Does anyone have any pointers or advice on where I should put my motor mounts on the frame. I dont have a lot of choices and was wondering if anyone has done this. Does anyone know where I should get the mounts. I bought some cut to fit ones from no limit but they dont look to promising. Thanks for the help.
Go to speedwaymotors.com they should have everything you need. their techs are also very helpful if you give them a call.
I see a couple of mounts that might work. Thanks for the tip. I hate that I have to work on saturdays until 6 pm and all the companies close at 1 pm. Cant get anything purchased on the weekends.
Did you read on the 1st thread you started about this topic? I used 55 Chevy front style mounts, make em yourself cuz the motor has to sit higher, use a small early balancer and make a trans crossmember as the hydra was side mounted (and maybe a rear way back too, years since I did this swap) BTW dont put Chevy 350 into anything non Chevy as half the ppl on this board are obviously millionaires with a vast stash of primo vintage motors at their disposal. Thats why your thread got a one star rating. The only thing more "overdone" than the SBC is the people that bitch about the SBC.
Dad's got a '56 Olds. Here's a link to some photos of the 350 engine swap and the first generation Camaro front subframe that might help ya out. http://www.detroitspeed.com/projectpages/jimsheldon/jsheldon_main.htm
denise,that olds is fantastic. tons of great documented tech. anyone building any similar 50's car would really benefit from the info. thanks for posting it.
Really??? Way cool! That means I'll be rich when Daddy croaks! OR maybe he did 20 years in the Navy, got a retirement THEN did another 22 years with FORD and retired from them AND had a wife that also retired with a pension after many years with the same company PLUS they knew enough to invest wisely and save instead of spending every last dime like todays generation. Yep, thankfully Dad can spend his money however he wants without having to worry and if having a shop build him the type of car he doesn't have the skills to do himself makes him happy, I'm all for it. I hope him and Mom spend every last dime on cars and car shows before they go, that would make ME happy.....and of course leave me the cars in their will. You're welcome bud, glad to be of help.
I'm going to revive this ancient thread to ask the same question in hopes of getting some up-to-date technical help.. I'm debating putting a new Chevrolet Performance ZZ6 motor in our '56 Olds project. I started out planning to rebuild and reuse the 324 Rocket motor and Hydromatic tranny, but it's become abundantly clear that that is an incredibly expensive and hard to accomplish option, as new parts are basically unavailable and I would have to fabricate all of the front drive components for the 324 (I am updating the air and power steering to modern units). With all that being said, I'm now pondering replacing the entire front clip with a new one set up for a SBC, discs, etc vs. retrofitting the stock frame to accept the new motor and 4L60. I know the stock frame will make fitting the fenders, bumper, etc. easier, but the kingpin suspension and drum brakes need to go. Any insight into motor mounts, suitable front-end configurations, etc. would be most appreciated. What say ye?
Even if you put in a frame clip, on the Olds, that does NOT mean that you can bolt the Chevy engine in where it was. On most old cars I've done, you have to put the engine back several inches to be in the right location, when using subframes. This usually means making my own mounts, easier in the long run. I just got a 56 Olds, that had a very nice 455 conversion done to it, back 30-40 years ago. I will keep it, but I want to upgrade the steering and brakes on the car, using the original suspension, as it seems bulletproof!
Hey Chop, I've reconsidered my previous notions, and decided to rebuild the original 324 and rebuild the stock front-end, just add a disc brake conversion and move the master cylinder to the firewall and the A/C under the dash. I'm curious if you've run into any issues rebuilding the stock king pin setup or the steering? AFAIK my steering gear box is fine, but I'd like to run a new pump on the motor. Do you happen to know what model gear box the '56 uses? I can't find this in my searches so far.
I'm not sure if it will work on the Olds but I swapped a later model power steering box over on a 57 Pontiac Starchief back years ago. I had to do some pitman arm swapping and the steering wheel ended up a bit closer to the dash as the late box was a bit shorter. It bolted right on the frame though. On the 350 you could just tell folks that it is a 77 Olds Delta 88 350. They shipped a batch of them with 350 Chev engines under the hood and the owners ended up getting a 200 buck refund after a class action suit.
Kingpins can be a touchy issue as far as I'm concerned. My chopped 55 Olds, I never changed them, and drove over 150K miles, keeping them greased up. I had heard from a few of the guys running older cars, that the newer kingpins wear out way faster than original ones. Mine were tight, so I kept them. My 56 Seems to be the same, so I might keep them, unless I find some original NOS ones (NOT replacements). I will do the modern Steering box, as the 56 is manual, and I'd prefer power. I believe a 605 box will bolt in, and as Mr48chev said, you just have to use the original Pitman arm. I would check into what pressure the older boxes used, as a modern pump might put out more pressure than the old ones, if using a newer pump with the original box. ( I did just finish a 61 Olds, where I used a new style, small pump with remote reservoir, and it worked fine)
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