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Video: Street Shop Uses CAD To Make ’53-82 Vette Chassis

For those who would like to be able to enjoy the ride and handling of a new Vette with the bodystyling of an early model, Street Shop Inc [1] of Athens, Alabama offers a solution that’s sure to make your ’53-82 car drive and corner far better than it did when it was new from the GM factory.

In fact, the very technique behind Street Shop’s [1] suspension and chassis perfection lies in their in-house use of CAD (Computer-Aided Drafting) to design a Mandrel [2]-formed, 4″ x 2″ x 0.12″ rectangular tube frame that far surpasses the construction of the original welded, thin-walled platform used in all C1, C2 and C3 Vettes.

A single-piece chassis, Street Shop’s frame also weighs less than a factory C1-3 frame while advanced CAD design allows the use of ’88 and later Vette suspension components. According to shop owner, Tray Walden, the combination makes for a fusion of old and new that is truly unique. “What we offer is a completely new chassis using C4 or C6 suspension – coilover shocks, bigger swaybars, better brakes [and] late-model drivetrains so we can basically create a new Corvette that looks and feels like an old Corvette.” [3]

Street Shop’s use of CAD in ensuring frame geometry also allows for the construction of an all-new chassis that still maintains the factory locations for the Vette’s body, engine, and bumper mounting brackets, while the use of coilovers at all four corners allows for a ride dynamic that can be adjusted by swapping to springs with a different rate.

Also allowing for a more extensive array of brake and motor options, Street’s chassis can accommodate 4 or 6-piston Wilwood [4] calipers, along with small and big-block mills or any motor from the entire Gen III LS lineup.

Street Shop of Athens currently holds three U. S. patents, a sign that they’re about innovation not imitation. Now anyone, for the right amount of money and imagination, can own a truly unique Vette that no one else has!

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