I have a 52 F1 truck project with a 74 camaro front suspension. I'm looking for some ideas of a clean way to mount the front cap. If anyone knows where i can find some pictures of some other similar projects, I would appreciate it.

 

First thing i did was mount the rad.support then the inner fenders then the front fender surpports then the fenders then the grill. But first its better to make sure everything on the motor is complete cause its a lot easyer to get to it without the front clip. Its really hard to put the front clip on all at one time but i guess it could be done if you don't mind messing up the paint job.

 

Sounds like Fred has some first hand experience, which I don't (mine is original). However, I would almost think it would be best to bolt the inner fender on first, then locate the radiator support where it lines up with the mounting holes on the inners. My caveat is that mine is a 50, and my understanding is the inners on the 51-2 are a bit different and I don't know the difference. Mine bolt to the cab, which allows you to build forward from there.

 

The front cap is all together and off. The engine and transmission is out also. When I bought the truck, the engine and trans were in it and the front cap had only 2 bolts installed. The 2 bolts were in the rear of the fenders and in the fwd edge of the running boards. The rest of the cap was just sitting on frame. I don't have a radiator now but I do have the original radiator support. Right now there is not much to mount the cap to so I'll have to come up with a plan before I start. I'm looking for a clean way to fab something or maybe a junkyard doner. As for paint, I'm not that far along. That will be taken care of later. It had a SBC 400 in it and I will most likely put it back in.

 

This is the biggest issue with a front frame clip replacement. All the front sheet metal mounts and aligns off the radiator support. Without the stock location reference, getting the parts to align will be very difficult. You would be best off If you could find someone with an unmolested frame and radiator support you can measure. Typically someone performing this frame clip would cut the front of the GM frame off and graft the original frame horns and front crossmember back in place.

 

I think Dale is pointing you in the right direction. I'd put the radiator mount onto the inner fenders, and bolt those to the cab....that will provide a rough location for you.

Here's the trouble...since you have the IFS setup, you'll need to cut out the inner fenders to clear the new control arms...that's a minor challenge, but you'll need to do it first to get the inner fenders to fit in where they go.

Also note that the inner fenders should have two sets of holes for mounting the radiator mount....a forward set that was used on the six cylinder trucks and a rear set (around three inches back) that was used for the V8 setup. I ended up using the forward six cylinder set to get a little more room between the radiator and the front of the water pump.

This pic shows what the stock cross member look like....the two holes are the mounting point for the radiator mount. The other two hole are filled in on this one.



Just for reference....here's a pic of the stock radiator in the mount...still bolted to the front cross member.



Ax is right though...(as usual)....measure, measure, measure, then cut. I have a stock F2 frame at home & can provide you with measurements, but I'm out of town this week. The F2 cab to radiator relationship is the same as the F1 even though the rest of the frame is bigger. Maybe someone else can chime in with pics and measurements.

Dan

 

Are we talking about caps or clips? My understanding is the front clip is the front sheet metal forward of the frame, fenders inner and outer and radiator support. OR are we talking about a front frame section with the late model suspension mounted which is then welded to the original sectioned frame ? Anyway I have a 52 F1 and I removed the front sheet metal in one piece, did the IFS, mounted engine and tranny, exhaust etc., then put front back on in one piece with a cherry picker.

 

If you buy a front clip from the salvage yard you will typically get everything from the firewall forward except the engine. Clipping the frame usually means cutting it somewhere between the firewall and front suspension and replacing it with a new section. The cab is usually referring to the passenger compartment. The front sheet metal is often referred to as the "doghouse" especially when removed or kept assembled as a unit. Not heard cap used much.

 

There are lots of things that you need to work on and with. First if it was mine and I was find some good measurements to locate (a replacement) cross member for the core support, but I would also mount the front (whole, including the core support) clip on the truck to finalize my core support mount location. Remember that you have to center the support mount too... with all that said... Measure, measure, and measure again... remember to make sure it looks right as you may need to raise or lower your core support to make sure your gaps are consistent and things line up right...