I have a 52 F-1 with a 302 and soon will install the C-6 (I know, I know, they rob power, came with the truck for free) Did a bunch of searches but didn't find answers for these questions. My apologies if I just suck at searching the site.

1. Is the general consensus that having a drive shaft made at the driveshaft shop the best way to go for driveshaft or is there an easy swap from a donor vehicle?

2. How are people running the exhaust out of the left side of the engine. I have dual exhaust and the brake pedal hits the exhaust on the left. This mormal?! Anyone have pics of thier V-8 exhaust system in that area. There a different manifold config? Is this the excuse I have beel looking for to buy headers!! (anyone have recommendations for headers!)

3. How are people hooking up the shifter? Truck no longer has the column lever.

Thanks for all the great info on the site! I have gotten about twenty questions answered already from the previous posts.

 

Welcome to the forum! It's good to know you've been following along at home. lol

I'll start with Q#1. Having a driveshaft built to the correct length as needed is sure a lot easier than digging through a pile at the junk yard, hoping to find something that might work. Because of the variation of possibilities, depending on where the engine is mounted and the different transmission lengths, there is no 'one size-fits all' deal there.

With a 302, there should be no issue with pedals hitting the exhaust, if the engine was installed correctly. The SBF is a very narrow engine, in comparison. If the installer was paying attention, there shouldn't be any fitment issues at all, front, back, or sides, imho.

Is the trans set up for column or floor shifter? Which way are you planning to go? Do you have a particular shifter in mind?

 

As for headers you will need shorty headers. I hav a MII IFS also. Drive shaft you need to build one? You would be lucky to find one that would fit. it needs to be true so it don't wobble. [take it to a shop]

 

Roger that, to the shop for the drive shaft, Shorties for the exhaust.

As far as column or floor shifter, I'm not sure how to tell. Can you point me in the right direction?

 

It depends on which way the shift lever coming out of the side of the trans points, up or down. I'm getting old and forgetful, but I think, iirc, up is floor shift, down is column. Let us know which way the lever points and we can start to make sure what's what after that.

 

The shifter is horizontal when in park and downward in low gear. Basically you have to move the shift lever up and down to change gears not forward and backward.

 

If you can cut with a hacksaw and weld it's not that hard to shorten a driveshaft yourself. I have always made my own driveshafts. It's a process I've done a number of times.

First find a driveshaft that's longer than what you need. Look for weights spot welded to the shaft for balancing in the area you want to remove and avoid cutting those off. You can usually cut from either end but if you have a shaft that changes diameter midway through be sure you will have enough length left to weld the end back on after shortening. Remove the U-joints and start by cutting off the welded end on the shaft side of the weld using a hacksaw or if there are balancing weights there cut the other end. What you want to do is cut and turn, cut and turn. Make the cut about 1/16 to 1/8 inch deep and then knock the end out of the tube with a hammer. Then cut the amount you need off the tube. I always wrap a piece of light straight edge cardboard around the tube and tape it in place to be sure I cut the tube straight. Lay the hacksaw blade right up next the the cardboard and turn and cut, turn and cut. When you have the tube the correct length tap the end back into the tube. Be sure to phase it with the other end. Run a bead around the end to weld it back on, re-install new U-joints and you are done. Most of the time the shaft will not require balancing. If it does you can always have a driveline shop balance it for you. I've done about a half dozen of these and have only had to have one balanced...

 

That sounds like column shift, if you were to use a factory, linkage type shifter. You may be able to use an aftermarket floor shifter used with a shifter cable and have it wrap around, but that can get cumbersome. After you decide what shifter you want to use, and if you have trouble making it work, you might check with a local transmission shop to help you with the correct setup. You may need a different shift arm, and you may need to go inside to change it.

 

As far as your headers go, you really need to be looking at block hugger style headers instead of just "shorties". A lot of shorty headers dump in or towards the rear and it's almost impossible to avoid interference with the pedals or steering box. Most stock manifolds will have the same problem - as you have found out. Block huggers will exit straight down in the center of the engine just behind the motor mount and usually give the best clearance.

 

I had a driveline shop cut down the driveshaft from the F150 donor truck that I used for my engine/trans (351w and a C6). For $200 they cut/welded it to length and installed new universals at both ends. It was relatively painless:



You could buy an aftermarket floor shifter...Lokar makes this one for a C6:

 

Considering I could have made it in my garage...$200 is not painless to me. It's $200 I could spend elsewhere on my truck.

 

Considering that the job included $70 worth of U-joints, he did the work for $130.

For me, my truck project is constrained by both money and time. I have to decide what I can do on my own and what parts it makes sense to pay someone to do. The $130 bought me a day to work on the upholstery and steering.

 

I will have to go with the shop for the drive shaft. I don't have a welder yet.

Old_Dan, I like that shifter. I will keep an eye out for something similar.

As far as the headers go, everything you guys have said makes sense after looking at the pics of shortie headers. The manifolds I have right now have an outlet that extends about 2-3 inches behind the rear of the head and discharges almost horizontally. The shorties outlet is below the rear cylinder and pointing more downward.

Thanks for all the help! You have saved me a boat load of time and money.