Can anyone tell me how to put a Camaro subframe on?

[orange72blazer]

One of my buddies is building a 52 Chevy truck and needs info on putting a Camaro subframe on. The truck frame is a 1952 3/4 ton, and the Camaro front clip is 1970. What he needs to know is where to cut both frames, and basically the best way to do this swap. If anyone has done this or has any info on it that would be a huge help. Thanks.

[Oldtruckfanatic]

Hello...I have done this work a few times to 55-59 trucks but I have seen it done on the 47-54 trucks as well. It would take a book to explain the procedure but I can tell you this. In all three early trucks I saw with this swap the front clip was almost too wide so the owners had to use very odd high backspace wheels to get them inside the fenders. Also the sheetmetal was tricky to get put back together around the new clip and getting the new radiator support and bumper bracket locations right was quite a bit of work. It has been beat to death on a lot of forums but for the cost and labor involved the mustang II swap is a much safer and less invasive procedure. I have installed countless heidts and fatman frontends in these trucks and I even build my own crossmember and spring hats now. I'm not telling you you have to do it this way there are plenty of subframed trucks working just fine out there but for a guy on a budget without a lot of fabrication experience the mustang II setup is a way more viable solution. Hope this helps.

[orange72blazer]

Thanks for the info. The mustang II is the way that he wants to do it, but every company he calls tells him that these kits won't work with the 3/4 ton frame. Is this true?

[Oldtruckfanatic]

As far as the front suspension goes I don't think the 3/4 ton frame dimensions are too much different from the 1/2 ton. I have a buddy with a ton of these trucks I will have him send me a couple of pictures so I can take a look just to make sure I know what we are looking at. If you want to PM me an email address I have pictures of the setup I build on my own 53 chevy truck.

[orange72blazer]

I sent you a pm.
Thanks for the help.

[PHAT 53]

Orange

I would agree with Oldtruckfanatic I have seen pictures of his work and he's the man. I took parts from two 53's one short and one long. I don't remember seeing anything different about the front-end frames. The springs and stuff like that were heaver but all the other stuff looked the same. In fact I’m using the complete front doghouse off the 3/4-ton on the 1/2 frame and all bolts up just the same. I to went Mustang II and don't regret it at all. My brother in-law went the sub frame route and had all the problems that Oldtruckfanatic talks about. He worked it all out but it was more time and money that’s why I went with the Mustang II.

Try to plan this well. Look into all the mustang II options. I bought the cross member and a junk yard Mustang II front end. I welded in the cross member and rebuilt all the parts off the stock Mustang II. With that you get the stock upper and lower A arms that aren't the greatest but will work fine. You also end up with 9 in. brakes, which are not so fine. So you will need a new 11 in. brake system. It goes on from there but you get the picture. You might save money by getting one of the $1600.00 complete units. Good Luck

[solidaxel]

$1600.00 up front looks like a lot of money, but when you are all finished you will save TIME and money and a lot of headachs. Listen to what they are saying !!