drpepper

37,000 mile 61 belair. rust free body in black base clear. LS3 with built 4L60 and 3200 converter. 9 inch with 3:89 gear. dropped spindles, 4 wheel disc (nothing fancy) , hotchkis control arms, sway bar and adjustable panhard in rear with 1 coil cut.hotchkis front sway bar, cpp upper control arms and borgeson 600 gear. 17 x 8 rear and 17 x 7 front solids and will have poverty caps. been on this thing for a long time. plans are to drive to louisville to the nsra show august 2013. just got the chassis done and body bolted down yesterday. starting to look like a car again.

Kingstir

Very nice build you have going. That car is going to be a hoot to drive. I look forward to following your build. What are your plans for radiator/fan, any A/C, and electrical and wiring?

Blanchard
(1970 El Camino
LS2/4L60e)

drpepper

i have an afco radiator that is out having the outlet resized and the overflow clocked.it has a single cooling fan with an alum shroud. all afco. i hope it will be sufficient. they're local and i thought i'd give them a try. i have the mounts welded on to the inside of the firewall for vintage air. had a piece machined for the dash for gauges and controls and center a/c outlet all in 1 piece. have aaw wiring for car but none for the f.i.yet. may use speartech or ? any suggestions are welcome.

drpepper

i smoothed the firewall after welding in the a/c mounting points. plan is to run all hoses through the old blower motor opening. haven't gotten that far yet. i left the seams and indentations in the firewall so it would look somewhat stock but cleaner.

Kingstir

I had the LS2 wiring from the doner GTO reworked by John at Speartech and I couldnt be happier with it. He is very knowledgable and helpful.
I used a PRC aluminum radiator "module" that came with twin 16" Spal fans and shroud. I am using ECM to control both the compressor (V/A) and both of the fans. Even during the blistering summer months, the secondary fan never came on- It almost seems like a waste to have one.
Like you, I welded the Vintage brackets to the inside of the firewall and smoothed it out in the engine compartment. I also welded studs to the inside of the firewall for mounting the accelerator pedal.
Keep up the good work!

454ragtop

iTrader: (1)

Car is coming along great. Whose AC comp. bracket is that, and are you happy with it? Is it aluminium, and any idea how thick the main mounting plates are, 1/4", 3/8", or 1/2"? Thinking of making my own out of 3/8" alum plate.
TIA, Jim

drpepper

i'm not sure on the thickness and i don't have the car handy right now to check. the a/c mount is from kwik performance. they have lots of specs on their site. may tell you the thickness. i'll measure them when i'm at the shop later today. yes i'm happy with them but if i was starting over i would use the new holley compressor mount that uses a gm radial style compressor. i believe it would cool better at idle than a sanden.

drpepper

prc and afco are both local i used prc on my 57 with the dual fans and if i were buying a rad for the 61 again i would go with the prc. i've had lots of issues with the afco. that's why it's at their shop now. 1st they sent me a radiator for a 40 ford??? they picked it up and brought the wrong one twice more. i finally took them the radiator support so they could build it. they kept telling me my car was built wrong? they decided it was their mistake after i took them the support. when i started to plumb it i realized they used the wrong lower outlet and had the overflow clocked at a 45 instead of 90. there was no way to do a neat job on the overflow line. we'll see how it looks when i get it back later this week.

Luther Grimace

iTrader: (1)

Those wheels are awesome. Are those the wheel vintique 62 series? What size tires are those and are they the factory backspacing? I'd like to see your poverty caps your gonna run too. Can't wait to see this thing together. Keep up the good work.

drpepper

yes they are wheel vintiques 62. fronts are 17 x 7 i believe the backspace is 4 5/8 and the rears are 17 x 8 with a 4 1/4 backspace. the backspacing is what they show on their website. i found some 61 poverty caps that are stainless but otherwise exactly as oem. they look really good. i haven't tried them yet. i have the same wheels for my 57 with more backspacing and the poverty caps for it are REALLY a tight fit. i'm going to have to grind some on the nubs. not sure about the 61 but they're supposed to be the same diameter as the 57.

JonRagTop

Gathering my parts now.

drpepper

what do you have for suspension? if stance makes the car then you don't need anything else. looks really good!

OTT308

Here is my LS turbo 61 Belair.
Looking good so far!



Finished


How it started

drpepper

that should be a hoot! i've ridden in turbo ls cars (haven't driven one yet) and they are impressive. i'd like to turbo something but i'm not sure i have the ***** the stay in it. what's been done to the ls1 and how about the rest of the drive train?

JonRagTop

2" drop spindles in the front and adjustable springs in back. Your right the stance looks great but for driving around town the front is a tad too low. I'm in the middle of an air ride installation this winter, if I finish in time I might start the LS swap. I want to take this on the first 4 stops of the Power Tour next year, my two oldest daughters are riding with me. That's one of the reasons I bought this car, unlimited luggage. !!

JonRagTop

I'm diggen these Bel Air cars, keep'em coming!!

00Wildcat

This is a build thread, don't clutter up this guys thread. I'm digging the early 60's full sizes. The steering wheel is on the wrong side on that pewter 4dr!

OTT308

Drpepper- it has a383 LS, glide and 9 inch. I should have gone drop spindles. Get a poly centre support and slip for your driveshaft. Also poly body mounts will help stiffen it up. 2 doors are awesome!!! Will be watching your progress.
Wildcat- I thought the OP would be interested in other swaps, and yes the steering wheel on the LH side is on the wrong side for Australia.

drpepper

we're considering the power tour too. did 3 stops in 10. got to chattanooga and they would't honor my reservations. couldn't find another hotel so we headed for home, 6 hours. if we go i'll look for the belair. there should be plenty of room for those gals luggage in your trunk!

drpepper

i had a slip joint or shaft made but i used the rubber center support. some of the senoir guys on here suggested the rubber so i'm giving it a try. i used 1350 u joints and yokes though.