I made some engine mount ears for the frame side today. I went a bit different than the ones that came with the Tinman kit. The included ones were just ears that you would normally weld to the crossmember. I moved mine forward so I needed to come up with something different as mine will mount independently to the frame rails. I decided to make an ear with a channel so the top and bottom of the ear will weld to the original frame (top and bottom). Then the inside of the ear will weld to my 3/16" boxing plates. I made some temates out of some 22 ga steel. It can be cut easy with tin snips and I feel makes a better template than cardboard or whatever.







Then I cut out four ears after tracing my template on 1/4" plate steel. Here is the roughed out ear after I cut it out with a cut off wheel. To get the ear mounting hole centered to my engine plate mounting hole I set the ear in position on the frame. Then slid the mounting bolt through the engine plate. I dabbed a little primer on the bolt and pushed it through to leave a paint mark on the ear. Then I center punched the mark and drilled them all out. The black dot on the pic below is the paint mark for the mounting bolt.




Once all the ears were drilled I clamped them together in pairs. Then tack welded them on one end. I left this end about 1/4" long. I'll cut that off later.





Now that they are tacked together I can run them through my stationary disc sander and make them exactly symmetrical. I used 80 grit discs. I ran the inside cutouts through a 2" belt sander. This makes them look nice, but also will be functional. I will later box these in when the engine comes back out. Having them symmetrical and square will make it easy.








The pic below will show what I was trying to accomplish. The rectangle cut out is where the frame will go.






Here there are just set on the frame bolted through the engine plate.








These are the ears on the bottom of the frame. Once I weld them completely in I will box them and maybe add a gusset to the crossmember.






Next work step will be to clean all the primer off the frame in that area and tack weld them in place. Then pull the cab and start in the transmission crossmember.

 

I tacked in the engine mounts this morning. Then pulled the cab. Next on the agenda is the transmission cross member. Before I jump into that I want to plan my exhaust, at leat the portion by the transmission so I don't end up boxing my self out. For the exhaust I cheated and bought a stainless 3" h-pipe for a Mustang. I bought a low dollar one (Pypes) because I was sure of two things, either it wouldn't fit at all, or would need to be chopped up and augmented.

They actually look pretty promising. They are a touch low. They hang just about an inch below the running board brackets. I want them higher, so I'll chop out a section to raise them around three inches. I'll also cut them shorter so the crossover tube isnt so far back. That will give me more room for mufflers and also some room to spread it out wider with out hard angles.

Someone asked a while back if the long tube Mustang headers would work in this application. They would be pretty low and awful difficult to shorten. This was also the first time I put the running board brackets on. It was pleasing to stand and bounce on one and not see any twist. It just lifts the other side off the jack stand. Sweet.

 

I just have to say, that's a good looking power plant.

 

Well done. Very impressive!

 

What do you have in mind for a transmission mount/crossmember - that square tubing there looks to be a bit below the chassis.

 

Are you using a stock frame or something else?

 

I believe he is! I read through the whole post the other day and starting here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-build-4.html

You can see the major mods he starts to make on a stock chassis and how it comes to the chassis you see here!

 

Hey Jerry, Well... I have a few ideas. C91x has a good design I might copy, or copy to a point. Its really hard to say until I finish the exhaust. For me it is much easier to make the crossmember fit the exhaust rather than the other way around. So I can't say for sure until that is done. That square bar you see is just tacked in to hold the trans up. I used it to set the engine angle at 3° while building the engine mounts.

There are lots of things to consider like fuel lines, brake lines , wiring. Can't say just yet.

Thanks Grant and EffieT.

Jboy32, it is a stock frame. Well started out that way anyhow. I think the frame work started on page 5 if your interested.

 

Nick, I enjoy seeing more of your exceptional work and planning! Tasca has a 10% off sale going on this week, so I got my Engine Control Pack finally ordered. $1308.00 shipped. Waiting finally paid off on something.

 

I bought a 3'' mustang xpipe and ran into the same issue with them being too low. I need to bring them up but my transmission x member sits about likes yours so I can't move them up much. Have you double checked your brake and booster setup? Mine is right in the way so i can't do much with the x-member right there.

 

I would be tempted to moved the H (or X) closer to the transmission yoke. That way you won't have to leave much if any room for driveshaft up and down movement. Also if you tuck the head pipes in closer to the transmission you will have more room for the brake master.

 

Hey guys, I'm not running a brake booster. I'm using the big brakes and a Wilwood super pedal assembly. I really like the feel of manual brakes. But thanks for looking out for me. Like I mentioned I'll be shortening the h pipe. Basically shorter and wider. The actual crossover tube will be longer. Harder to explain in words. Easier with pictures. I'll cover it.

I chopped and zapped my passenger side down pipe. Like I mentioned I am looking to raise it up three inches. I started with this one because it is the more complicated of the two with 3d bends. First I made a drawing on poster paper. I outlined the original pipe, then saw I needed to chop out two sections to get the height I wanted. The blue tape are the two sections to be removed.




Here is a better picture of my drawing. As you can see section # 1 is about three inches of pipe to cut out but only raises it an inch. The shorter section #2 will raise it two inches. It will also be three inches shorter. The dotted line is the shape I want my new pipe.





Then I cut out the blue pieces. I like to use the blue painters tape to mark exhaust because it doesn't bend laterally. Makes for a nice straight line. I cut just short of my mark to keep the needed sections a bit longer. Then cleaned them up on a sanding disc.






Then I cut a few strips of the scrap pipe for backer plates. I notched them so they would slide in the pipe. Then welded them together to make a solid ring and cleaned them up.





Then I tacked them into my elbow section.





I like using the backer joints for a couple reasons. But they make final fitment and alignment real easy. I slip the pipe together and set back on my drawing to see how I did. Came out just right.









I mounted it on the truck to make sure I liked it and to tweak it if needed. Then tacked it in a few spots. Before I cut the pipe I made some alignemet marks. The original tube wasn't exactly the right angle up and down, and also it pointed a little bit to the frame rail. I took this time to adjust it just how I want. Those backer plates really help this.





Now that the fitment is just right, its time to weld it up. I'm using a MIG welder. The pipe is 304 stainless steel. I used 308L stainless welding wire .025 diameter. For gas I used a tri mix 75% Helium,7.5% Argon, 2.5% Carbon Dioxide. Because of the backers I adjusted my welder quite a bit hotter to really penetrate as now with the backer I'm actually joining three sections of stainless steel. I set it up for 1/8" rather than the 18 gauge it is. Just a bunch of tacks on top of the next.




I cleaned them up with a scotchbrite pad.









Now I fit it in position. It will work perfect. It came out just like I wanted, higher than the bottom of the running board brackets. It also points straight back better than they originally did. I adjusted the up and down angle to match the frame rake. Pretty happy with it.











Tomorrow I'll make up the drivers side, then on to the crossover section.

 

Very nice work and thanks for sharing. I've been following your build since the beginning and it is fun to watch. I'm already looking forward to your next post now that I'm subscribed.

 

Great idea, with the backing rings. No need for purging the back of the weld either.
I'm watching with great interest!

 

Nick, I have been following the build from the beginning, very nice work! Thanks for sharing.