parts is parts - The Rodder`s Journal

PARTS IS PARTS
RIDE
MARRYING STANCE AND PERFORMANCE
WITH ART MORRISON ENTERPRISES
122
By Curt Iseli
O
ne advantage of hot rodding in modern times is that
aesthetics and performance can be combined in ways
that weren’t even considered in the early days. It’s not
that it wasn’t possible for a car to handle power in the
curves as ably as in a straight line, or to sit low and not
rattle teeth with every crack in the asphalt. It’s just that
very few had figured out how. In the early-’70s Pacific
Northwest hot rodder Art Morrison began building race-bred
suspensions that performed well and even set some records at
the strip. In the ensuing decades, he applied what he learned to
hot rods and street cars, and with the help of his son, Craig,
propelled Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) to the forefront
of vintage automotive suspension design. From front and rear
frame clips to fully customized chassis, they’ve helped redefine
the handling qualities and low-slung looks that are achievable
with vintage cars.
The essence of the retro rod and custom movement lies in
improving performance within the constructs of a traditional
aesthetic. That’s a tall order when it comes to early (pre-’35) hot
rods. All the mechanicals are out in the open, and although we
want our cars to perform, we’re still a dropped I-beam and buggy
spring kind of crowd. But cars from the fat fendered era forward
are different animals. There’s a lot more sheet metal hiding those
mechanicals in the curvaceous lines of the mid-’30s through the
starched edges of the ’60s. And when such a car is sitting just
right—raked over big-and-littles or hovering dead level inches
from terra firma—no one’s going to miss bulky factory axles,
A-arms and parallel leafs. This is where AME carved their niche,
providing suspensions and chassis that far outperform the archaic
equipment they replace.
Today there are thousands of Morrison-equipped cars on
the road. They’re being built by hobbyists and professional shops
alike—places like Rad Rides by Troy, Alloway’s Hot Rod Shop,
Oklahoma’s Hot Rod Garage and Johnson’s Hot Rod Shop.
Whether the end goal is a Resto-Mod autocross terror or a simple
mild custom with a killer stance, it’s been our experience that
AME’s components simply make driving these old cars a whole
lot more fun.
WHEELSTANDER FROM WASHINGTON
Given that Art’s built a career on refining vintage car handling,
it’s ironic that he spent his youth piloting rowdy hot rods,
Gassers and wheelstanders. Growing up in Milton, Washington,
just south of Seattle, a nailhead-powered Model A and a low
12-second ’54 Chevy Gasser occupied his youth. Working out of
his parents’ garage, he learned everything he needed building and
Art Morrison has spent decades developing chassis and components that allow rodders to achieve killer performance and looks that match. Offerings range from bolt-on
chassis to virtual U-fab kits, and their “Builders Platform” is particularly popular with professionals and advanced hobbyists who want a Morrison foundation with flexibility to
position things like engine and body mounts wherever they want. Such a chassis lies under Bobby Alloway’s ’51 Chevy, and above is a baremetal example, custom-made for a
mid-’50s Ford. Extensive experience and state-of-the-art equipment allows AME to build chassis for anything on four wheels.
123
PARTS IS PARTS
For hobbyists whose skill or equipment limits how much fabrication they can do, Morrison offers the GT Sport line. They’re bolt-on chassis that can be ordered with a
variety of front and rear suspension configurations and driveline mounts for many popular makes, from tri-five Chevys to GM A-bodies. Shown here is the ’49-’54 Chevy
chassis with IFS, power rack and pinion steering, and a triangulated four-bar and 9-inch rearend housing.
fixing his own cars while fabricating and selling headers on
the side.
He served in Vietnam for a year in ’68, then returned to
Washington where his fabrication work turned into a fulltime business. One early customer was Chuck Poole, who
introduced Art to a short career building and driving his
famous “Chuckwagon” wheelstanders (Art also drove Richard
Schroeder’s “Wentworth & Irwin” AMX). There are more
stories from this era than we can possibly fit here, so we’ll save
them for a future article. Suffice it to say that it was a wild time
that came to a dramatic end when Art was nearly killed in an
accident at Puyallup Dragway in June of ’71. “I was beat up
unmercifully,” he says, “and I figured there’s got to be a better
way to make a living.”
There was, and he found it in early 1972 when he installed a
complete rear suspension in a Modified Production ’66 Corvette.
“He went out and set an A/MP record. Then all of a sudden
other guys were wanting work done.” Art Morrison Enterprises
was hitting its stride, and for the next 15 years suspensions
and racecars—from door slammers to Alcohol Dragsters—were
the focus. In 1977 he bought a one-acre compound in Fife,
Washington, where AME still stands today. Business continued
expanding over the next decade, but by 1990 the racing world
was changing and Art decided to re-focus his efforts on hot rods.
