I have the motor and trans just sitting in the truck for the first time.

Do I set the front of the engine to the 6 cyl or 8 cyl place for the radiator mount.

The trans mount seems to want to set on or near the original cross member.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Les Witt

 

Congratulations on the progress of your project!

I don't think it will matter which placement your radiator is in. As long as you have room for the fan, you'll be fine. I had a 289 in a 50 F1 with a c4 trans. It was originally a 6 cylinder truck and there was a mile of clearance. If your truck was originally a V8, I don't see a problem. I used the stock rad too, and never had a cooling issue.

My c4 trans mount was also right on the crossmember. You didn't say what trans you're using, but the SBF/C4 combo is a very easy fit.

 

Just a nonspecific to model, generic answer.

The chances of any mount lining up with any existing mount are unlikely.

Just my way of doing this, with the fan on the engine so that you know the complete length mount the engine back almost touching the fire wall and see if you have radiator clearance. (2-3 inches). You might have to move the rad forward at this point or if lots of room move both forward if you like. The firewall / rear of engine are the determining factors being the hardest to modify, but on some applications the fire wall has to be massaged as well.

 

I agree with Old F1 on the firewall distance and height. Of course if you have to move it forward an inch to use the original tranny cross mount, do it.

But, on the radiator clearance, I would mount the radiator (whether it fits onto the original mounting locations or not) about an inch from the fan clutch front, and plan to use a fan shroud!

 

I am just learning. Should I cut away a piece of the original cross member to make a mount ane weld in a piece to mount the transmission.

Should I be trying to mount the engine to get close to the pinion angle.

Thanks for all your help.

Les

 

You can pretty much make any modification necessary to build transmission and motor mounts. Just be sure to properly brace or reinforce anything you cut to maintain structural integrity.

Ideally, you want the carburetor pad on the intake manifold to be level. In doing so, it should angle the engine back a few degrees to match the pinion angle. These are two things you want to check when doing your installation. One thing you need to avoid, though, is having the driveshaft perfectly inline between the transmission and differential. There has to be some angle in that for the u-joints to work properly. Somewhere in here is a great tutorial on how driveshafts work. You might look for it, or hopefully someone who has it bookmarked will post the link for you.

 

Waynes right on about the carb being level. The pinion angle can be adjusted with shims under the back springs if necessary.

Here is the write up by Jon Niolon on the drive line phasing & pinion angle. Attention should be placed on both horizontal (up down) and logitudinal (side to side) angles.

Mine was off 15 degrees and presented some substantial vibration problems. After being fixed, it was as smooth as can be.

Here's the link:

http://www.clubfte.com/users/jniolon...nephasing.html