1947 Frame Layout

[Bluegoose972]

Need a little help. I bought a 1947 Chevy Pickup that had been mounted on an early 70's Cutlass frame by the PO. The hood never would line up...always was shifted forward by about 1/2". There was also some dimples on both side of the cab, near the front, right at the vent locations.

I believe the problem is that the front radiator support body mount is located too high. This is forcing the front of the front fenders up, shortening the distance between the cowl and the front of the grill. This would also help explain the dimpled areas on both sides of the cab just behind the cowl location. I'm guessing that they lowered the cab and front fenders into position, then built the cab mount locations. When the torqued down the cab mounts, the center bolts near the cowl pulled downwards, dimpling in the side of the cab where the fenders connect.

So, if I can find out some information on the cab mount locations, preferable elevation views of where they SHOULD be located, then I can figure out if this is really the problem or not.

Any help would be appreciated.

[OrrieG]

Go over to the stovebolt.com tech section and read the post about AD hood and fender alignment, it will tell where to start looking. The Cliff notes process is level cab, align hood with radiator support and latch and cab, then align the fenders to the hood and cab. I think you are on the right track.

[mr48chev]

That is the big rub with frame swaps on these trucks. It takes a lot of effort to get the front end sheet metal all lined up and fitted right.

One more thing to look at is that it's possible without the structure of the car body that was intended for that frame on it the frame is flexing a bit too much with the truck cab on it when it's driven. When the truck goes over a driveway entrance or in the dip before one it may be causing the frame to flex and either having the crossmember pull away from the cab and nose or compress them kinking the cab where it got kinked.

[Bluegoose972]

Well, did some more investigating last night. Seems I have more work that I originally anticipated. Everything is bolted directly down to the mounts coming off the frame...No rubber body mounts or isolators. Also, the raditor housing is bolted down to a single point...where the original plan showed two bolts.

Great info on the hood alignment article. But need a little more help. They call for a dimension from the center of bolt at the firewall to the bracket on the fender of 27 to 27 1/4". But which bolt? I'm assuming the first bolt, which would put my distance at about 26 1/2" and would explain my problem with the hood being too long. Looks like I'm dealing with more of a hack job than originally thought. But that is ok..I never wanted this to be easy and I call my truck "Franky"....ie Frankenstein. 47 Chevy Pickup on a 70 series Cutlass frame with a Olds 455 Engine and 12 Bolt Chevy rear end.

Back to the problem. The body sits low on the frame as it is. So, I'm going to plan on raising everything about an inch. When I say "about", figure the cab and bed, which look to match up well, will come up the full 1" with poly bushings. Then I'll use variable height poly bushings and large washers to make the adjustments on the radiator mount (after I modify it to bolt up correctly. I saw S10 conversion kits use a side mount rather than a bottom mount for the radiator supports. This would work out slick and give me plenty of adjustment. Just not sure how you put in isolators in that case.

Will keep you posted.