Flat-Out Engineering offers kits for many vintage trucks and cars and this kit fits '55 (2nd series) to '59 Chevy trucks. The '84-88 Corvettes were 61-inches wide and had 11 1/5-inch brakes-which will accept 15-inch-and-larger wheels. The '89-96 Corvettes are 1-inch wider at 62 inches, with 12-inch brakes. An important detail to remember with the '89-96 models: It's necessary to run 16-inch-or-larger wheels to clear the larger brake rotors and calipers. This is an important fact to be aware of before buying the rearend. Although our frame was already stripped down to the bare essentials, this installation can easily be accomplished on a complete running truck. You'll want to remove the bed to have greater access to the frame, but the guys at Altered Engineering assure us the install could be completed from underneath if necessary.
Although this conversion was set up for coilover shocks, you could retain the stock leaf spring. The coilovers provide greater flexibility in adjustment in terms of ride quality and height. Plus, they simply have a more pleasing appearance. In a future issue Altered will install the matching Corvette IFS for the ultimate in ride and handling.
 Since this frame had already...  Since this frame had already had all the original suspension and mounts unbolted, the first step was to remove the unused original shock mounts. A die grinder was selected to do this work, and the crew got on it quickly. |  After a little grinding, the...  After a little grinding, the crossmember was clean and ready. It isn't absolutely necessary to remove these, but it really helps to clean up the look of the frame. And it would be a shame to have unused brackets showing on a swap as neat this one. |  Using the measurements supplied...  Using the measurements supplied in the instructions, Peter checked them twice and marked the frame. The first measurement is the rear-axle centerline. This dimension will be used for reference to make sure the new rearend is correctly located. This will ultimately ensure the rear wheels will be perfectly centered in the rear wheel wells. |
 The light-colored area is...  The light-colored area is where the orig- inal leaf-spring mount was removed. The hole (arrow) will be used to locate the new four-link arm mounts, as explained in the instructions. |  The marked hole was drilled...  The marked hole was drilled larger to 7/16 inch to locate the new four-link bracket. The mounting holes are 7/16 inch for increased strength, and the grade-5 bolts are included along with Nylok nuts for a more secure and long lasting installation. |  The new four-link bracket...  The new four-link bracket was bolted snug to the frame with one bolt, then checked with the level to make sure it matched the frame. This is important to keep the trailing arms in the proper plane. |