Budget V-8 swap in my 53?

[wbulick76]

Hey everybody, I did a search, but didn't really come up with much. Looking to build my 53 pretty cheap to get it on the road. I have a good running 350, and an early side mount bellhousing, and was wondering about swapping it into the truck and keeping the same trans and closed driveline. Any snags in this swap? Can that trans use a universal style floor shift? Mount donors or scratch made? Eventually, want to do a MII front and the whole works, but the budget is a little tight at the moment. Any suggestions?

[Number 9]

Trans bolts up to the v8 housing as is but may not take all the tourqe
so be easy on it. 3 speed floor linkage should work fine. Before they
had the after market stuff we used to shorten up column shift linkage and make a bracket for it to bolt to the tranmission so that would save some cash as well as being old school. We used the top bolts for the tail shaft and the shifter was to the right a bit.

[wbulick76]

Good info, thanks. I don't plan on running it hard, so hopefully the trans will hold out for awhile. I am planning on upgrading to a dual master, because my original is shot. Any thoughts on keeping the drum brakes for awhile? Also, any budget lowering ideas on the stock suspension?

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by Number 9

Trans bolts up to the v8 housing as is but may not take all the tourqe
so be easy on it.

You would be surprised how much abuse those old cast iron three speeds will take. I abused the heck out of them in the 60's in a 60 and 57 Chevy. Never blew up a trans, the universal joints were the weak link in my set ups to save the trans and rearends. Always carried a spare!

[Number 9]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

You would be surprised how much abuse those old cast iron three speeds will take. I abused the heck out of them in the 60's in a 60 and 57 Chevy. Never blew up a trans, the universal joints were the weak link in my set ups to save the trans and rearends. Always carried a spare!

I know how much they will take as I have blown a lot of them with out poping the clutch. My 55 cameo with a 58 370 pontiac
would destroy the stock 3 speed just letting out the clutch easy and standing on the gas. You can't treat them to rough with a 350 as they
have a lot more tourqe then a 265-283. That said I did run a 50 pickup
3 speed in my 41 chevy coupe with a built 265 (272) with good results.
Never had trouble with u joints in the cameo but did crack the diff housing.
Went to a 4 speed bw and cured the trans problems.

[dcraven]

What were you going to do in regards to the exhaust or hedders, and steering column? I have a 55 1st series 3100 that someone else dropped 350 into and they welded a bracket to move the steering box out in order for the engine to fit. I'm wanting to use some Hedman Hedders and maybe convert the steering column to one that's linked. Anyone know a good steering conversion on a budget so a 350 w/ hugger hedders fits into a '54, 55 1st?

[wbulick76]

So do you have to move the gearbox to put in a v-8 with stock front end? Had not heard that before.

[mike in mo]

the steering box was in the way on my 51 chevy. i used a later power box and the kit from classic. DONT RIG ON THE STEERING AND BRAKES YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH IT.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by wbulick76

So do you have to move the gearbox to put in a v-8 with stock front end? Had not heard that before.

The standard procedure but that doesn't make it right was to move the steering box 1-1/2 inches out with a piece of angle iron bolted or welded to the frame That also means you have to modify the hole that the column goes through. Years ago when I did it on my truck I heated and bent the pitman arm back in to keep the drag link away from the tire and have it push in a straight line again.

As far as the trans and rear end go, you can always swap to an open drive trans and rear at a later date if the need comes up.
I got my truck with a 194 Chevy II six in it and had the V8 bell housing in place with it. I swapped to the later trans and rear end in one day and drove the truck to work the next. I'm too old to do things like that now.

[wbulick76]

Alright, I actually got the 235 running really well, and I am thinking about just running that until I do the MII. Next question-can I upgrade the master cylinder and still keep the stock clutch linkage? Not necessarily for power brakes, but at least a dual master.

[solidaxel]

For your brake parts go to ECI Brakes, he has what you need, from just a bracket to a complete system.