Commonwealth 1956 Chevy Belair

[Jay92]

Well we're back at it with another old Chevy build. The Commonwealth shop truck (58 Apache) as well as my buddies 1966 Chevy c10 have been put on a slight hold while we take care of this customer build.

Matt came to us with an idea to build his 1956 Chevy Belair 2 door which he found on craigslist in San Diego. The car was being daily driven by its previous owner and the lack of rust and cool patina, we knew it would be perfect for our build. After some waiting and cash exchanging hands the car landed at our shop in London, Ontario on October 29th.

Being that it is an all original 56 210 Belair with the 235ci inline 6 we knew this car would need some upgrading.

The plan:
Engine: 495hp LS3 crate motor from GM performance
Trans: Tremec T56 6 speed
Rear end: Custom Dutchman Motorsports Ford 9"
Brakes: 4 piston Wilwood disc brakes all around
Front suspension: Custom built front frame section, crossmember, control arms and slam specialties ss-6 bags
Rear suspension: Custom notched frame, 4 link and slam specialties ss-7 bags
Air management: Airlift 3H managment, dual Viair compressors and Specialty suspension seamless tanks
Steering: upgraded to power rack and pinion

The plan is to have the car look fairly stock on the outside and completely new where it counts. Stock vintage steelies with hub caps and white walls will make it appear 50's on the outside all while laying frame with 4 times the stock power.

We will be updating frequently since we want to have this car on the road by June 2017. Check out our instagram @commonwealth_mf and the cars IG @56chevy150 for even more frequent updates.

Onto some pics

Matt pulled the car into his studio to get some glamour shots before it arrived at the shop


Photoshop of the end goal


The day it showed up at the shop





2 hours later


First bit or parts in from TMR Customs. Rod ends and tube bushings for the 4-link. This is a small fraction of the parts we have waiting.


And just had to test out the capabilities of the stock 125hp power plant

[CHIF8008]

looks like some legit metal. cant want to see her drag mate

[gestanzed]

Photoshop of the finished product looks very cool. I love the patina of the car.

[heeter_33]

Stoked to see progress of this. I thought the first picture was a model car for sure. Had to scroll down to make sure it was an actual car build haha.

[Jay92]

looks like some legit metal. cant want to see her drag mate

I'm with ya on that one!

Photoshop of the finished product looks very cool. I love the patina of the car.

Me too, the only thing about the paint that will be changes is wet sanding the orange primer put over top the original paint

Stoked to see progress of this. I thought the first picture was a model car for sure. Had to scroll down to make sure it was an actual car build haha.

Hahaha yea that first pic does make it look like a toy

[Jay92]

Well put a couple hours in on the car this week.

The body is now off the chassis and in storage. I'll be getting all the needed measurements off the chassis to design the new front and rear sections of the frame. I don't want to speak too soon, but I've been tossing around the idea of starting fresh and building a completely new chassis since all that will be left is about 5 feet of original frame.

Will be heading to Port Huron, MI on Saturday to pick up all the new goodies so watch for updates on that

Need to get a hoist in this shop soon

[evoDRichie]

Baller

[Jay92]

Well it's been just over a month since the last update and I've been working on it as much as possible between all the holidays and such.


December 3rd my buddy Ben and I took the short trip over the border to pick up a bunch of parts for the car. Needless to say the border guards didn't look to happy when we pulled up, but it was hassle free

Our haul included Wilwood 4 piston front and rear brake kits, wheels and tires, power rack and pinon, Heidts drop spindles, Dutchman Motorsports Ford 9" rear end, axles, CPP power booster and master cylinder, and some misc. assembly bushings, bolts and such



A week later the Airlift 3H systems arrived for my truck and the Belair



Made sure the brake kit fit on the new rear end. It did



Then cleaned and re-organized the mezzanine at the shop because you couldn't walk up there without tripping over everything



Got the Coker white walls mounted on the 15" Wheel Vintiques steelies. Classic look, but may be swapped out for something bigger in the future.



Had a week off from the day job between Christmas and New Years, so spent most of my time at the shop. I had finished the files to be cut for the rear frame section so they were sent to be laser cut. In the meantime I threw together this chassis table/jig. It's made from 1/4" x 4" x 4" angle iron, 12' long, 44" wide. I would have liked to build it out of some thicker I-beam, but locating some was proving to be a pain so we'll call this table V1.

Got the suspension off the original frame and put it up on the table for some final measurements before designing the front frame section





After thinking about it for some time I have decided that building a whole new frame would be easier and cleaner than modifying the original with a new front and rear frame section. There would only be about 43" of original frame left and I felt bad cutting up perfectly good vintage metal.

The pieces for the rear frame section had arrived the day after completing the table. The inner and outer frame plates interlock with each making it easy to keep them square. Each crossmember interlocks with the main frame rails to make assembly a lot quicker and easier. It's also kicked up about 4" higher than stock to allow the car to lay flat when aired out.

Here`s everything mocked up together




Then set the Dutchman Motorsports Ford 9" to 3 degrees of rearward angle and tacked on the lower 4 link/bag brackets we had cut. This will mean the pinion angle will be 3 degrees, but the bag bracket will sit level.




Spent a couple hours getting the top and bottom strips tacked in on the driver side frame rail and called her quits until the new year




Once everything's fit up and tacked together I'll spend a day or two burning it all together. More updates to come this week as that happens.

To finish it off here's a pic of my pup

[AntB]

This this I like, if its anything like the shop truck build I'll be waiting patiently for updates

[Jay92]

This this I like, if its anything like the shop truck build I'll be waiting patiently for updates

Thanks dude! Once this frame is done I`m going to jump back on the shop truck in my spare time and get it done for this year.

[Jay92]

Been a while since updating here. The last couple months have been pretty busy. I purchased a used 8'x7' CNC plasma cutting table from a local machine shop. This left the shop unusable while I moved it in a got it set up. Now that it's in place I'm thinking a bigger shop is next on the list.

Back to working on the Belair frame and I've spent a number of hours designing the front frame section. It has been raised to allow for a better camber curve when cycling the suspension. Maximum negative camber will be about 1.5-2 degrees at full drop and close to 0 at ride height. The upper control arms will have heim joints to allow for some adjustments if needed. As well the UCA mounts have been shifted back for 5* negative caster. It has also been narrowed about 2" from the stock frame to ensure no contact with the front fenders.

Need to join the front and rear frame sections next and check to see the fit of the body. Going to make some new lower control arms as I dont like the ones we got from Mcgaughys and then we'll be able to bolt up the suspension.









The 4 link has been completed as well and cycles great. I would have liked to have longer upper bars, but space wouldn't really allow it.



Here's a little step by step of filling in one of the radiused sections of the frame
Hole



Filler piece cut, bent and tacked in



Partially welded in



Smoothed out with angle grinder and radiused the welds then metal finished with the DA

[white out]

I was going to ask a bunch of frame questions for the '56, but then you went ahead and made the most recent post. Very nice!

[Slo_Goat06]

This build is seriously awesome. Keep up the amazing work man. I grew up going to car shows with my old man, and always was in love with the pro touring/ ls swap classics. Definitely cool