124
THE CHASSIS FACTORY
Art’s always understood that investing in equipment and
technology is key, so his first order of business was improving
AME’s bending capabilities. “We had our first bender modified
to handle bigger 2x4-inch rectangular tube,” he says. “That gave
us more credibility with street rodders.” The bulk of their catalog
was focused on front and rear frame stubs and custom chassis,
which are still staples of the business.
Today front and rear clips are CAD-engineered to customer
specs for a wide variety of applications. They’re based on artful,
mandrel-bent and welded 2x4-inch .120-wall rectangular
tubing. Front subframes are available with a few different
suspension options, including AME’s IFS with standard control
arms and coil overs, air bags or struts, as well as Sport packages
boasting suspension geometry and beefier materials designed
for more aggressive “track day” driving. Standard and Sport
level Corvette C6-style subframes are also available, but only
for later-year muscle cars or incorporated into AME’s Corvette
chassis and custom packages.
There are even more options for rear suspensions, ranging
from parallel and triangulated 4-bars for the street (with coil
overs or air bags) to more aggressive 3-link, 4-link and ladder
bar clips for Pro Street and road racers. In addition to their
subframes, all suspension components are available individually
PARTS IS PARTS
One of the most recent additions to AME’s line of bolt-on chassis is their ’59-’64 Chevy package. Here’s the Impala that was the starting point for that package. Using 3D
scanners, Morrison scanned the entire body inside and out to determine all necessary dimensions and support points on which they would base their off-the-shelf custom
chassis. This is the first kit that’s available with either coil over or air bag suspension.
or in weld-in kits and “bikini clips” that allow
further customization by the builder. One
exception is AME’s Multilink IRS, which debuted
in 2014. Drawing from designs found under
modern sports cars like Ferraris and Porsches, the
Morrison team engineered an IRS that’s as agile
as it is stout, and that can be easily adapted to a
wide range of applications.
At the other end of the spectrum from the
component and weld-in kits are AME’s complete
chassis. They fall into two basic categories: the
“Builders Platform” and the bolt-on “GT Sport”
packages. The builder’s series is just that: a bare
frame designed to the customer’s specifications
incorporating any of AME’s front and rear
suspensions. The possibilities here are endless,
from the size of the main frame rails (2x3 inches
up to monstrous 4x4 inches for bigger cars and
convertibles) down to details like whether to
use polyurethane-bushed rod ends or spherical
bearings. It all just depends on how the car
will be driven.
125
PARTS IS PARTS
The 3D laser scanner relies on points
placed on all surfaces of the subject
being scanned to create a dimensional
computerized model AME can then
work from. As you may have guessed
from this chopped F-100 cab, ’53-’56
Ford truck chassis are next up in their
bolt-on line (as well as ’55-’59 Chevy
trucks, which surprisingly share key
dimensions with the Fords). They
currently offer a GT Sport chassis for
’47-’53 Chevy pickups as well.
Builder’s chassis come without body, bumper, engine and
transmission mounts or a core support. It would be impossible
to locate those items without the body in AME’s shop, and even
then it’s a safe bet any builder requiring a custom chassis will
want to control just where everything’s placed, from the engine
setback to the body itself. We’ve featured a number of cars based
on these custom chassis, like Mike Young’s LimeWorks-built ’48
Buick (TRJ #61), and we’ve recently spoken with a few builders
who use this platform regularly.
Bobby Alloway’s been working with Art Morrison ever
since Boyd Coddington introduced them about 15 years ago.
“The first one we did with Morrison was a ’56 Ford,” Bobby
says. “Now just about every car we build, other than the real
early stuff, has one of their frames or clips under it. I’ve probably
got 10 of them in my shop now.” He begins by setting up the
body with the wheels and tires he wants to use. From there he
specifies key body points from the ground up, then lets AME
get to work. “With their chassis I can get the look I want and it
takes the guess work out of it,” Bobby says. “And the stuff they’re
doing drives great going down the road.”
That type of collaboration exists whether you’re building a
mild cruiser or something radical like John Groendyke’s roadracing ’49 Cadillac sedanette, built by Jim and Jason Smith’s
Hot Rod Garage in Oklahoma. It’s raced at Pikes Peak and La
Carrera Panamericana multiple times, participated in the threeday Chihuahua Express Mexican road rally, and won the hot
rod class in Goodguys’ Columbus autocross—all on a custom
AME chassis. “They do a great job building a dual-purpose
chassis that’s comfortable cruising and impressive at the track,”
says Jason Smith. “And although we had a lot of their race-grade
stuff—brakes and shocks and the 3-link rear—the basic chassis
is similar to what you get with their bolt-on kits.”
