Good morning everyone,

This is my first time on this website and maybe someone can help me out with this. I just purchased an f100 from a guy who had it for about a year and did not know much about it.

How can I find out what type of car the subframe came from and the year.

Thanks for the help.

 

Welcome!!! The best way is to post pics so we can see it and we can tell you better, but with no pics you need to find out what bolt pattern the wheels are, where the steering box or rack and pinion whichever it has is located. The most comon swaps are Camaro/Nova (same) or Volare and Mustang II. Without pics its very hard to tell much now. Again WELCOME here!! Did I mention we LOVE pictures?

 

Thank you!!

I will take the pictures today and post in the morning.

 

Welcome to the forum! As Truxx said, a picture is worth a thousand words...here's what a Volare IFS looks like:

 

Thanks Charlie,

It's definetly camaro or nova. I just dont know what year its from and I want to update brakes and suspension and I dont know what to buy. I am sure if you guys see some pictures you would be able to tell.

 

Chuck that's an awsome looking frame really clean love the color coordination also.

 

Charlie what size wheel and tires are you running ? What offset in rear ?

 

Welcome to the forum, I am in the process of installing a nova clip so I have compared a few frames, the main differance between the front steer nova and the front steer camaro is the frame on the nova kicks up in front of the upper control arms were the camaro frame rolls down, this part of the nova frame looks odd the camaro looks nicer. If it is rear stear I dont know the differance. Like truxx said a pic. in this area will help.


craig

 

Thanks Craig,

I will have pictures uploaded this afternoon. What year Nova's are usually used?

 

Don't pay any attention to those tires and rims, they are an old set that were on that chassis just to make it a roller. Here's a pic of one of the new wheels and tires. I am using 17x8 on the front and 17x11 on the rear...the front wheels have a 4.5 inch backspace and the rears are 7.0

 

i'm running a 76 nova subframe, i normally refer to it as a camaro subframe, but its actually nova lol.
although the 75 to 79 nova and the 76 to 81 camaro are very simmilar they are not exactly the same.
i'm not sure on what years are more popular to use but if you post a pic, i'm pretty sure i can tell you the year it came from, and if its camaro or nova...

i also have sub frame diagrams for both camaro's and nova's with all the measurements and dimensions if you need them.

 

by request, here are some diagrams

 

I want to show my intentions up front. I intend to hijack this thread. Having said that here's my question for Nova/Camaro Guru's.

I have a '76 Nova subframe under my '56 F100. It has never totally satisfied me. From the turning radius being TOO BIG to the ride. I rebuilt it when I did it and installed new springs. The first springs settled TOO fast and it sat on the bump stops with in a week. The 2nd set I put in were a little better and lasted a little longer (350 with A/C springs) I then put in big block springs and they were way too stiff. Then I went back to the 350 with A/C springs and lived with them for a long time. Last year I put in a set of '95 Crown Vic cop car springs (I know they're ford, but they fit well). Now that you know what I did, it is much better, but is still not too far from the bump stops (about 1 1/2") The main question is that the tie-rods are at a fairly goofy looking angle off of the drag link.

I'll try to get some pics up as I know that yall like pics and such, but my main questions are: would this crazy angle cause a certain amount of "bumpsteer"? (I think that I know the answer) also, I think that the shocks are either in a almost too much callapsed (at weight) state or they are too soft . Since they let the truck bounce too much on a really hard bump, and they seem to be too hard on a fairly smooth road. Now on to the sollution. I'm thinkin about makin a spacer to go under the springs to lift the truck up a little so the A-frames will be away from the subframe enough to have more than 1 1/2" before bottoming out and then I'd have a little more room before the tire hits the fender.

The main question about all this is: Is this spacer goin to lift the truck the same amount of the thickness of the spacer OR is it goin to lift it proportionate to the spring rate? I DONT want a 4wd look on this truck. I'm not above putting in another set of springs, BUT dont want to have to keep doing this as it's a lot of trouble to keep changing springs and aligning this thing up.

I figure AX might chime in here???Thanks in advance for any help

 

hey truxx, about a week ago i nabbed some springs from my cousins junk yard, i'm not 100% sure of what they came out of, they were in the front seat of a blazer(98) that had no springs, so who knows... the springs where about the same hight as the ones i had(nova)

well, i installed them 2 days ago, along with the big thick rubber boot that lays in the bottom, that i didnt have to begin with, they lifted the front 1/2 inch exactly. before i installed them i was having stearing issues, thought that my pump belt was loose, but it was fine. but just as soon as i installed the springs the squealing from my stearing went completely away!! it was a miracle lol.
i origanaly installed the springs because my front wheels were rubbing my fender ever so slightly when i turned sharp(just driver side though, and hell, i'm not that fat!!!), and i have to turn as sharp as it will go to get out of my driveway.

your right about the turning radius truxx, not good at all. and i wish i new for sure what those springs came out of, so you could give them a try.
also, i'm using belltech nitrogen drop shocks on my front end, rides great.

but hey, thats my .33 cents

 

I wish you knew for sure too. Mine is opposite of yours, the pass side is the one that is a little lower and the tire is rubbing and it is a little wobley goin down the road. I hope that I can figure it out, but am goin to build another frame altogether one of these days......

Thanks dude