Frame Interchange????
 

I have a 61 Catalina......and was wondering what other years and models used the same frame?

Bonneville and Starchief are different,I know....

I'm thinking 61-64 sedan.....and HT....how about wagon and 'vert?

Any input is appreciated...

Amazing how little help the 1966 parts book if for this. It would seem that your basic presumption might be correct. But parts book only lists:

2335, 2345, 2735 (all Safari incl. Bonn) as 538422
2339, 2539 (Cat and Vent 4dr HTP) Taxi & police 538103
2367 (Cat Conv) 538105

That leaves out 2311, 2337, 2537, 2369 (2dr sed, 2dr htp and 4dr sed). Of course all 26 and 28 would be the Star Ch and Bonn.

And then all 62 and later are different numbers. Bummer

There was a gentleman from Ohio that wanted a 61 bubbletop roof with the shorter wheelbase. The only car he could find was a Bonneville so he sectioned the trunk area to make the car the correct length of a Catalina, or Ventura. He however didn't section the frame ahead of the rear wheels and kept the longer wheelbase. He said no one without a tape measure would be hard pressed to discern the difference.

Point being, is if someone found a long wheelbase donor chassis it wouldn't be a stretch to section the area of the perimeter frame to make it usable with a short wheelbase body. This of course would be a somewhat major undertaking for someone without the experience of shortening a chassis.

Truck chassis are shortened and lengthened regularly to alter wheelbases to fit needed criteria for certain body requirements. As long as all the parts are kept on the same plane, and checked to be square, it's a routine alteration. I've done it myself when building my wrecker, I needed to remove roughly 6 feet from the chassis to fit the wrecker body. The procedure is time consuming, but works just fine.

I wouldn't discount a good chassis just because it is the wrong wheelbase, I would consider shortening it as there may not be a many suitable choices out there for a 61 car. I also wouldn't count out using donor parts to repair the original chassis assuming that there is enough left to work with ..………:2cents:

As near as I know 61-64 use the same basic chassis with various wheelbases to suit the body they are used with. I believe the Bonneville/Star Chief also had a longer trunk section and would also need to be addressed if trying to use a long wheelbase chassis under a short wheelbase body.

I'll check my 1961 parts book when I get home tonight. Besides the wheelbase there are other factors (for instance, convertibles and wagons had some differences from sedans or hardtops.)

Not that familiar with early B bodies but couldn't SWB frames from Buick, Olds, Chevrolet be made to work?

Chevy and Buick had X frames until around 64, I can't remember what style frames olds had.

Mitchells Interchange Manual would be a better source as to what frames can be used. They even have footnotes as to something close needs to be changed to be used in another application.

I mistakenly said Mitchell, Scarebird has the real deal though, Hollander is what I should have said.

The footnotes, as I said, tell you what modifications you need to make to use a part that does not match exactly. I.E. change crossmember to make it work.

It makes total sense that he has a reference to an interchange manual as brake systems he sells are made partly from interchangeable parts....:)

That Hollander information is golden. Many thanks to Scarebird. :) I'm a little surprised there's no interchange with 1962 cars.

As mentioned, Chevy, Olds and Buick all used their own designs back then. Other than maybe an odd nut or bolt, there's no frame or suspension interchange.

If I remember correctly the changeover to rubber A frame bushings from greaseable metal bushings was between 61-62. So you'd have to have whatever A frames the frame came with, as noted.

Unless mounting points changed for body mounts frames up to 64 could work, but I'm just guessing from experience working on/racing them, a few of these early cars, and memory, that isn't always correct at this age...…………..LOL

Here are the frame part numbers from the 1961 parts book:

538101 Catalina two door sedan, two door hardtop, four door sedan, Ventura two door hardtop
538422 Catalina 2 seat and 3 seat station wagons, Bonneville 2 seat station wagon
538103 Catalina four door hardtop, Ventura four door hardtop, taxi and police
538105 Catalina convertible
538104 Star Chief four door hardtop, Bonneville two and four door hardtops
538102 Star Chief four door sedan
538106 Bonneville convertible and heavy duty chassis

538103 works for taxis and police cars, so I assume it can be considered a 'heavy duty' chassis for the short wheelbase cars and will likely will work under the other Catalina and Ventura hardtops and sedans.

I'm also enclosing the frame pages from the factory shop manual.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1573860659

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...2&d=1573860670

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...0&d=1573860649

Thanks...for everbodys input....

The Hollander info is especially interesting......I had heard that Bonnevilles and Star Chiefs...of this era actually used Cadillac frames...

I wonder if the Hollander frame #;s show up in the 63 and 64 listings?

I never heard that one. The suspensions and components are the same for Bonnevilles/Star Chiefs and Catalinas/Venturas, and the frames generally look the same with the only real difference being the wheelbase.

And that huge long trunk. The wheel base increases by 4 inches but dimension "G" is 7 inches linger.

But that still doesn't explain why, for instance, all 23 and 25 series 2 doors have different frame numbers than the 4dr hpts even though the dimensions are the same.. Did the 4dr htps need a stronger center section to make up for that long open window?

That's my assumption. There was a bigger open area to support, since they didn't have a complete B pillar running from the rocker to the roof.

Looks like the 61 Star Chief 4dr sedan has an exclusive frame....#999

Seems odd...that a low demand...and prolly low production body style...would get a specific frame....

Wonder if IT was borrowed from another GM division...?

I think that was because it was the only long wheelbase car with a sedan body.

I think the problem w 4dr hdtps is that they have a weak body structure. Basically nothing between the front of the front door and the rear of the rear door. Pretty much just roof and rocker. JMO anyway.