Winter Project

[maird57]

That may be a problem as at 5 degrees puts the tail stock of the tranny still out of line with the differential.

I may need to get some custom engine mounts made up as the ones I have look to be too tall, when I put the 3" drop tranny cross member in it levels out the engine/tranny combo, but puts the tail stock way out of line with the differential, I don't want to go with a split drive shaft.

What would be the maximum down angle with out problems??

I searched through a bunch of videos. This guy is spot on in explaining pinion/engine angle.
h**ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDjBHT5-u_4

[Terryl]

I talked with the guys that supplied the motor mounts and the guys that supplied the transmission cross member, the motor mounts are spot on for that engine, the guys at the tranny cross member(TCM for now) place said that the 3 inch drop would not be enough, sent him a couple of photos and a walk around face time video and he said that they will take the 3" TCM back and send one with a 6 inch drop, and after some careful measurements it looks like I will wind up with a 6 degree down angle on the engine and a 1 degree angle difference on the tranny tail stock to differential.

Here's a look at the motor.

Motor 1a.jpg

[maird57]

With those angles you will most likely have a vibration issue. The ideal engine angle should be around 3 degrees. The pinion angle is usually the same as the engine. The guy in the video explains it well.

[Terryl]

Yah I agree, after looking it over I have decided to drop the engine down, I'm going to use the mount to the engine block but fabricate a new mount to the chassis and have the new 6 inch drop transmission cross-member on it's way.

I have a welder and can fab out a good strong mount using some 4 inch angle steel, it's 1/4 inch thick, I'm going to fab it like the chassis saddle mount that came with the engine mount (look under the "C" clamp in the photo) but deeper, it will drop the engine about 3 inches as I'm going to use the vibration dampener that came with the other mount.

This will also give me more floor board clearance on the tranny.

The reasoning behind making a saddle mount is because the chassis is a box frame type consisting of two pieces, one in a "U" shape with side flanges and a bottom piece that is spot welded to the flanges, (again see the photo above) and it's not very thick steel, so welding to one side only would be out of the question.

[maird57]

Yah I agree, after looking it over I have decided to drop the engine down, I'm going to use the mount to the engine block but fabricate a new mount to the chassis and have the new 6 inch drop transmission cross-member on it's way.

I have a welder and can fab out a good strong mount using some 4 inch angle steel, it's 1/4 inch thick, I'm going to fab it like the chassis saddle mount that came with the engine mount (look under the "C" clamp in the photo) but deeper, it will drop the engine about 3 inches as I'm going to use the vibration dampener that came with the other mount.

This will also give me more floor board clearance on the tranny.

The reasoning behind making a saddle mount is because the chassis is a box frame type consisting of two pieces, one in a "U" shape with side flanges and a bottom piece that is spot welded to the flanges, (again see the photo above) and it's not very thick steel, so welding to one side only would be out of the question.

You're definitely on the right track. Lowering the engine whenever possible helps with trans tunnel clearance.

[Terryl]

OK, I frankensteined the motor mounts, I used the top part of the manufactured one that mounts to the motor, then built one that dropped it down about 3 inches, the new tranny mount has a 6 inch drop, it now lines up with the differential, I think this is going to work out, now for a custom drive shaft, Chevy at one end and Ford at the other. I had to use a Ford differential as I could not find a Chevy rear end to fit my chassis.

Motor mount 1a.jpg

[Terryl]

Here is a photo of the new transmission cross-member, the old one only had a 3 inch drop, this one has a 6 inch drop, lines things up very nice.

Tranny mount.jpg

[Terryl]

Now for the front end replacement.

[maird57]

What's the angle of the engine/trans? Looks more than 3 degrees. Maybe it's the angle taken of the picture that makes it look more.

[Terryl]

it's less then 2 degrees, it's hard to get the photos just right, but I have a digital level, if I stick it to the bottom of the tranny pan it shows .4 degrees down, the offset from the output shaft of the tranny to the differential is less then 2 degrees, so I'm well with in the 3 to 5 degree margin.

[dishuser]

I did chevy motor to ford rear end
turned out perfect having a 9" posi rear end
bullet proof
handled 425 hp no problem

[The Noof]

Lookin' good Terry.Continue paying close attention to your drive line angles.You will be glad you did.Driveline vibrations are REAL tough on the diff and tranny.Curious why you chose the LS over old-school SB or even BB.

[Terryl]

I got a good price on the LS, a local had his truck "T" boned a few years back, saw it posted one day on a local market place, got it and the tranny for 200 smackers. It had been sitting in his back yard for a bit, but I have pulled the oil pan, exhaust and intake manafolds, used a bore scope on the cylinders and everything looks great.

[Terryl]

OK, the engine and tranny are situated, now for the really big job.

Anyone have experience with changing out the front end (1939 end) to a Mustang II IFS, watched some videos, but have lots of questions as to what one to get, have seen the comparison videos between the cheap universal ones, (Chinese) others on Ebay to the really expensive ones. (Heidts)

I can get one that will bolt in to my frame, but its almost 800 bucks more then the weld in ones, I do have a local welder that is certified, but again it's more cost to pay him.

Any ideas out there???

[maird57]

I personally wouldn't trust a bolt in unless you add some weld tacks. If you do a bolt on I would recommend the Chassis Engineering one but it's priced at $1,000.00. Speedway Motors has a weld in one for $360.00