'53 Chevy belair Rear end swap

[dawnnewsome3]

Hello , I am in the proccess of restoring a 53 and have changed the front brakes over to a 78 camaro disk kit and and plan on putting the same in the rear and relocating the shocks to the rear of the axle but I'm not sure about the shock angle it would look something like this [ /__\ ] With both angled inward . I plan on putting in a cross member for the top mounts and geting the right lenght shock . Has any body attemted this or maybe a suggestion on another sutable rear end . The factory mounts on top are in the proccess of being cut out as I suspect the car was jumped cause one is higher than the other . The car was started by another shop and many patches were just welded over the other bad panels so I have to cut out a lot of other new panels to fix so a little advice even if you know a shop and the owner always check back on your work in progress or you will have to have it completly redone at twice the cost . as I'm doing here . I hate to finish a half done project but the money was to good . Thanks for any help .

[MagicRat]

I may be missing something here.
Your car had a torque tube rear axle with an enclosed driveshaft when new. Is it still there? If yes, what's wrong with the original location?

If you ditch the original rear axle and replace it with something else, are you using an open driveshaft?

If yes, then you have some choices. The angled shocks as you describe are more suited for trucks, where the springs are relatively stiff and have some arch to them. That shock angle helps control side-to -side movement when cornering.

Leaf spring cars (where arch is minimal) have more of a problem with axle wind-up, due to the softer, often longer leafs that most of these cars have. If you have lots of power or plan on stomping on the brakes hard, consider mounting one shock in front of the axle and one behind, both mounted at a fore-and-aft angle.
Just look under the rear of any 1984-2000 Jeep Cherokee at the rear shocks and you will see what I mean.

[bobss396]

I've seen Camaro, Nova rears etc swapped into cars like yours. The old '55-57 Chevy rears were a popular swap too. Of course you want to go with the open driveline.

The shocks being slightly angled is fine. I did a rear end swap in a truck a few years ago and welded in a crossmember to mount the top of the shocks. If you know someone who works in a Sears type shop, they should have loads of shock studs laying around that don't get used.

The old Mopar type shocks are pretty good to use, they have the "eye" at both ends and straight shock studs work well with them. Look for something from a '70 Fury for example.

Your crossmember can be made from flat stock, angle stock or rectangular tubing. Lay it out, cut it to size and block it in place. Eyeball the height and shock angle, make it symmetrical and drill the holes, weld it in and you're good to go.

Bob

[dawnnewsome3]

I'm swaping out the whole drivetrain , Yes it has the tourge tube and the factory shocks are angle in and attached to the body which is bent and I would prefer a more stable mount .

[Blue Bowtie]

Take your tape measure to the salvage yard and start checking. You might be surprised how well a G-Body axle bolts into those old torque tube applications.

[dawnnewsome3]

Nice truck , I'm going with a 78 camaro rear as they both are 60" as the front has been changed to camaro front disks , I'm restoring for a friend and building to his specs .