1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

[Richard M.]

A friend of mine brought over a stack of blueprints the other day. He acquired these years ago. He gave me the go ahead to show you some of them.

Two in particular fascinated me.... the 1954 and 1955 chassis. These are huge.

The 1955 Chassis print covers 1/2 the length of my 59. Another is the 1953 to 1957 Rear Leaf Spring print, 3706707. This was superseded to 3711550 on 1-1-1957.

I recall a recent thread about notches in the sides of some of the leaves. My 59 has notches in several leaves where the clamps are.

Interesting prints. I'll see if I can get better images and post on the DoRD Sticky some day.

Rich

[Tony R.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

That is pretty cool!

[Richard M.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Trivia....

Did anyone notice anything unusual on this July 1954 drawing of the 1955 V8 Corvette chassis and its equipment? All you early C1 guys should pick it up pretty quickly. It shows something that wasn't typical for a '55.

I know the images are light but this one is pretty obvious.

Rich

[Jim L.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Off road mufflers?

[Joel M.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Frame notched or not for fuel pump? Cannot read print clearly.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Jim got it!

Round instead of oval. Interesting.

Joel, It doesn't show that detail up close on it.

Another thing I just noticed is the reverse arch of the rear springs. Strange.

Rich

[Jim L.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Jim got it!

Round instead of oval. Interesting.

Joel, It doesn't show that detail up close on it.

Another thing I just noticed is the reverse arch of the rear springs. Strange.

Rich

Strange, yes, but that's the way they are and must be to achieve the correct ride height.

DSC08172.jpg

[Richard M.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Strange, yes, but that's the way they are and must be to achieve the correct ride height.

Jim the same part# spring was used on later C1's and they were not arched like that, just the opposite. How did they get it to arc like that on the 53-55's?. It's not mounted upside down looking at the prints. I'm confused.

Rich

[Jim L.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

Jim the same part# spring was used on later C1's and they were not arched like that, just the opposite. How did they get it to arc like that on the 53-55's?. It's not mounted upside down looking at the prints. I'm confused.

Rich

Rich, my parts book library is pretty sparse so I can't offer much of an explanation. The '57 book does show the 3711550 spring was used from '53 - '57 so I would expect to see an inverted arc on all those years. I don't know what spring was used beginning in MY '58. Do you? At the moment, my dim memory is that the springs under my '60 are essentially flat.... but I need to verify this. If I'm right, that suggests a P/N changed somewhere along the way.
Jim

[Richard M.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

The 3706707 on that dark blue blueprint in the last 2 photos is the part#, 1953 onward. Then it changed to the 3711550 in Jan 57, well into the 57 build.

I've never seen a leaf spring reversed arched on a Corvette.

Flat from age maybe, but not the way the print shows.

Rich

[Jim L.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

The 3706707 on that dark blue blueprint in the last 2 photos is the part#, 1953 onward. Then it changed to the 3711550 in Jan 57, well into the 57 build.

I've never seen a leaf spring reversed arched on a Corvette.

Flat from age maybe, but not the way the print shows.

Rich

I had to check my memory so I examined my '60 and my '54 this morning.

The springs under the '60 appear dead flat. The springs under the '54 have a detectable negative arc. Both cars appear to sit at normal ride heights... at least to my eye they do.

I have seen other C1s which have springs with a negative arc. Of course, I don't remember what years they were and neither do I have pictures.

The following two pictures are of my unrestored '54, #3300:


8755.jpg8753.jpg

[David B.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

To clarify: All c1 rear spring prints # 3711550 & 3751438 show by design a .08 negative camber under load (545 - 605 lbs.)
Even '57 HD rear spring assy. 3748143 has a .08 negative camber.

[Jim L.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

To clarify: All c1 rear spring prints # 3711550 & 3751438 show by design a .08 negative camber under load (545 - 605 lbs.)
Even '57 HD rear spring assy. 3748143 has a .08 negative camber.

What are the units of the ".08 negative camber"? And how is it measured?

[Richard M.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

To clarify: All c1 rear spring prints # 3711550 & 3751438 show by design a .08 negative camber under load (545 - 605 lbs.)
Even '57 HD rear spring assy. 3748143 has a .08 negative camber.

What are the units of the ".08 negative camber"? And how is it measured?

Jim those are great photos of your 54 springs.

Here is a better image of the 3706707 print. It clearly shows the reverse arc.
0421212030_resized.jpg

Its negative camber spec is 1.58, which appears to show what angle the vertical deflection is under load as shown at the spring center bolt axis. It must be in degrees.

Also, this print mentions the 3711550(as mentioned earlier-released in Jan 1957) with a note to use the same part# leaves N.D.(New Departure?) It must have been in development while this spring was used in production.
0421212032_Burst01_resized.jpg

Notes
Included is a note to paint the top leaf silver.
0421212026_resized.jpg

Revisions
0421212026_Burst01_resized.jpg

More details
0421212038_resized.jpg


0421212025_Burst01_resized.jpg

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[David B.]

Re: 1954 1955 Complete Chassis Blueprints

The print reference to N,D. means "No Drawing"