Projects Moving engine back

Has anyone moved a engine back about 3/4 of a inch? I am thinking of cutting front of frame side engine mount and shimming rear of it with urethane or delrin block. Slotting or redrilling trans crossmember to slide it all back. Seems a much better way than 6 new holes in the frame

 

Whatcha working on?

 

IF...you have enough firewall clearance...simple, just move the mounts..!
Slotting (front to rear) is NOT a good idea. Drill new holes, move the engine and trans. mounts back the distance that you want.

Engine moving (mostly to the rear) has been done since hot rodders came into existence. Nothing new.

Mike

 

Why?

Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I have never ever set one back in my entire life.
Just do it and if it doesn't work do it again. That is what most of us did when we were trying to figure it out.

 

You can always move the Radiator forward about a inch or two
or cut a part of the Firewall to get it to fit.!
thats how I used to do it back in the Day
Me & Fred Flinstone.!

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

I'd make a couple 3/16" plates to fit between block and mounts with 2 sets of holes 3/4" apart. Same for trans. Probably have to grind mount for bolt head clearance.

 

I moved one back in a 64 corvette once. Insurance paid for the tree.

 

As long as you have room to slot without really weakening you should be fine. Newer "off topic" S10 conversions often have adjustable engine mounting plates which allow adjustment of an engines location. Its simply a matter of whether you have enough room for the slots. Might just need to make some thin adapter plates or cut and reweld your existing mounts.

 

I seem to recall having moved one or two engines a little ways with that trick of cutting off the end of the mount tube that's attached to the chassis, then adding a washer or two at the other end. But this was for a small move, about 1/8".

I expect it might work, but I'd use a steel spacer instead of plastic. Of course, my assumption of what you're doing might be wrong, since you didn't tell us much about what you have.

 

What about the linkage; throttle, clutch/shifter?
Driveshaft?
Exhaust?
They may be trivial, then again, maybe not.

 

Without knowing what you are working on and why you need to move it back (I suspect fan clearance) all you are going to get is off the wall comments and ideas.

Just Gary hit on some important factors though, Exhaust, throttle linkage, driveshaft, shifter position and a few other things come into play along with firewall clearance.

I'm not a fan of moving a radiator forward on anything you can see the radiator on. In the past 60 years of taking photos of cars the goofy looking ones usually have the radiator moved forward for engine clearance. I've seen far too many Model A's with that issue.

 

Thanks all for talking some sense into me. I admit I caused my own worries. 1st I installed beefy leaf springs out of a truck,1/2 in shorter ,so it pulled the yoke back about 1/4 in.
Then I blew my trans and replaced it with a 4l60 out of a c4 so that shortened it another 7/8 in. I know,I know- but it only cost me some short term insanity and busted knuckles.
I think my idea then will be what I'll try 1st- a longer yoke,cut to get max spline area. The air pocket left inside bothers me for some reason. Would a wobble wear a yoke out and how fast. Yoke has been fine until now,but made a shaft loop to prevent a pole vault. I'm slipping in a 327 with another 125 hp. Hard on the nerves.
Vehicle in question is my old g van. Guess I misled y'all when I said frame. Mounts are actually a rather narrow crossmember. Built my own trans mount since vetted don't have a normal one.
Guess my new question is--- anyone have a bad experience using a extended slip yoke?

 

the yoke needs to be long enough that it's fully engaged in the bushing in the tail housing, and also has enough spline engagement. It's best if it is an inch or less from being fully forward.

sounds like your project is pretty far off topic for this place..

 

check with your local circle track supply[or Speedway Motors] for longer slip yokes-with suspensions being run today the longer yokes are common-up to 6" of splines

 

Longer driveshaft. Or if it doesn't make the wheel look to funky in the wheelwell you can redrill the centerbolt hole in the spring mount pad on the rearend. Driveshaft-expensive. Springpad modification-cheap.

 

You might try redrilling the mounting holes in the rear axle pads and just shifting the rear end forward a little. Probably easiest and cheapest way. Might not need to move a full inch to be OK, but you just have to check.

 

My first engine swap, in the mid 70's, was a BBC 396 into a 56 Chevrolet (what else?). I did the firewall "massaging" to get it in using a Hurst front saddle mount. That mount had "oblong/slotted" holes in it, and the engine would work it's way back towards the firewall, and I'd break a distributor cap. Then I'd attach a chain to the engine, loosen the mounts, and use my Mother's car to pull the engine back forward. Not a big fan of oblong/slotted holes in engine mounts; always had to carry an extra distributor cap/rotor and screwdriver whenever I took the car out. It did't spend a lot of time on the street as it also had 5.,38 gears in the rear end. There was enough "go room" in the clutch linkage, bell-housing mounts, and front engine mounts. I'd probably go with a transamatic automission now, cut and re-form the firewall, and mount it all solid (no oblong/slotted holes). I like your "Famous Potatoes" license plate trim ring; must be in Idaho? I like the idea of moving the rear end forward/backward (thought this was moving the engine back?); like the thread about the yellow 51 Chevrolet 2 door sedan J. Ukrop posted about, make it an altered wheelbase car/truck. That yellow on the 51 Chevrolet is pretty close to the color of my 56 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery.
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.