1951 tin woody to a 1976 grand prix frame

[chieftain51]

Would like to put my 1951 tin woody wagon, on a 1976 grand prix frame, and use 455 motor, trans,
ac, ps, frame, power disc brake, and ect. Any help
you can give me, would be a great help. thanks Norm

[50scars]

I know that Don Bougher took a 54 Pontiac Wagon and put a subframe under it. Knowing Don, it ended up perfect. Looking at various Cameros, Firebirds, and Nova/Ventura/Omega/and what ever Buick called theirs, this might be a much more practical way to go that trying to get the body to work on the whole GP frame. There are also other subs that are popular, namely the Volarie/Aspen/and the other stuff Chrysler made up to 5th Avenue. The neat thing about these is that there are no spring towers to fight, as with the GM subs. Ford has subs, but they need the vertical fender sheetmetal to stand up, so they are worthless in this application.

[Stu Norman]

If you are going the hot rod route you might want to consider another route.

If there is nothing wrong with your frame, why not just replace the front suspension with a Mustang II rack and pinion suspension. There are dozens of kits that will fit your frame, some may even be a bolt in installation. rear suspension kits also abound, with a custom Ford 9 inch and a 4 point suspension being real popular. You could even keep your existing rear end, although I would not want to guess how long it would live behind a 455. Weld in your motor mounts and fabricate a tranny crossmember and you're on your way.

Finally, if this doesn't sound like the right way, there are companies like Art Morrison Engineering that will fabricate you a new frame, with new suspensions and correct engine and tranny mounts. You just tell them what you want, what options and they will tell you what price.