I'm building I guess what you'd call a Bobber Pickup. I'm at the point where I'm trying to decide whether to use a 49 F-1 steering box I have, or to buy a Vega box and set it up for cross steering. I'm using 41 Ford front axle and 48 spindles. I've seen a lot of vehicles that are using the U-shaped steering arm that attaches to the driver's side spindle using the two top holes. I need one of these that is bent to provide a vertical offset so that it doesn't hit the spring perch. Looking at the vendors I use , I don't see any the have the vertical offset. Does anyone know where to buy these? Or are people bending them ? If I use the F1 box, space gets a little tight between the SBC ramhorn exhaust manifold and the stock motor mount locaton. Someone once told me that if you use the type motor mount on the SBC that bolts to the very front of the engine block, it will put too much bending stress on the bolted connection between the engine and bell housing ( or auto trans housing ). Is this true ? Because if not, that type mount would make using the F1 box easier....I think. Any thoughts or suggestions will be appreciated.
I think the type of motor mount that goes on the front of the block is referred to as a motor plate , and is typically used in conjucttion with a mid plate between back of motor and trans. These types of mount are used for full on racing applications and typically are solid but with some crafty fabrication you could get some rubber or urethane isolation bushings at the points where the plates mount to the frame. or u could leave them solid if u want a full body massage while cruisng. http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...=0&Ne=1+2+3+13+1147708&searchTerm=motor+plate
the truck in my avatar, heres what i did. f-1 box, model A axle, 37-41 spindles, "U" shaped steering arm. 292 Y block. space was real tight as i built a tube frame. i put the steering box inside the cab, on the toe board floor. used 1/4" plate to make a mount off the frame that comes through the floor for the box to bolt to. cut a small section out of the firewall for pittman arm/steering rod to operate through. boxed it in with sheetmetal inside the cab so all you see is the box. kinda like a sprint car box is mounted. works great. you have to bend the those steering hoops your self.
all the early sbc mounted on the front of the engine from the factory.i had 6 55 chevys and they all had built engines and they all mounted with 2 little bolts up front and on the trans mount and that was it.and i never had any problems. and on the race car i grade 8 bolts andd would pull the front wheels off the ground.
Thanks for the info so far. I will look at the front mount . If I go this route I'll use the type that has a plate the entire with of the engine rather than the individual mounts that just pick up the two bolts one either side of the crank. The individual type must put a pretty good shearing and bending moment( twisting) into the connection on the block whereas the other type only puts the bolts in the block in shear. I like the idea of putting the F1 box inside the cab. Couple more questions. Which type of steering geometry is better, cross steer or traditional ? Are there really handling problems when you reverse the spindles and put the tie rod ahead of the axle ? I can avoid this in my set up , but I'm curious because I see a lot of people doing it.
If you want to use the Hurst style front mounts then I would use a pickup bellhousing with the rear mounts on the bellhousing.
you can fit the f1 box in a tight spot, its traditional, you shorten the sector shaft on the box to pull it closer to the frame. vega and all those boxes look like crap.
what are they supposed to look like? that is if you can even see it, good luck seeing mine if you use the hurst, or front mount, just make sure you support the rear of the engine at the bell housing, Better safe than sorry
Don't be afraid to use the Chevy front mounts. With four grade eight bolts there is about 200,000 pounds of shear strength. If you use the tri five bellhousing with the side mounts it will be very solid. Speedway and lots of others sell the steering arms and you can just bend the one you have by heating with a torch and bend it slowly to the shape you need. Let it slow cool, don't dunk it in a bucket of water. F-1 box is better than Vega cross steer. Tie rod in front of axle is called suicide front end for a reason.
those new boxes are ugly as can be on an old rod.... be carefull with the front mounting, i think the hurst mount would be fine,but i have a freind that used the little tabs of each side in the front and broke the block.
It isn't the strength of the bolts working with the front mounts that is the issue although a couple of the guys seem to think so. It is that if you run a front mount and a rear mount on the tail shaft you can end up with the engine/trans flexing at the bellhousing. In the past a lot of guys running automatics had front transmission seal and torque converter issues when running automatics with that setup. I've even seen at least one photo of a broken bellhousing attributed to running it that way. As for running the F-1 box vs running the cross steering Vega style box that is a 100% appearance issue and not function issue. The hard core guys think you have to have the box mounted so that the drag link runs to the left front wheel parallel to the frame or it isn't a hot rod. They tend to forget that after 1937 Ford went to cross steering on their cars. Run what fits and works best for the application unless you are hung up on "the look" and then run the F-1 box.
Use a hurst mount (hurst type) the engine and or belhousing won't break in two and it will help with your steering box problem. It is a front mount they have been using them for decades. You may have to either get a steering are and bend it your self or make one yourself.
I am running an old Hurst mount in front, a Nv3500 with the transmission mount in the back and nothing in between in my 3100 chevy pick up. So, my aluminum transmission is going to flex and break???? I want to see proof of broken bellhousings due to this type of mount...
Read the threads . I asked if what I had heard was true, Porkandbeaner said it isn't. What more do you want?
Well, I apologize . I guess I had better take my own advice and read the threads before spouting off.