Originally Posted by leigh1322

Ok if you want to flip the calipers from front to back and the steering arms from back to front, I guess that is doable. The spindles themselves are identical right/left. The steering arms just bolt on.
Here are a couple pics of mine while I was cleaning them.

There is really nothing stopping you from just putting the entire assy on the opposite side.
The spindles do tilt rearward a little bit. That is the 2-3 degrees caster everyone talks about.4-5-6 is more desired but requires more rear spindle tilt, and new upper a-arms. Caster is caused by the a-arms but flipping the spindle around would cause the steering arm to be tilted 3-4 degrees in the wrong direction, up instead of down.

Make sure you check out what ridetech did too. They add an adapter to the front crosslink that lets them change the inner pivot point of the tire rod. That is basically what you would need to do with the rack -n-pinion. That inner joint must be in the right spot.

Originally Posted by lionelhutz

It isn't the caster that changes. the comment was that the caster causes the steering arm to point downwards when facing backwards and upwards when facing forwards. But, that doesn't really matter if you're making a new arm.

Originally Posted by 80-Vette

For what it is worth the C4 engine cradle unbolts from the C4 frame. The engine cradle is what the rack and pinion mounts to along with the upper and lower control arms mount to. I know this because I had a custom front clip made for my 57 Chevy made by ChevyNut over at the trifive forum. I have never compared the C3 and C4 frame specs but it may be a way to get a little more modern front suspension.

Originally Posted by ChrisLSx

I've actually got a complete front and rear suspension (with frame rails) from an 86 C4 sitting in the side yard. The plan was to graft the C4 suspension into the C3, but I thought I might as well look at ALL options before I start hacking on my C3 frame. It's a lot easier to ask questions than it is to undo a cut.

What width did you have your front suspension made for (stock C4 width or the 57 Chevy width)?

Originally Posted by 80-Vette

Well actually both widths are used. Let me explain. The custom frame rails were built the same as the 57 frame. The C4 and 57 Chevy frames are very close to the same size so basically the engine cradle was unbolted from the C4 frame and welded into the custom rails. Once the cradle is welded into the correct location the front suspension is in the correct location the rack and bolt right in and allows for affordable aftermarket parts. You have the option to use the C4 uni-spring or upgrade to coil over shocks. I opted to upgrade to coil over.

Who knows with the C3 maybe there would not be a lot of grafting frame rails perhaps you could get by by just grafting in or the engine cradle. The C4 engine cradle is awesome.

Originally Posted by ChrisLSx

Do you have any pictures of the C4 cradle bolted into your 57 frame? As I said, I'm leaning towards just doing the C4 front swap but I wanted to investigate all options before I pulled out the torch.

Originally Posted by 80-Vette

The 57 is still a project but I will take some pics. I will have to do some organizing of the garage and snap some pics. I work all weekend so I doubt I will be able to get any this weekend but I will get you some. Trust me I understand why you want to investigate before you jump in. It was about a year after I had the clip before it was ever grafted in. I ended up getting a hot rod shop cut my 57 and weld in the clip I was so worried I would do something wrong.

Here is a pic I found online this is the exact clip I have. Also found his webpage where you can read more on the C4 cradle etc. You will have to copy and paste it into your browser and delete the space , but I am sure you can get to the site.

classicedgedesigns .com/home.html

Originally Posted by ChrisLSx

It looks like you used the factory C4 cradle and welded it into the frame rails (rather than bolting it to the rails as GM did)? Am I correct in my assessment?