This is my 49' Fleetline. It still needs lots of work but is almost road worthy.
Here is when I first got it...
These pics are in progress shots. You can seen the subframe and how deep the channel is.
The car is channelled 6" over an S10 frame that has been cut down to the stock Fleetline 115" wheelbase. After shortening, the splice in the frame has been fishplated and boxed. The rear end is an S10 4x4 with 3.73 gears hung from stock S10 springs but a swap to the lower ZQ8 springs might be in order.
The trans is a TH700-4R with a stock stall converter, and the engine is a 4.3L V6 that has been tweaked a little. Its not a powerhouse but should push around 200hp, which should be enough to get this light (2700lbs) car around. It built to be a driver - so good gas milage and good driving manners are more important than ground pounding power. Thats whay my other cars are for.
I decided I want to car to be safe and fun to drive, so I added a couple of safety items, ad some stuff to make it easy to drive.
The column has been coverted to a collapsable type by using the S10's collapsable shaft and having it clamped in so that in a hard crash, the column will be able to slide. It connected to a stock S10 power steering box. I have a spare Z28 fast ratio box that might be going in, but we will see how the car drives with the stock S10 box for now.
The brakes are running a modern dual resevoir master cylinder, and have been coverted to firewall mounted power brakes with a hanging pedal. The rest of the brakes are pretty much stock S10, but on a light vehicle like this, they are all that is needed. THey have been treated to a complete rebuild with quality parts.
The suspension is basically stock S10 for now. I am going to be running some vintage ET V rims and radials.
The fuel system consists of a NASCAR spec ATI Fuelsafe Fuelcell running though -8 Earls's braided lines to a Carter streetpump and then through -6 to a Holley regulator, and Holley vacumn seconday carb. Overkill, but I already had the parts mostly. The cell is a little on the large size at 24 gallons, but at the projected 25mpg, this gives about a 600 mile range on a tank of gas. I still need to get around to hooking up the stock filler to the fuel cell - right now you have to open the trunk to fill her up. The stock fuel gage has been coverted to run on 12v and ATL is cooking me up a fuel sender.
The body has a complete floor and floor subframe installed, as well as most of a new quarter and rocker on the passenger side. The drivers side is still waiting.
Its currently in progress but almost all the seams have been sealed (still have to do that other quarter before that area gets done) and Lizard Skin will be sprayed before the custom carpet gets installed. All new weatherstripping is on the way, but I have to get the new drivers door installed first.
The car is getting a complete rewiring job right now. Its a righteous pain in the butt to rewire a car.
Other than its ride height, the idea is that the car looks as stock as possible. So all the guages will be hidden, and the stock 3 speed column shifter has been modified to work with the new automatic trans. The bench seat has been changed over to an S10 one (its the right width but needs to be recovered), and the entire interior still need to be done.
I am currently waiting on my new distributor so I can fire up the car for the first time, and my recored radiator. The one I am using for mock up leaks like a sieve.
The car is built with road trips in mind and at least for now is built in the rat rod style. It will get nicer as more stuff gets done on it though...
This car was sold in October of 2007.
