Pro Street C10 ... here I go

[PA-IndianRider]

If you have been following my posts thru my "parts collecting" and "planning" stage on this forum you understand where I am going with my C10 drag/gasser project.

Experienced as all of you are you already know I was coming to this point and can probably guess or anticipate what is next!!!

Having made the decision to go with a pro street rear with narrowed 9" I am now looking for the "best way" to accomplish my goal.

I have found a local source for getting the rear axle housing narrowed "correct lenght". I know I will have to determine how much to narrow it .....

I also know if I stay with the truck/trailing arm setup the trailing arm angle and lenght will change as the trailing arms are re-located inboard so the whole setup will have to be modified.

I already have a HiPo kit for the C10 trailing arm suspension setup(http://hotrodstohell.net/truckarm/tr...uckarm_c10.htm)
that I would like to use. But being I do have limited resources for fab work/parts I am now looking for the best and hopefully the easiest way to do this.

I wonder if there are places that offer parts, kits, plans or anyone who has "been there... done this" with words of advice, ideas for me.

Thanks again....much MORE come.... but then you already KNOW that....HA!!

[streetstar]

You can narrow the rear end housing only 2" per side and this will give you enough room to tuck 15 x 12's and a pretty serious tire with the stock trailing arm setup --- (which from a performance standpoint, is sufficient to hook up a lot of horsepower) 15x12 with a 16" M/T tire (not a slick-they are measured different) is about the minimum to give you a true "Pro Street" appearance too

Anything more radical than that and it might be better to ladder bar or 4-link it

[71Dragtruck]

For more of a gasser look would you not want the back tires to stick out a bit from the rear fenderwells with the front end raised? Or a narrower slick that fits in the fenderwell? It's all a matter of what look YOU want, but wouldn't that be a more period correct look rather then a wide tire tubbed rear? As I stated it's what YOU want that counts, I just think that would look alot more retro that way.

[PA-IndianRider]

Originally Posted by 71Dragtruck

For more of a gasser look would you not want the back tires to stick out a bit from the rear fenderwells with the front end raised? Or a narrower slick that fits in the fenderwell? It's all a matter of what look YOU want, but wouldn't that be a more period correct look rather then a wide tire tubbed rear? As I stated it's what YOU want that counts, I just think that would look alot more retro that way.

71.... You know what your talking about... I was there when all that "gasser" stuff was in it's "heyday". You are correct when you wrote about being "period correct"..... but when I saw those HUGE TIRES & WHEELS at the swap meet last weekend I couldn't resist them. Especially with the price being soooo right. You are right that our C10 gasser is turning in an eclectic "hybrid" rather than a period correct piece.

As for the tire/wheel wheelwell relationship... many gassers back "in the day" & even today the "rat-rod clone versions of today made NO effort to stick all of the wheels/tires inside the fenderwells. I did NOT mind that look back then (late 60's thru early 70s) but do NOT like it now.

As you know many of the so-called-gasser-like cars built today are being done w/o straight front axles opting for air ride suspension. Once gassers of late 60's & early 70's started exceeding 1/4 mile speeds of over 140mph and started going "airborne" at the end of the 1/4 mile the infamous "nose high" bad a** gasser look was given up for "safer" lower stance... plus with the advent of better slicks and suspension mods available that quickly turned the radical nose-high gasser look into a :drag racing dinosaur.

So for me I do plan to "hide" (yeah right!!! ) these big wheels & tires inside the fenderwells as best I can. As I said ....I do NOT like tires/wheels sticking out past the fenderwells but I DO like the current trend of having the wheels/tires well "inside" the lip of the rear fenderwells.

Being I will be "bracket racing" I am only interested in being "consistant" rather than "squeezing" ever last 100th of a second off my 1/4 mille time. I am aware that to have my "gasser-look" hybrid I will be giving up some performance and handling.

There is no doubt that they is a growing interest in "gassers" nowadays.....I think our C10 with it's fiberglass one piece tilt frontend, fenderwell exit headers, chopped roof, skinnys in front - biggies in rear and the sweet sound of a small block Chevy "stroker engine" will be a unique fun ride.

[71Dragtruck]

I agree that fat rear tires tucked in looks alot better then when they stick out, I was just curious as to what look you were going for. My truck at the moment is getting a narrowed rear and bigger 31x16.5" tires as we speak. Anyway keep us posted on your build, one thing I always did like the look of on the gassers is the fenderwell headers, wanna see a pic when you get that far.

[PA-IndianRider]

Originally Posted by 71Dragtruck

I agree that fat rear tires tucked in looks alot better then when they stick out, I was just curious as to what look you were going for. My truck at the moment is getting a narrowed rear and bigger 31x16.5" tires as we speak. Anyway keep us posted on your build, one thing I always did like the look of on the gassers is the fenderwell headers, wanna see a pic when you get that far.

71, LONG before I started posting about our C10 project I had been reading posts so I have grown I my appreciation of the members of this forum & respect the wealth full of "knowledge" that is to be found here.

The more & more I get into this project the more & more it evolves (changes). I am moving deeper & deeper into areas of "building" that I know very little about or what to do. Especially the narrowing of the rearend & especially the changes to the trailing arm suspension which willl have to be made.