Those bolt-on kits were introduced in the spring of 2003,
and they were the brainchild of Art’s son, Craig. He came on
board full-time in December of 2000, and the next summer he
spent several straight weeks on the road working AME’s booth at
126
car shows and talking to customers. “Everyone kept asking why
we didn’t offer any bolt-on chassis,” he says. “It became glaringly
obvious that we needed to do something along those lines.”
Combing through their order history they determined the
’55-’57 Chevy was the most common platform, so Craig pulled
together a business plan and presented it to Art. One year and
countless hours of R&D later, the first Tri-Five “GT Sport”
frame debuted. As a completely bolt-on application, it allowed
hobbyists with a modest amount of skill and equipment to
install a custom chassis in their home garage. “I think we sold
20 of them that first year,” Art says. “Then 50 the next, 90 after
that, and now 12 years later we’ve sold almost 1,300. And there’s
still a backlog of orders.”
Their popularity has led to a steadily growing catalog of
bolt-on offerings. Today you can slide a brand new chassis under
’49-’54 Chevy cars, ’47-’53 Chevy trucks, ’53-’62 Corvettes and
’64-’71 GM A-bodies—including El Caminos. Most recently a
’59-’64 Chevy chassis was added to the mix, available with either
coil overs for a static-height cruiser or air bags for a slammed
custom. Chassis for ’55-’59 Chevy and ’53-’56 Ford pickups on
deck now and slated for release next year.
HIGH-TECH HOT RODDING
Two aspects of AME we haven’t delved into are their
commitment to the quality of the workmanship and the
amazing technology they use every day. About 15 years ago, our
booth at the NSRA Nationals was situated catty-corner from
AME’s. We wandered over to introduce ourselves and take a
look at their products, and the first thing we noticed were the
immaculate welds. Obviously weld quality is paramount in all
automotive fabrication, but these aren’t the types of welds you’d
want to skim with filler prior to paint because they’re as artful
as they are functional. AME takes great pride in this level of
craftsmanship, and they’re even working with a third party on
a welding certification program designed specifically for the
work AME does.
PARTS IS PARTS
A look inside AME’s manufacturing plant shows frames waiting for their final quality control check prior to being shipped. The frames in the foreground are
bound for Kugel Komponents, who orders Builders Platform kits to equip with their own front and rear suspensions. Below, the fixture in the background is
the jig for the new ’59-’64 Chevy and the one in the foreground is for the ’49-’54 Chevy.
127
PARTS IS PARTS
The company’s commitment to investing in
technology is apparent throughout their operation.
Four different CNC machines—two mills and
two twin-spindle lathes—“allow us to do anything
we want in-house, from making parts to creating
phenomenal tooling for our fabricators to use,”
says Craig. The aforementioned mandrel benders
handle everything from the 7/8-inch O.D. upper
control arms to 2x4-inch .180-wall rectangular
tubing for heavier chassis. And then there’s the
testing equipment, like a Tinius Olsen machine
that can apply up to 60,000lbs. of force to things
like rod ends, or the custom-built dyno for testing
different racks and pinions.
But most fascinating, perhaps because
they’re relatively new tools in traditional hot
rod fabrication, are the 3D laser scanner and
coordinate measuring machine (CMM, called
a FaroArm) Morrison uses to plan their chassis.
These hand-held devices can scan any threedimensional object—including complete bodies—
to determine every contour and plot each mounting
hole. They allow AME to digitize entire car
bodies—sometimes without even having them
on the shop floor. “It becomes this incredible
packaging application,” Art says. “You can set up
different front and rear suspensions, set different
engines in place and design a complete chassis on
the computer screen.” It’s just one more way to
streamline the design and engineering process,
easing fabrication of full custom frames and
allowing AME to make even more popular chassis
available (like those Ford and Chevy pickups).
Just as it would be impossible to tell the
entirety of Art’s storied past in this space, it
would be futile to try to explain all the intricate
details, options and parts AME manufactures
and offers for our applications. These are the
broad strokes of the major components, but we
encourage you to do a little exploring on their
website. There’s a wealth of information within
that could be very helpful in your quest to
improve ride quality and ring even more fun out
of your next rod or custom project.
ART MORRISON
5216 7th Street East, Fife, Washington 98424
(800) 929-7188 | www.artmorrison.com
128
We mentioned that AME never hesitates to invest in equipment and technology. Their new
rearend jig (top) is a case in point. It’s beautifully designed, incredibly intricate and no doubt
required more time to design and construct than many components. Heavy-duty tubing benders
(middle) have been modified to handle the large, thick-wall rectangular tubing necessary
for AME’s chassis construction. Nine-inch Ford type housings (bottom) are a mainstay of Art
Morrison offerings. Smooth hot-rod type housings as well as full back-braced units are available.