I took that to mean "the crankshaft being 3-4 degrees nose up relative to the frame, with the bottom of the pan and carburetor mounting surface being parallel to the frame". This wouldn't look goofy at all, but quite normal. I could be wrong but that's the way I read it.
maybe a stupid question what ideal for the spacing from the fan to the radiator a few inches im guessing
In relation to level ground right When the frame is nose down by 3 -4,and crank is nose up by 3-4 that makes 6-8 at the cowl. Not normal to me and looks goofy I wouldn’t build it like that, I kind throw up a little in my mouth when I see it. Think about it like this ,,, Say it was built dead nuts level ride height with that 3-4 drive line angle- then the next guy throws a 3-4 rubber rake at it with dropped axle and all the cool stuff. Well that crank is now about zero or level with the ground
What I did but except till it hit the hat channel. Im running the same 350/4l80e combo. I have a Hurst style motor plate with the frame mounts welded flush with the top of the 32 frame. I did a mini channel and the 1st hat channel is notched to clear the tailshaft but still in factory location.
Thank you really like the set up .On the hurst style mounts dont you have to do the trans mount different could you possibly tell me the ground clearance on your oil pan .set up is really nice
All I used was a energy suspension tranny mount that was 3/8" taller than my factory one, set the carb pad level on mine. I will get a measurement when I get off work.
Probably not worth the squabble except that the OP is a new guy. I just measured my beater: frame rake = 4 degrees down to the front; crankshaft angle 0 measured at the valve cover; carburetor angle 2 degrees down to the front. This means that the crankshaft is 4 degrees up at the front relative to the frame, but because of the rake of the car it appears visually slightly down to the rear when you look at the car from the side. See photo. I don't find this visually disturbing at all, in fact I kinda like it this way. The red car behind the beater does have a crankshaft angle problem - it's quite a bit too high in the front relative to the frame which does give it a strange look. The red car engine is about 7 degrees up in the front relative to the frame. The red car was built by somebody else and I haven't figured out what to do about the engine angle yet. Presumably it was placed this way because the steering box and the Ford fuel pump are trying to occupy the same space and this was the only way the original builder could figure out to solve that problem. Oh, well...life in the grand world of hot rods.
If that red car is becoming too much of a headache, what with the weird angles and all, I'd be happy to get it out of your way so you don't have to worry about it anymore? I mean, I'm just trying to help, you know?
My engine also has the slight down hill look because of the rake of the car. I dont know if there is much you can do about it. All kinds of trade offs building hot rods. Build it how you want it and drive the shit out of it.
HAMBers like 31 Vicky with a hemi are a wealth of information that is crucial to building a hot rod that you will ENJOY "driving the shit out of it" instead of just tolerating a mediocre attempt at building an old car. There are some basic design "rules" that cannot be broken if one is to build a successful hot rod. Driveline angles are one of the areas of concern which is why they are discussed so much here on the HAMB. For example, the engine angle relative to the frame in my red car is well outside that which is acceptable in a well-designed car. It's gotta get fixed, I just haven't figured out how I'm going to do it yet. As 31 Vicky pointed out, regardless of relative angles, all angles eventually interact with true level - in this case, the ground. As was also pointed out earlier, the carburetor is almost always near level in the original application and should be near level in a hot rod regardless of all other relative angles. If it's not the car won't run well going up hills or down hills because its maximum operation angle will be exceeded. Same goes for the oil pan in a much more critical way! I really like 31 Vicky's expression that "it looks goofy" if it's not right. He's absolutely correct, if it looks goofy it probably is goofy and will cause problems down the road. It would be my considered opinion that the engine angle in your coupe is well within the acceptable operation range and looks just fine to my eye. As long as you get the pinion angle to match you'll be good to go.
Maybe the pics are misleading, but it doesn't look like the water pump shaft is centered in the fan shroud. Looks like if you raise the front of the engine to hit the shroud you would be about right. Like said above, put your level on the carb base.
This looks goofy but the other way The blurry is not what I'm talking about,, It looks like the front needs to come up a bit and the Trans down a bit Raising the front will be more involved
A good number to shoot for on carb base for angle is zero . Where do I put the angle finder to find the correct pinon angle I do appreciate all the help
I just noticed that awful little pusher fan on the front of the radiator. You're not going to use that are you? Put a fan that fits the shroud on the pump, adjust the front height to fit the shroud, and deal with whatever it takes to get your carb about level, at the transmission mount. I hate seeing an air filter sitting at an angle. Adjust pinion angle to suit.
^^^^^^^the angle finder indicates about three degrees down in front at the carb base. That should be zero.......that will also improve the visual disparity between the engine and chassis rail, imo.
A little trick I found. I have an extra driveshaft yoke for the trans. I found that a 13/16" craftsman deep well socket fits nicely in the u joint bore. Another same socket gets u-bolted into the pinion. I have one of those 2" x 2" digital cube levels. Just get the sockets plumb and read the degrees. Makes it pretty easy to get precise measurements.
There's a area within establishing ride height,stance and clearance that will shove stuff into the space of another causing all sorts of grief. Raising an engine for road clearance because the chassis low means you'll be in for some floor work and a big tunnel. Theses hot rod things sort of fit together really well when the oil pan rail is about level with the top of the frame rail for an A T or 32 chassis. Start with a clear spot in the shop. Set the frame rails down, drop the engine pan on some 2x6 @ 5-1/2 " now raise the frame up till the top is even with the engine pan rail and that's a great place to start from. Measure up the drop you want for crossmembers depending on the parts you'll be using.The springs will break in and settle down nice and everything fits, the water pump risers help with the obvious fan to radiator issue.been done like that a million and Two times. Minor tweaks from that starting position are no big deal, but when we start making major changes from that starting position then things get challenging. Every part of a nice hotrod needs to flow and work well with its neighboring parts.
When I first built my 32 , I was very sick and I didn’t know if I would ever get to take a ride in it . So I built it with what I had , a 350 LT1 and turbo 400 . I remember the oil pan was a cig pack from the road . It never hit one thing . I don’t know the height of a pack because I don’t smoke , but I suspect 4 -5 inches
Well there's another can of worms. Pics look like there is a lot of room between the shroud and fan mount on pump. Fan should be halfway into the shroud. Looks to me like the engine could be moved forward a lot. Again maybe the angle of the pic is deceiving, but as it looks now, the firewall will need to be recessed quite a bit. While you are moving mounts for proper angle you may want to look at that. With the limited space in these old cars anyway, the less engine setback the better. They also make extensions for the pump shaft. 1"-2" clearance should be good.
Drive line angles are basic and summed up in just one word for ALL the important parts involved. The one word is parallel. ALL of the important parts are a total of Two, the drive amd the driven. Driven is the pinion and drive is the transmission out put. A drive shaft that's correctly phased and balanced can run up or down hill it don't care. The crowning jewel of the hot rod, well that needs to look right and does not need to be at a specific angle. Theres nothing mandatory except parallel. Once it's all together and you must have the carb level send it out and have it machined to true level Ever notice that carburetors on a blower motor are parallel with the crank? Well shit the bed on the level and them degrees working out
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