After mounting 15 x 14" wheels & measuring the backspace and how much I would need to narrow the rearend (12 bolt Chev) I decided that just trying to "squeeze it" under there that I would start preparing for a using a narrowed rearend using a 9" F**d instead of modifing the stock 12 bolt chevy) and doing it NOT only "my way" but also the "right way".

This is where I need to find out what I can and can't do. Once the narrowed 9" is under the truck I know the "trailing arm" mounting brackets will have to be moved in & modified.

With a narrowed rearend obviously the mounting point on the housing will have to be moved "inboard". By doing that not only will the mounting brackets on the housing have to be moved but also the front mounting brackets for the trailing arm that attach to the crossmember.

My concern is there enough room on the crossmember to reposition the trailing arm mounting brackets and still keep the "angle" of the trailing arms from the housing to the crossmember.

If not the trailing arms would be too long to mount to the cross member .... so do I MOVE the crossmember foward to keep the angle & allow for the length issues caused by repositioning of the mounting position on the narrowed rearend housing.

OR.... should I just get rid of the trailing arms and use "ladder bars or..." made to correct lenght" mounted to the housing & crossmember?????

Decisions, decisions .... questions, questions ..... Just another part of "building one " instead of "buying one" ..... that's why all of us are HERE!!!!

[djracer]

John,
What is the back spacing on your wheels? I'm not sure but I think you might be able to get more tire under a fleet side. If you have to move the mounting point in much I would have custom trailing arms made. There are some good threads on homemade trailing arms on this board. I would keep the mounting points the same up front. If your tires will fit with the stock frame rails this is how I would go. If you have to back half the truck I would probably go 4 link!

[PA-IndianRider]

Originally Posted by djracer

John,
What is the back spacing on your wheels? I'm not sure but I think you might be able to get more tire under a fleet side. If you have to move the mounting point in much I would have custom trailing arms made. There are some good threads on homemade trailing arms on this board. I would keep the mounting points the same up front. If your tires will fit with the stock frame rails this is how I would go. If you have to back half the truck I would probably go 4 link!

The back spacing on the wheels is just shy of 6 inches which makes them stick out of the fenderwells quite a bit.

The tires are Mickey Thompson Sportsman 15 x 33 x 15.

I'm a BIG "stepside" guy so changing beds like you did is not something I am thinking about doing.

I'll do some measuring today...... would like to build something to replace the trailing arms with a "ladder bar looking" arms.... thanks again for the info & advice...

[bigjimzlll]

I back halved mine. It wasn't too difficult. We made the frame rails and used an S&W race cars ladder bar kit. I'm very happy with it. Here's a few pics and there is more on my site.

[PA-IndianRider]

Originally Posted by bigjimzlll

I back halved mine. It wasn't too difficult. We made the frame rails and used an S&W race cars ladder bar kit. I'm very happy with it. Here's a few pics and there is more on my site.

I LIKE!!!! Not sure if I understand ALL you did .... but I LIKE LOTS!!!

What rearend is in there???? How wide is the rearend???

I have about 6" I can take of off each side of the housing and still NOT have the wheels hit the frame rails with the rims I currently have. (6" back space)

But by doing a back half & ladder bar I could even have more room & less worry about any rim & tire size combo I may want to go to in the future..... lots to think about!!

[bigjimzlll]

It's a ford 9". I think it's 55" wide.

[c10addict]

I dont care what you do to the truck! JUST GET STARTED ON IT ALREADY!!!!! That way I can come over and tip a few cold ones while checking out your progress!

[PA-IndianRider]

Originally Posted by c10addict

I dont care what you do to the truck! JUST GET STARTED ON IT ALREADY!!!!! That way I can come over and tip a few cold ones while checking out your progress!

Hey Fritz.... got Yuengling Lager on tap.... the door is always open.

We are making some progress even though I still consider our C10 in the planning/collecting stage.....

Sold the 305ci that was in the truck when I got it ..... also sold our enclosed motorcycle trailer ...... using Craigs List.

I'm keeping an eye on some wheels & slicks and also some 22's for our Avalanche .... Craig's List ROCKS!!!

Going to "Gasser Reunion" at Thompson Raceway (near cleveland) in a couple of weeks.

Found a great source for 67-72 C10 goodies.... roll cage - firewall - floor panels -suspensions - 4 links etc.... plus the stuff is NOT UNIVERSAL kits (like S & W, etc.) parts, kits made specifically for C10's.
Auto Weld: http://autoweldchassis.com/rbc.ivnu

You start going to Weford cruise on Friday nights yet??? Be nice to have some warm/dry weather here soon.

Later..... John

[Couch]

whats the difference in the requirements for 10 and 12 point cages,just wondering,not trying to hijack a thread,sorry PA

[PA-IndianRider]

Originally Posted by Couch

whats the difference in the requirements for 10 and 12 point cages,just wondering,not trying to hijack a thread,sorry PA

Auto Weld: http://autoweldchassis.com/rbc.ivnu website shows all the different configurations of roll bars/cages.

I do NOT know much about requirements and also the NHRA, IHRA, NASCAR, etc, etc rules which dictate when & what type of roll bar/roll cage needs to be in a car, truck ...... I know it has to do with what class you run and/or how "fast" it is.

I'm sure there are "rule experts" on this forum that have "ALL" the answers.