VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Personalized Modifications Full-Tilt Stree Rods MII front end kit probs?

Dad's old '51 Styline 2-door is a restomod now, for my son. Except for stance, ARE 5-spokers, and dark glass, looks very stock, as he wanted it to seem like G-pa still owned it.
We put a Full-Tilt Street Rods Mustang II style front end kit in it, and tho I haven't had it on the road yet, it appears that the front wheels are located about 1-1/2-in. too far forward. Called Clay at FTSR and the measurements are all okay, etc. I did all the measurements twice, used square and plumb-bob that seemed to put the spindle exactly where the stock suspension had it; no stones unturned.
P/S, GM disc kit from S.S.Brakes, etc. It gives a nice ride height, etc.
For my first forum post, I thought I'd ask if anyone has experience with this phenomenon? I began driving Chevys with my first car in 1961, a '55 Delray post with all the era hop-ups, real 'Vette floor-shifter (with plate and ash-tray!) and all that cool stuff! Shock: even after about ten '55-57's, including a '55 Nomad, I find I can't afford one now!!
Wick in N CA, age 78

Welcome. I'll put this in a technical forum for you.

Wick,
You have joined a site where most of us keep our old Chevys as near original as possible. I hope there is someone here who can help you. Good luck with your project.

Mike

I agree with Mike that there are not many of us on this forum who have experience in the type of work you are doing.

I am interested in your comment that the front wheel centerline seems about 1 1/2” too far forward. What measurement has indicated that? Do you have any pictures of other similar cars with that IFS conversion?

Please do not be offended by this question. Is it possible that the control arms are reversed side-to-side? If the control arm offset is 3/4” reversing them would move the centerline forward 1 1/2”.

Rusty, et al;
I measured it from the center of the wheel arch in the front fender; and besides it just looks wrong! I was shocked when the restored fenders went back on; I had followed the instructions to the letter, and made a jig that located the original spindle centerline using plumb-bobs for the fore-aft alignment. At age 78, one doesn't like to look so foolish, if that's what happened.
I've done ALL the work on this resto-mod except the long-block, and spent the bank; even the acrylic-lacquer I'd saved since 1993 that I sprayed and sand-buffed by hand; it's really frustrating. I won't be capable of big revisions for much longer; old man Time is after me!
Well, to cases: I sure don't think that I reversed the Ford suspension arms, but I'll check. I had copies of a Ford manual on hand to ref. the Mustang II suspension. The Full-Tilt kit, a weld-it-yourself package that looked very nice, didn't have much in the way of manual/instructions, but they're still in business in CO, and I called 'Clay' the boss, and he even had a tech go measure a customer's car while we talked on the phone; the measurement was spot-on according to them! Plus, the ride-height is very attractive, about 1-1/2" lower. I used a measurement from the bottom attachment point of the front fenders to the cowl as a back-up measurement, also.
I built the kit as a bolt-on (it was sold as a partial weld-on setup, but I didn't want to risk damage that couldn't be pulled off and fixed/replaced) so I copied the mounting from several ready-built kits that were advertised. We had to keep to a budget -- which my son and I exceeded by double -- the whole project, so I was committed to the Full-Tilt assembly. I used my AC arc to weld it, as the 115V mig I had at the time didn't guarantee weld penetration that satisfied me! Then I fully-ground all the joints and detailed them with a bit of filler.
Well, I don't know, and that bugs me! I hope the thing drives okay, after we have all the alignments set, etc. It's a 100% resto, and was a labor of love: my late Dad's car, for my son, and all that! As Dad passed when I was twelve, it's sentimental; a family car of the 'fifties that surfaced decades later for us in mostly stock form, though damaged and sick. Hope to have it at our local VCCA show, "Hot August Day" this year!
Thanks for your input, guys! I may be a Grease Monkey, but have been driving Chevys since '61!

Mike,
Thanks for the good wishes.
Look, I judge shows and the local Concours, I get the 'original/stock' ethos. :-<) I'm ancient, and I agree.
I value purely stock restorations the highest (and so does the collectible-car market), but let's face it, for we on modest budgets who have to get the most bang from our buck, a restomod is often the way to play it. My son wouldn't even let me 'nose and deck' the Styline, he wants it 'just like it looked when Grandpa drove it' -- and as Dad passed in 1958, twenty years before he was born, that's something! Besides the ARE classic 5-spokers and a slight lowering (which looks 'right'), the car actually has more 'bling' that it did in '51. I also have a '51 Ford Crestliner 2-door, 'cause I also have a history with the crazy old flathead V-8, and it's mostly stock. Driving in modern CA traffic with unmodified brakes, for instance, is a nerve-wracking experience, at best! The new 'transport modules' can stop so quick and short that I risk driving into some fwd-car's trunk every time we take it out for a Coke! Un-modified cars are great, but if a person is actually going to take the thing out and use it some, better, more contemporary driving attributes are a biggie! No car was ever built that was perfect, nor perfectly-suited to every taste; making changes is natural and adapts the vehicle to you, not you to the vehicle. As a pundit once said: "Drive Detroit; don't let Detroit drive you!"
Wick ( Author of the first ever collector car article on the Chevy Impala, 1978 Special Interest Autos Mag.)