51 sbc placement advice with pics

[PurdueSD]

I'm in the middle of a 350 install and would love to see what you did for placement. I picked up the ce tranny mount for my 700r4 and a set of ce side mounts. If i put the engine where there instructions say i will have like 6.5 degrees of tilt on the engine and the carb will sit at almost 4 degrees. So i know that is whacky.

As im sure most of you have encountered, exhaust manifold / header clearance is really tight with the frame rail, and the rack output shaft comes up real close to my side mounts. Its looking like raising the engine is the answer.

Ive got a temporary shim on the tranny crossmember bring it up 1.5" and i have to drop the front of the engine down to where the lower pulley is almost touching the old straight 6 front mount.

I was hoping to run some ram horn center dumps like these http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Dorman...olds,9133.html ...So i dont have to deal with the leaks ive heard about associated with running headers. Im not sure they will fit between the frame rails though.

But, im new at all of this so i thought i would ask for some advice.

[PurdueSD]

Here are the pics of what i'm working with. As it sits, the engine at the carb (tbi) is level. I have 3 degrees at the transmission output shaft. The front pully has about a 1/4" clearance and the transmission mount is shimmed up 1.5"














The rack still needs to come up another inch because i haven't notched the frame yet.

[solidaxel]

I have had good luck with Camaro and 70's sbc truck headers on all my AD trucks

[torchlight]

Interesting you bring this up. You know I stopped by today to see what the guys at the shop were up to on my truck (1953), and the were taking a look at motor placement. The motor will be a small block with a TH350 transmission. There's a lot of vertical space in the engine bay, so I was hoping the motor could be mounted fairly high up, but we found that transmission clearance under the cab poses an issue. So, unless you want to fab a transmission tunnel through the floor of the cab, the motor has to sit fairly low in the engine bay, snug between the frame rails. Oh we'll, I'll have to look for some kind of big tall intake setup or something.
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[solidaxel]

Even with the Muncie, Tremac TKO, and a 4l60E. I have not had to alter the floor in any on my AD's.
The front pulley on the balancer is the clue, and the pas. valve cover to the firewall, the HEI clearsl !
You will have enough room under the hood for a 6-71 and a Holley and a tall scoop !!

[BlueJeep]

Personally I'd mount it higher, and back as far as you can go with it. Mine isn't a SBC, but I just recently mounted my engine and I notched the firewall around the passenger side head so I could slide it back even farther. A SBC is a longer motor than my 5.3, and fan clearance isn't abundant on mine.

I also prefer exhaust manifolds over headers. Mid 90's corvette LT1's used a nice center dump manifold that I've had good luck with before.

[PurdueSD]

Thanks solid axle! Your motor is sitting quite a bit higher in the frame than mine apprears to be mocked up at. I think i need to decide on exhaust and order so i can bolt them on before settling on engine placement.

My motor was only 190 hp from the factory so i dont think it matters for performance. So im thinking cast manifolds would be better than some stainless block huggers. Does anyone know whether block huggers tuck better than the 70s truck headers or center dump ram horns?
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