[quote=papabills54;14027807]Hi, I need to move my radiator forward 2". I have a 54 ford with a 302 and AOD trans. It also has a volare front end installed and an electric fan attached to the radiator. The engine sits high in the bay due to the volare cross member but it also is leaning to the rear enough so that my carb is also leaning back. raising the tranny 1 1/2 to 2" would level the carb and have the engine more level. Lifting the back would put the water pump pulley in to the fan.



How much clearance between the firewall and the back of the engine? Should be plenty of room up front if you shoot for 1"-2" clearance at the back.
Carb pad should be set level, which generally sets the tailshaft angle down 3 degrees. Rear pinion then should be set at 3 degrees up at ride height, driveshaft angle should not be an issue. If it were my truck I would set the engine for just enough firewall clearance, raise the trans to get the carb pad level, measure the trans output shaft angle, and then set the rear pinion to the same but oppsite angle with the truck at ride height. So far that method has worked for me.

 

Yes, I had mine installed just under the support connects to the frame that holds the lock and bridges the gap between front fenders.

 

It was a hubcap, guy sold them on Ebay a few years ago. I tired of that look and changed it. Since you mention painting it black I have included a picture of my changes. Pardon the dust.

 

[QUOTE=drptop70ss;14032108]I can't speak for the volare front suspension... but for sure with the crown vic, moving the engine wherever you want it is not really an option. Fighting 6 things. Engine angle, oil pan clearance, transmission clearance, engine height, and front clearance (6th thing must be inability to count to 6 . I played around with mine for hours to get the best compromise of all of these and ended up with a crankshaft centerline of 4 degrees down, transmission clears the cab, oil pan clears the steering and crossmember, and front pulley clears the front crossmember, I have a good working angle of 2 degrees at the front of the driveshaft. I literally can't move the engine and trans more than an inch or 1 degree in any one direction without a conflict somewhere. Luckily there is no carb leveling for me to worry about... plenty of other things like steering linkage and exhaust...

Really wasn't as easy to get this all to fit as I thought it would be.

 

To the OP,
My '55 has the volare style front end and a SBF. I took the angle brackets off the radiator support and mounted my radiator directly to the radiator support. I am using a ford van 3 core radiator with 2 small electric fans mounted to it (not to the rad. core but to the rad. frame)

 

Dave, I am out to the garage to see if that will work for me.

 

Dave, this will work for me, but I have a couple of questions. Did you have to cut some off the top of the hood lock support and the two headlight side panels so the radiator would be able to lean forward? that would definitely work for me. I had considered that actually but I didn't know if my radiator would affect hood closure.

Bill

 

Bill, My rad. is from a Ford van and therefore is not as tall as a factory one so it fit under the support without modifications to the top panel so it did not affect any of the hood functions.