Hi all, This is my first try at a thread here, So Ive got this 35, and I'm trying to make a plan and stick with it, Its got a 9" on Chassis Eng. leafs, now comes the motor choice, from the little amount of research ive done small block Chevs are the recommended choice with the small Ford a close second, but Ive got this toploader for a 390 and access to a good 390 FE and I am hoping for advice and help from folks that have put a big block or something else interesting in their fat fendered Ford. And how well it fit and if they retained any or all of the hood. Exhaust routing and stuff. Please forgive me if their is a thread allready about this, I tried the search engine but figured Id put some photos up and introduce the car too. Thanks Carcass message me if youre in the Seattle area and have a 35/36
Also who has put a bigblock or nailhead,caddy,rb chrysler, in a 35/36, did you stay with wishbones and dropped axle? Or did you go to a Mustang 2 or something else
I'm fitting up a 31 A roadster with an FE and you have alot more room, I'm streching my frame 3" in front of the firewall so I don't have to tunnel it. Also if you run into any oilpan clearance issues. 4X4 FE Pickup's had rear sump pans. I've got 2 of them & they are not that hard to find. Movin/on
I'd think you'd have plenty of room, might need a little work at the crossmember and a 4x4 pan & pickup. There are several versions of the original log exhaust manifolds if nothing else fits, but there are many different headers for cars, pickups, etc., and Sanderson has some nice street rod hugger headers for the FE. A Mustang II/crossmember setup would probably be the best, and would bring with it rack & pinion and disc brakes, and let you route the steering shaft where you want for clearance. Lots of great induction setups for the FE, and valve covers like the "THUNDERBIRD"'s, chrome & aluminum pentroofs, CalCustom straight ribs, etc. Very easy universal crossmember for the side engine mounts is a round-tube early Galaxie unit, and you can use factory mounts. Aluminum water pump, serpentine belts, all that stuff is available. A nice 3-deuce would be sweet in there.. Make sure your toploader is actually for an FE, the small-block units have a longer input shaft- you can shorten the shaft or space it out, just not a nice surprise at the last minute
My roadster is getting a stick. I'll fabricate up a mechanical Z-bar setup since I've got a good selection. I priced Hyd setup's and the internal ones are just too expensive. It was setup for a SBC & a stick when I got it so not too much to change. Working on my 48 Lincoln now then a 60 Vette Gasser & finally the 31 Roadster. Good info MeanGene! Movin/on
Thanks for the replies MeanGene and Movin/on, and for the btt from Moses. I do have the matching toploader for a 390 numbers say its from a Mustang and it does have the short input shaft, I also have a toploader from a 289. Took some measurements of the 390 and its a lot of motor for a tight spot, but cubes would be good in there, Sure would like to see some pictures of big block 35-40 Fords Also I see that Bob Drake is making a reproduction 39 Ford pedal assembly, looks interesting, it mounts a modern 2 bolt master cylinder or a 40 Ford style 3 bolt.
OK I'll give you my thoughts though I have never done this swap myself. First the FE390 Ford is a great choice for a hot rod. I refrain from calling it a "big block" That is a Chevrolet term. The FE was at the time of it's introduction simply a medium cube engine with room to grow. Remember it started out as a 332, 352 and 361 cube passenger car engine in 1958. The FE as we all know has probably the most varied and successful racing heritages of any engine conceived in the 1950's, and I include the sbc in that comparison. The 1935 Ford has one of the tighter engine compartments as far as I know. You have to decide if you want to preserve that original firewall or at least most of it. The 390 like other front oil pump, front distributor Ford engines has some interference problems with the stock crossmember. If you go to say a Mustang II suspension you can clear the oil pump fairly easily with a 4 x 4 truck rear sump pan. Should you choose to keep the original front suspension and the stock firewall then you'll need to section the front crossmember (not hard) and lower the center of it to clear the aforementioned 4 x 4 truck pan. Ride height can be restored by de- arching the spring a little. As far as overall engine length goes I'm just not sure. Once again if you don't mind cutting into the stock firewall the sky is the limit. I'm guessing if you setback the engine, you can keep it low enough to preserve the whole top section of the firewall which is all you really can see with the hood open on this type of car. Remember on a proper Ford engine you don't have to worry about the distributor being buried in the firewall like the situation you have with Brand X. The FE Ford is about 2 inches longer than the sbc. If you wanted to get really fancy you could get that 2 inches back by shortening the crank snout and water pump. How? Well the FE Fords have quite a long crank snout. Probably any crank rebuilder could chop a specified amount off and then remachine the end. The water pump could be shortened significantly by removing the shaft/bearing assy. Boring into the housing deeper and removing some water pump shaft length. Obviously this would be cool but a little involved. Keep us posted with pics and updates. Love to see how this turns out. I once saw a `47 Ford Coupe with a 352FE. The guy built it bone stock to make it look like the factory installed it. It was very cool. Good luck!
You may have to have some set back into the firewall. I would run an electric fan, to save a few inches up front. My cousin dropped a 390 4speed into a 31 Dodge sedan, and it looks great, and it's different.
Pinkee's Rod Shop in Colorado built a stunning 36 Ford Roadster with a 427 dual quad FE motor. It was backed by a manual trans, but not sure if it was a top loader. They might share a bit of info with you. Here area couple of photos of that beautiful roadster. It appears that a 5 inch set back firewall has been installed. Good Luck
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