Yes very popular setup, but does not work too well in the dodge truck. The Frame rails are very uniqe and thus must be cut out and new ones fabercated to make the Volare setup work.TWX said:I've heard of the Volaré front subframe being popular, which theoretically would mean the Aspen, Diplomat, J-body Cordoba, Mirada, J-body Imperial, M-body Fury, and M-body 5th Avenue would probably also work in many applications.
We did that for one of our personal 54' Dodge pickups and that did help, however to get the motor far enough back to make a differance you will loose some of the cabin space. One that truck, we did cut out front frame rails and used a late 60's Chevelle front suspension, which worked very well, but was a major undertaking. In that truck we had a 383 so it was heaver as well.dana44 said:I know it would have required cutting the firewall and doing a little surgery to move the firewall into the cabin a little bit, but the engine looks as if it should have gone back about five inches based on the location of the rack and the upper control arms in comparison to the engine itself, moving more weight rear of the front suspension and allowing a rear sump pan on top of it, along with shifting more weight to the rear, and allowing the exhaust to come out the right locations, but, all in all, several manufacturers have done a very similar routing to purge exhaust, 1949-1962 Cadillac actually had a crossover pipe from one side to the other and another dump out the back. I do have to say though, nice job all around.
that is also andoption, however it is much wider than the S10 so that can also be a draw back.dana44 said:A few people have also used the Dakota frame, which at least keeps it in the Mopar family.
Sounds awesome! Cant wait to see pic's!mopar56 said:well as some of you are aware I am doing one of these myself, its a 56, I have struggled for years with getting this right with little advice as the car shows always have the usual Ford/Chevy trucks, and yes they seem way easier to modify, I started this project too many years ago when my kids were young, my original intention was "retro rod" dropped front straight axle, flipped rear 8 3/4 but although I had the stance right, everyone told my it would ride like crap with a springer front end, so I bought a Volare clip and tried installing it in the hourglass with custom mounts but the steering, starter, etc was all wrong, so after many years of frustration I am once again taking a different path, all though slightly different than the ones above, you see I am a die hard Mopar guy and I just cant put "brand x" parts on a Mopar so I purchased a 1983 2wd shortbox Dodge frame, the box I am using in my 56 is from a 1979 "Warlock" so it will bolt right on and line up with the plastic fuel tank that comes with the frame, the front suspension geometry will be correct for the frame complete with disc brakes and p/s, the only problem I see is cab to frame fit but my son has a 1980 s/b step, so same frame and I cant see why it wont work with a few mods, I also have the steering column from the "Warlock" so that will help, I am getting the frame on the weekend from out of town and trailering it back, I will keep you posted on the swap and HOPEFULLY this spring I will have it at the local show circuit!, p.s. your friends truck looks sharp and has inspired me again!