1937 Pontiac sedan build

[Rich37]

Hi everyone,
I’m new to the forum and have been meaning to join for a while. Great spread of knowledge here and lively personalities as is the case in the custom world. I’m not sure if it’s the right place to introduce myself but l thought I’d start here.
I bought the Pontiac years ago and have really only gotten a good start on it recently. It’s got a 3 inch roof chop, widened rear guards and despite the patina is very straight and basically rust free.
I’ve got a VZ SS LS1 and 4spd auto, a series 2 jag front end and 3.54 XJ40 LSD for it.
I’m working with a VASS engineer as it’s pretty much a scratch build and am starting with the chassis fabrication.
I’m trying to gather information on the best way to go here….100x50x3 custom RHS chassis or reinforcing the original.
It seems a lot of people here and elsewhere are inclined to stick to the original, which is the engineers suggestion.
The reason l balked at this is that it’s a very odd C section pressing that’s curved along the top but straight underneath, curves upwards and outwards from rear to front etc etc as chassis’s do.
As a metal fabricator it seemed a lot more straightforward to make one from scratch, from RHS, rather than plating this one out with 3mm. Plating an equal flanged C section would be no dramas..,I’ve stared at the Pontiac’s chassis many times proing and conning it!
A fabricated chassis has to be a ‘replica’ of the original and I’m finding it difficult to get a straight answer on how close to original in appearance an RHS chassis needs to be.
I’m aware that 2 original chassis rails and 2 cross members may help qualify it for full reg. I’ve read the NCOP on street rod builds and ASRF info, I’ve owned and built a couple of muscle cars, built bikes and run a metal fab workshop but haven’t built a rod before, very much like to hear your thoughts on the chassis business.
Excuse the thesis and also apologies if this is the wrong place to introduce myself and if there are other threads covering this exact conundrum. I live in Yandoit Victoria near Castlemaine
I’ve yet to work out how to compress the photos…it’s showing ‘file too large’
Thanks in advance

[chris spokes]

hi rich37 first of all welcome. rule no1 listen to your engineer second is that the Pontiac chassis would have ADR advantage that is if you build a new chassis it would have to comply with current ADR's not 1937 ADR's. that's about all i can help with as i haven't built a car in years so not up to date with regs but I'm sure there's still a few on here who are. Good luck with the build cheers

[jeffa]

Hi Rich37.
Welcome to the forum, nice to see new members!

As Chris said, original chassis has many advantages. But follow your Engineer's recommendations. You can run the custom built chassis by him, in detail to see how you go though.

Hmm, you ran a metal fab shop, and live in the Castlemaine area? That's two boxes well and truly ticked!

[Gojeep]

Modifying the original chassis is the way to go for sure. You don't want to end up down the ICV route with all the extra cost of hiring a race track or runway to do all the handling a brake testing. Also have to go through torsion tests etc.

[chris spokes]

forgot to say this is the best way to upload photos, sign up for a free account at https://postimages.org/

[zuffen]

I would stick with the original chassis unless it's rusted out.

Whatever you do stay away from ICV.

I built an ICV 15 years ago and certification then was $9,000 and nowadays $30.000 plus. Makes building the car the cheap part.

As a metal fabricator I would think you are well ahead on boxing and fabricating a K frame for it.

[Rich37]

https://postimg.cc/gallery/jbN6bp8

[Rich37]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Yes, using the original chassis definitely seems like to way forward. The reason l posed the question here basically came from a misunderstanding between myself and the engineer. Whether he wasn’t getting my questions or vice versa doesn’t really matter now, these things happen and it pays to have it all written down! He’s a nice bloke and it’s good that things are now clear.
The icv route was def never my intention, far too much work as mentioned!
The ‘37 chassis is in really good order and I’ll get to boxing it in this weekend.
Game on and cheers guys for your help.

[Rich37]

forgot to say this is the best way to upload photos, sign up for a free account at https://postimages.org/

Thanks for the link mate! Got it to work first time which isn’t bad for me. I’m trained as a blacksmith and used to things with not many moving parts!

[Gojeep]

Looks really cool like that.

What you need to do for posting the images as above, is click on the image once loaded so there is the only image showing, then right click the image and select 'copy image address'
Come back to the post you have started and select the image icon that has the mountains and sun in it. It will place, or you can type, You paste the address between the brackets without spaces.
There might be a shorter way but I just tried that way for the first time and it worked.

[Rich37]

Thanks Gojeep, yeah it’s a great shape and era for automotive design with spill overs from the art deco period. I plan to leave the body in as is condition, haven’t decided totally on what the exact finish/seal will be. This’ll become more clear towards the end of the build.
Also I’ll give your upload tip a crack next time for sure, cheers.
I made a chassis jig yesterday but won’t get to any welding til next weekend.
Thanks for replies

[jeffa]

Yep!
As Marcus said a cool looking ride.
Keep up the good work, and now a quote from years ago...
"We like pictures!"