Sunday, November 8, 2009

Front of Frame

Moving to the front of the frame, it’s time to set the engine and transmission in place. There are lots of ways to do this, I have probably tried all of them. The best way I have found to set the engine is to use a piece of 1/4in by 2 inch angle or 3/8ths by 2. Locate the lower front motor mount hole in the front. I only build with Chevy engines. If other engines are used , a similar process can be used. Right now - I am going to use side mounts to see if this is the way I really want to go. Under the pan I have placed some blocks to support the rear. I am going to use an early Mustang steering box mounted on its side , so I have to do some mock up to see if this is going to accomplish what I really want.
I’m also using traditional Ram horn exhaust manifolds because I think they look cool. I’ve set the body back on the frame to check everything out. As this is basically a high boy roadster ( only channeled 3/4ths of an inch) , I found that the engine set to low. Out comes the two by fours and now that looks better – engine manifold to center of the cowl. This type of set up allows me to center the engine in the frame and set the distributor to firewall clearance that I want. I usually set the engine so that I can put the meaty part of my hand – flattened out between the distributor cap and the firewall.
Now step back and see if the whole thing looks proportional . If not, readjust and check again.

Current Project:1927 Highboy - The hard way!

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