Hey Ben it looks good I'm thinking I should have gone that root but I' m on a budget and the front came with the truck it was a mess when I got it. How far are you from the fire wall looks like you got a lot of room I'm gonna put the fenders back on and measure again. I also read a post where they moved the engine over to the passenger side by two inches I don't know if that might be a good idea or I have because of the front end. I'll keep you guys in the loop with the progress.

 

Hey Lorts,
Our engine is shifted over toward the passenger side about an inch - it helps. Trying to get your steering column through to the rack & around the headers is fun. I hear you on the budget approach to the build!

Keep posting & let's see how you are doing. Good luck over there.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Lorts

I have some potos of my build with a four link that might help you out. I'm also putting a 351w in mine and it also has the Volare frontend in it. I offset the motor 1" to the passangers side and the rearend is also offset. You need to make sure that the motor and the rearend are centered with each other. The issuse that I'm having is I want big long tube headers for my truck like 1-3/4" tubes and I can't find them so it looks like I have to make my own headers. I'm also thinking about using a manaul steering box just so I don't take any power away from the motor. I plan on this to be a pro street truck. I have bored and stroked my 351w to 425ci and should but out about 600 hp then I'm going to add 150 shot of NOS to it. I also went with motor plates on the front and the rear instead of motor mounts to give me more room and to stiffen up the frame. I can send yopu some more photos if you need them.

 

Sounds like interesting build hot51 I love to see some pics. Again to everyone thanks for info.

 

No, the engine and rear axle does not need to be in line with each other, the engine centerline just needs to be parallel with the center of the frame, the U joints will take care of any side to side differences. I hope you don't mean you moved your rear end so one wheel sticks out further than the other???

The steering pump uses just a couple HP when the wheels are straight ahead. Is your truck going to spend more of it's time on the street or the strip? Most strips I know use a dial in handicap system that is all about consistency, not getting the last HP out of it.

You are going to need a lot more stiffening than just motor plates if you expect to do anything but burn the tires off the truck and/or wrap it around a tree. The motor plates and the extra structure required (ever see the complex structure added to a pro drag truck?) will make it highly unsuited for street driving, something will give. Sounds like you are building a race truck and then want to try to drive it on the street. That never works for long. Are you building a show/trailer queen, going outlaw street racing, or watch one too many fast and furious movies? I would HIGHLY suggest that NO ONE try to copy your build for the street!

 

No my rear end was narrowed. But you do need to be parallel to center of crank end the rear end center. If you aren't then you will get vibration. The u-joints will take care of the up and down offset. If you use a Volare front end then your motor should be offset 1" to the passenger side of the truck which will make it so the center of the motor is not in the center of the frame. This offset will give you some room next to the steering box. This all needs to be considered when you setup with a different motor then what the truck originally came with. If you set your rear end in the center then your motor is will be centered so you need to make sure that you have the right rear end when you replace it.

This truck will be able to drive on the street and the motor plates will help stiffen up the frame and the four link should help with the tire spin. You know I really don't need to explain this to you. You already know everything in the world about performance I'm giving Lorts a few option because of A--holes like you don't want to give out good info just like to be an a_ _ when you get on here. You probably paid someone to do all the work on your truck. So if you don't have anything good to say without being a smart A_ _ stay off this site.

 

The u-joints will handle both side to side offset and up-down offset. You do have to pay attention to the total number of degrees of offset. There are a few articles around, but the bottom line is that you add the two offset angles together for total offset & try to keep the number around 5 degrees. Oddly, the driveline will vibrate less with some offset.

 

Your right but if you go more then that 5 degrees you are going to feel the vibration. So the closer you can get it the better you are because we are only human and getting something that close without a drive shaft and an angle finder and measuring off the frame that's 62 years old your better off trying to get them to line up the closest you can with a string.

 

Thank you for your opinion of me, but as you can see from my reputation points, and # of posts, I have been giving out good information here for quite some time. I have been building race cars and hot rods for over 50 years, no one has ever built any car for me, but I have built plenty for others.
I stand by my statement that you should never solidly mount an engine for street use, and doing so will not stiffen the chassis enough to put 700-800 hp to the ground without becoming extremely squirrely . You are worried about the few HP that a PS pump will draw but are using a severely overweight 40 year old econobox front end on an already severely nose heavy truck. If you truely knew what you are doing, the first thing you would have done is cut that puppy out of there. Your assertions on driveshaft setup are just completely wrong. Have a nice day.

Before I upset any of the others on here that are using the Volare, yes, it is a fine servicable IFS for general street use, but there are much better choices now for high performance, drag racing.

 

Hang in there Ax - Good to take the high road on this one.
We appreciate you..

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Absolutely correct.

Absolutely correct. Very few vehicles have the pinion on the vehicle centerline, it makes no difference. Especially with posi or a spool.

 

I hope this doesn't get ugly. Let's take a deep breath and see if we can help this guy with his build.

 

I am more than glad to help the original poster or anyone else that needs/wants it, I just can't ignore bad or incorrect advice given to them by others when it could negatively impact their build.
Back to the original question still in progress:
An inch of clearance at the firewall and/or fan is HUGE. Why do you think you need more? The usual stumbling block (pun intended) with installing a SBF is clearance with the front sump oil pan, especially if using IFS, but there are other oil pans and matching oil pumps available from Ford and/or the aftermarket that aids this issue. The easiest and best solution to gaining front clearance is to remove the fan spacer and fan and use a thin profile electric fan. That will gain several inches of clearance. NOTE: an electric fan can be mounted either way, but it is much better to mount it behind the radiator so it is pulling the air. There are electric fans with the fan motor off center if things are really tight.

 

To the original poster.

I would like to recommend you pay heed to AX's advice. Unless you actually consider changing U joints a pleasant and joyous task.

 

Ok thanks for the information guys but watch the comments please, it's supposed to be fun to build trucks. As for my post I wasn't sure if 1" clearance to the firewall was enough room, I do plan on using an electric fan, the oil pump is a rear sump but the engine clears the suspension by a lot so not worried there, I bought bask headers and it seems like there should enough room with the engine move 1" to the right side. I installed the triangulated four link on the back, that's where I wanted compare from other pics from posters as for reference. As soon as I can I will post pics headed there to do some work, please be patient with time is minimal and my take me while to make lots of progress. Again thank you everyone for the build information.