Hey guys, I'm finally at a stage where my chassis is a roller and I'm trying to get my motor into the frame. The motor is all together, and has to be the biggest / heaviest fucking thing I've ever had to work with (originally a motorcycle guy). Anyway, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how the heck I should do this. I rolled the frame out of my single car garage and got the motor up on an engine hoist, then lowered it into position and bolted the trans on. Anyway, getting this thing level is pretty tough, especially because the legs of my engine hoist don't really clear the bottom of the axle, so positioning is pretty limited. How do you guys normally get ready to drop the motor into the frame? Is it easier to do with the wheels off, and the frame on a table (or in my case, the floor)? I see some of you guys putting the motor on blocks of wood, or jack stands, but how do you do micro adjustments to level it out, or to get the right amount of pinion angle in the back? I tried to search for some threads but had no luck. Looked through some build threads, but still feel dry on ideas. Any help is appreciated
Are you saying that you have NO engine frame mounts on the chassis? How about a picture or two .... they are worth a 1000 words.
Yep, no mounts on the frame yet. Wanted to get the motor in position then weld in the motor mounts. I'll work on getting some pictures
On a Sbc there are 3/8 threaded bosses on the front of the motor I stick a long bolt in each and put a steel bar across the frame and set long bolts on bar block height accordingly a set angle start weldin Other motors probably have similar threaded bosses
I'm partial to a chain fall rather than an engine crane which is big, heavy, and takes up way too much room ( I used to keep it outside and ended up giving it to someone). Chainfall is good for chopping tops, lifting bodies on and off and dropping motors in or out. I like it because you've got lots of control , compared to letting the pressure off a hydraulic ram and having an "Oh Shit!" moment. Plus I'm a "one man band" so it works well as far as control of flying heavy objects into position. When I built my garage , I put beams in the overhead so I've got different places I can set the chainfall up. Go slow, be safe!
I have a junk/cracked SBC block, and a set of junk cylinder heads. I screwed a few of the head bolts into the block and then cut the heads off the bolts which allows me to slip the cylinder heads on and off with no tools. Lighter is better.
I sit the frame on a level, then have the engine lowered into roughly the position I want. I stick a couple of car jacks and some blocks of wood under the motor to fine tune the position, all the while with a magnetic spirit level sitting on the block. Then I fill the gaps between the frame and the motor with the required mounting brackets. (in the case of the C Cab that means RHS steel and plate steel cut & welded to suit). Yeah it sounds Mickey mouse but it works You'll probably find everyone has their own way of getting the engine in place depending on their experience, skill and circumstances.
Really not a big deal to do, as the guys said, just set the engine down into the frame where it will clear things like the firewall and radiator, then set your angle (I like 3 degrees down myself). Then block it in place using something like wooden blocks, and then sit back and look at it. Make sure the crank center line is centered side to side, as is the transmission output shaft. If you are going to use stock rubber motor mounts, bolt them on and then cut pieces of cardboard to size to fill the gap between the mount and the frame. Once you are happy with those pieces, duplicate them with something like 3/16 plate steel and weld those in place. Don
Thanks guys, this all really helps. I'm gonna go with wooden blocks and jacks, I'm sure it'll all work out fine. I'll be sure to update my build thread with some pics. Mike, that chain fall is awesome! Definitely something to look into. I'm a one-man-band also and I could really use something like that for dropping the body on, dropping the motor in, etc.