work on it every weekday 8 hours a day. Thanks for looking.

[coolwelder62]

Good Luck W/your build.Please keep us posted on the progress.

[Chris02rex]

Will do. Im currently attending Hot rod institute so like i said i get to work on this everyday.

[SS PUNISHER]

Looks like a killer project!

[Rick Dorion]

I love it. What a great buy. Following this one.

[exwestracer]

Just curious, do they have separate chassis and bodywork classes and work areas there?

[dontlifttoshift]

Bitchin truck have fun with it.

A few things from experience with my 48 5 window......a first gen nova clip is a just a tad wide for that application. You can section it a couple of inches like they did in the old days or just be prepared to run a lot of backspacing. Narrow control arms are not the answer. If the 8.8 rear end came out of an explorer it is about 2" too narrow unless you are tubbing the truck. if you tub it it will work perfect. With 17x9 wheels you will likely have to tub it a little. Depending how low you want to go a 3 link may cause packaging problems with the bed floor. My truck had a bridge in the rear, the bottom of the new rail over the axle was at the top of the old rail. I raised the whole bed floor 4" and it just cleared the the housing at full compression. That was with truck arms and tapered sleeve air bags in the back.

You'll love that 5.3.

Have fun and tell Doug that Donny said Hi. I Graduated Doug's class at WYO in June of '99

[Chris02rex]

The classes are different. They offer six classes. chassis, body fab, refinishing, upholestery, performance, and motorcycle. And actually the track width on the explorer rear end is 59.625. The 50 chevy track width is 60. So not that much of a difference. The bed is gonna have a custom floor in it with a hump to clear everything. Im using a 2nd gen nova clip.

[dontlifttoshift]

Second gen clip is even wider and fromt steer steering boxes and core supports tend to not get along real well but there is enough tools there to make it work I'm sure. It took 1 1/4" spacers on each side to fit 235/70-15 on 7" wide wheel with 3 3/4" of backspacing on my truck with no tubs. I thought my stock rearend measured 62" but that was a while ago.....

[Chris02rex]

Actually the 2nd gen measures 37.5" where i will be cutting it off and the truck measures 39" Its having a kick up the front anyway so its no big deal and the subframe is rear steer. And i have plenty of room for the 4.5 inches of back space in the rear. And i was mistaken the rear end is 1.5 inches narrower. Ill prob just run 1" spacers.

[sokoloka]

I can already tell that this is going to be awesome. I want to attend Hot Rod Institute!

[Chris02rex]

I hope it ends up being awesome. Im shooting for an 600+whp daily driver/track car. You should definitely look into HRI. It's awesome. Within the first two weeks i learned to Tig weld and got a lot better at mig welding.

[Chris02rex]

Quick little update:
My original plan was to just extend the hump in the back over the rear axle and use the original frame. After taking a few rivets out i decided to say f*** the rivets and build my own whole frame. Heres where the truck sit as of now.

This is the desired ride height. The running board sits 5.5" in the front and 6" in the rear to give it some rake. The frame is 11". Now i just need to get all my measurements and start on the new frame.

[bretcopsey]

Hey I just started to disassemble my truck and start the full build. I bought the truck a month ago for 200 bucks and it was complete down to the air cleaner. My plans are to have a pro-touring/autox truck when I'm done.
Parts list-
70 nova subframe
8.8 Ford rear end, 373 limited slip, disk brakes
5.3 Gm motor with a hx40 turbo
turbo 350 trans
3 link rear end setup with coilovers
tubular front control arms



I also just ordered the new rims. They are cragar soft 8s. 17"x9"




I will be updating this daily as I work on it every weekday 8 hours a day. Thanks for looking.

Good choice on wheels! This is my '51-somewhat similar build/goals.

[Chris02rex]

What width/backspace are your front wheels? And how much did you lower it?

[bretcopsey]

Same wheels 17x9 with 4.5"?? BS. The front clip is second gen Camaro-front steer. I had to section the crossmember 3" just to get it between the fenders with 235/60/17 tires. As it sits right now,the wheels won't turn. I'm considering re-arching the wheel openings and/or widening the fenders to correct this problem. I cannot recall exact height measurements. This has been a slow moving project. Pic below was taken while on ~25" tires on 14" rims. Current wheel/tire combo is ~30"

[Chris02rex]

Yea im thinking im going to have problems hitting the fender. My teacher will not let me narrow the nova stub frame. So im thinking wider fenders or different size front wheels. BTW from what ive been told the camaro stub frame is a pain in the ass with the front steer on these trucks. I don't personally have any expirience with it though.

[bretcopsey]

Yeah, I'm learning the hard way on the Camaro clip. If I had done more research before beginning, I would have probably gone S-10 route.

Widened fenders:



from here:

http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicl...s_of_suburban/

[Chris02rex]

That is a sweet idea. I might end up doing that if i need to.

[Chris02rex]

I put the control arms on the subframe this week and cut all the metal for the frame rails.


Also ordered a wilwood front brake kit.