I tried the search function for a few hours with no luck......Need some help please. I have a 54 F100 with a 2nd gen Camaro subframe. Installed by PO. Stock firewall. I am trying to install a SBC I got off of craigslist. I am working with the stock Chevy clam shell motor mount setup. I finally figured out after a day of frustration that I need to move the motor about 3.5inches forward of the original Camaro motor mount location. I can make an adapter plate to move the motor forward using the stock mounts. But this still puts the oil pan really close to the cross member. Right now the pan is about 1/2" or less above the cross member. I need to raise the motor up as well. My questions are: How much vertical clearance should I have between the crossmember and oilpan. Hate to have everything in and can' t get the oil pan off. Looks like the center dump ram horns exhaust wont work once I move the motor forward. Any recommendations on exhaust manifolds. Thank you in advance!
check sites like summitracing.com for different style oil pans to help give you clearance.as for exhaust manifolds, lots of GMs with different dump tube angle designs. place Wanted Ad here and likely someone has one that will work. post pics so everyone understands exactly what you are working on. can always cut firewall to gain more room too so, you can have engine in original location of sub-frame. Custom&Classic Trucks Magazine has had some articles on F100 Camaro Front Clip Installation . Look in archives from 95-97. Also, they had an article "Camaro-ize the F100. try ford-trucks.com too. search here for Camaro Front Clip.
So you got to jack the engine up to get the oil pan off. I've had to even in cases I thought I didn't. Never seems like enough room for that.
it seems to me that it would be easier to pull the pan off the engine with the engine out, so keeping it low as possible would be my vote. also ran into issues with ram horn manifolds dumping at the rear of the cross member. the solution, c notch the crossmember for clearance . pleanty strong with 1/4" tubing. anyway, thats what works for me.
Sorry, All I have is this cellphone pic I took of the adapter plate and Camaro mounts. I will try and get more pics up. Pic below is with the motor moved forward 3.5inches to clear the firewall. Unfortunately I need to reposition the motor higher as well. I can make another adapter plate to do this. Wasn't fully thinking with my first attempt. Just hoping someone can guide me on how much clearance I should have between the top of my crossmember and the bottom of the oil pan.
One thing you don,t want the engine to low your fan may chop off your trans lines if to low, you want fan to be in center of raditor.You could look at around 68 chevy pu manifolds they are center dump but also angle back.
I dont like that....it's not that it doesnt look like quality work....it does....will it work? most likley....I dont like the fact taht you have that leverage out there.... Here is a pic of the motor mounts I'm using....they arn't the standard clamshells the rubber mount (in this case neoprene...PST mounts) is bolted to the engine....then you just need to fab a simple beam mount. This is on my truck (not a F1.....its a 49 AD) but the subframe is the same... I also used center dumps though had to section a peice out of the cross member and replace it with recessed plate steel.... if you want to see the enlarged pic go here (on my build thread) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=320267&page=2 THere is a few in progress pics that I cant seem to get loaded right above the pic that did that will explain what I did a bit better Edit: It should be noted that teh engine mounts I used were over the counter chevy peices....I think monte carlo in the 80's....they were nothing special though
l think moving the engine that far foreward is asking for problems. throw the balance of the truck off and the tranny mount. will moving it foreward interfere with the raditor? on my truck l had the same problem and just notched the firewall to fit the back of the motor. l used a wheelbarrow to do the firewall mod and it worked great. on page 3 & 5 of the build thread are a few picks. Later
Thanks for the replies everyone. I am trying to avoid notching the firewall. I just returned it to stock which was a PITA. It originally had like a 6-7" recess with a Ford EFI motor in it. I have seen pics of F100's with a Camaro clip and SBC/stock firewall. Just can't seem to find any now that I am looking for some.
I've been doing F-100's since the 60's. Installed many GM small blocks and never cut any firewalls. You could but I wouldn't advise it. Do not worry about minimum pan clearance. Not knowing where the frame is in relation to the stock rails limits any good advise I can give you. What I will say is mount the core support and install the Rad. With the fan on the motor it can be as close as 1" or as far back as 1" between firewall and dist. Generally I discard stock G.M. frame mounts and build a stand up to early G.M. block mounts. With the motor raised properly steering and exhaust generally are not an issue. Here is a photo of a 53 with a Chevell graph and a Hemi. Notice no firewall notch and good fan to rad. The Wizzard
rule of thumb is 3/4 of an inch for the oil pan you can take the mtr mt off and make a plate to go on block first transfer bolt pattern and drill out you will need longer bolts you can make the appropriate thickness to obtain 3/4 inch it has been my experience you normally don,t remove the oil pan very often nbd you could also move the motor around by plate on frame and off set the mount that bolts to frame like they do on s10 sbc mounts
I have a 56 f100, SBC, second generation Camaro subframe. I located the engine so the fan is centered in the stock fan shroud. To lessen future problems, I notched and boxed the X-member under the front of the oil pan. No problems for the last 45 thousand miles.
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