I had found this forum whilst looking for ideas about my own project, as there is not a lot of them getting around in Australia, and thought I would share my ideas as well. I have been working away on it for a year so there is a few pics to share and hopefully it isn't too much information?
The car I am starting with is a 1949 E493A Prefect and due to our regulations it is too complicated to register it as a modified vehicle. Luckily for me though as the chassis was the same as earlier years I can build it as a Hot Rod if I register it as a 1948 Model, so that is the direction I am going in.
The car has not been on the road since 1984 and was already attached to a frame when I got it. I actually swapped it for an old Chev 350 V8 that was left behind in an Uncles rental house, so at the cost of the tow fee it was a bargain.
Our registration authorities will not allow an original chassis to be used with any engine upgrade so a new internal chassis needs to be built to support all of the running gear and the original chassis is then attached to this. To get approval plans need to be submitted first and this is what I sent them.
The front rails were intended to be straight as a few people had suggested I weld in my front end but I chose to bolt my front end in the same as the donor vehicle, so it was necessary to step the rails up and will be shown later on.
My original plan was to put an SR20 Turbo and five speed manual in it and I even measured up a friends engine to make a mock up
The first step of the build was to brace the body and then remove it from the chassis so that the new frame could be built. I have to say that there was no way this body was coming off the frame given the number of rivets and spots welds I found. In some places there was even a group of 3 or 4 spot welds in one place
The front end that i chose is a self contained bolt in unit with Rack and pinion steering from a Holden Torana, which is believe is a similar vehicle to a Vaxhall Viva?? There are only six bolts that hold it in and even though it is from the 70's there are still lots of spares available to rebuild them.
The chassis was then fabricated from 75mm x 50mm x 3mm box section and fish plates attached at all joints. The fish plates I had cut at a local fabrication shop and saved weeks of work if I had tried to cut them by hand.
The front end then sits under the rails like this
It is getting a little late at the bottom of the world so will leave it there for now but if people are interested I will keep updating as the rolling chassis is basically finished now.