Motor Mount Angle to frame

[klif50]

I just bought a total performance project that has never been on the road. It was built, taken apart, painted and powder coated and looks pretty good (metalflake purple body) but I need to replace the motor. It has a junk 350 in it now and I have a new crate 350 to go in. I notice that the motor actually sits at an angle with the front of the motor higher than the back. I am pretty sure that the motor mounts were welded in by the builder rather than by TP as there are several different qualities of bead on different parts of the frame. Now, should the motor set parallel with the frame, parallel with the ground, or parallel with the body with someone sitting in the bucket. The motor mounts in there are welded so that the top of the plate is at the top of the frame on both sides and they angle down front to back. Is this the way they should be? I have a really old TP assembly manual but can't find what angle the motor mounts should sit at.
Thanks!

 

[Ted Brown]

Pics work much better to help with adding a comment that will be any wheres near to helping... That said, the frame should/may be at an forward Rake angle, so then the engine would be sitting higher than the rear, the main concern is getting the correct pinion angle, if that is right, then you are in the ball park...

 

[2old2fast]

Is your chassis set up as a "roller" yet? If not ,I would suggest that you do that first, theirs other things to consider before you setup your driveline angles, Stay w/us, their is a lot of experience here to draw on.




dave

 

[EX JUNK]

In a conventional setup, the carb base is parallel with the ground. However, I believe that a car does not know if it is sitting on level ground or a slope. They run on either surface. I set my engine up so that the headers are parallel with the lower body line. As a matter of personal taste, I don't like conflicting angles of the headers with the body. This is only my personal opinion and not meant to conflict with how anybody else chooses to build their car.

Jim

 

[GAB]

Here in Missouri, we have hills, even mountains in some parts of the state. It seems like we spend very little time on level ground, mostly up hills and down hills. And sometimes we even get caught setting at a stop light that is either uphill or downhill. And it don't seem to make much difference to the engine. It just keeps on running. No problems with oil pressure or fuel system. So what does that tell me? Maybe that the angle of the engine in relation to the ground is not real important.

Have you ever thought about why the carburetor base is angled in relation to the engine centerline? Did you ever notice that the flathead manifolds don't have the angled carburetor base? What happened between the flathead era and the overhead era to make this change. Maybe the introduction of independent fronts and the large front crossmembers that the engine had to clear and the designers desire to keep the front floors as low as possible even with the bulk of the then new automatic transmissions. The solution was to tip the engine a little to try to gain these objectives. Since a float bowl was involved and some gravity, they probably thought that it might be a good idea to shoot for the average condition.

As far as angling the driveline to promote bearing movement, that is not restricted to the vertical plane of the driveshaft. It can be in the horizontal plane and generally is. Most installations have the pinion offset to the centerline of the engine and transmission.

These are just my thoughts about these subjects.

 

[2old2fast]

Just out of curiosity, I went out and checked my "angles" ,Roughly, frame is at 5* forward rake {nose down} , engine is at 1* down {lower at rear} , pinion= 1* up {towards front} . 2* working angles on u-joint . hope this helps.






dave

 

[klif50]

Thanks for all the good input it is very much appreciated. It's tough when you buy someones project and don't have access to what their plan or main idea was. I can understand some tilt to the engine but this appears excessive. I'll probably put the motor back in and then get a driveshaft cut so I can check the angles to the rear end as well as body clearance for the transmission. I'll take pictures when it's back together since right now it's over there and there's part over there' and there's part over there. Also noted when I took the front axle off and had it sitting level and held up with the bars that the right side touched the ground and the left side is off the ground at the end by about an inch and a half so either there is a slight twist to the front axle or one of the mounts was welded on off kilter.

 

[Screaming Metal]

Do a search! Ted, Putz, Mike, Ron and alot of others have put out tons of info on this the past few years. Youngster even has frame plans that you could look at and use for references if your mechanically inclined....

 

[2old2fast]

Hey, ex-junk, you wouldn't happen to have a side view of your car w/ a rear tire removed, would you? I 'd like to see if you C-notched your turtle deck and how much.


thanx dave

 

[EX JUNK]

Hey, ex-junk, you wouldn't happen to have a side view of your car w/ a rear tire removed, would you? I 'd like to see if you C-notched your turtle deck and how much.


thanx dave

I don't have a picture with the tire removed but the deck is notched. If you notice, there is a rolled pan on the bottom of the deck and I also mounted the deck about 3" higher than stock. The rolled pan is about 6" tall and the notch extends about 1 1/4" up into the deck. I hope that helps. If not, when I get back home on Wed. I'll remove the tire and take a picture for you.

Jim

 

[2old2fast]

I don't have a picture with the tire removed but the deck is notched. If you notice, there is a rolled pan on the bottom of the deck and I also mounted the deck about 3" higher than stock. The rolled pan is about 6" tall and the notch extends about 1 1/4" up into the deck. I hope that helps. If not, when I get back home on Wed. I'll remove the tire and take a picture for you.

Jim

'nuff said, thanx for the info, dave