hey i am building a rod with an model a frame using a 27 roadster body with a 8ba flathead mill i have the book and the position it says to put the engine mounts is way too close to the radiator the fan will be in the fan is there a shorter fan shaft and shorter water pumps availabe.
Never mind the book.... It is always wise to mock everything up before starting your build. with the body located and radiator in place, take lots of measurements and then position your motor mounts. I find that books are sometimes misleading and that you should always use your best judgment.
Yep, mock it up and see where it has to be mounted. 8ba pulley setup is a little longer than the earlier engines so you'll need a little extra room. If you want to run the earlier fan setup, you'll need to change the timing cover, distributor, crank pulley, water pumps, and although I don't believe it's entirely necessary, if you're going that far you might as well run the early heads too. You'll also need to change the cam to run the earlier distributor.
Fan placement is a big problem. You could run early pumps to bring your belt in closer to the block. That might allow you to install a puller electric fan. Then you have to come up with a system to route the belt around the distributor. I did that by hard mounting the alternator and taking up the adjustment with a pulley on one side and a pulley on the distributor side to route the belt under the base of the dizzy. Another way you might explore is using the 348/409 Chevy water pump conversion. The fan will mount on the pump and it sits low, but not as low as a 59A crank mounted fan. It might be good placement on a roadster like you're envisioning. I have one of those set ups available if you are interested.
It would be much easier to mock it all up from the front back, and move the body back a few inches to compensate.
Like ol don says, I put my radiator behind the crossmember made room from there back, no cut firewall, back axle ends up where it ends up.
You can make anything work, but there is a bit of "misinformation" in the book. Mike meant to recommend the 32 wishbone and the motor mount dimensions he quotes are for a 33/34. The 32 bone is a couple inches longer and moves the engine rearward. Things get kinda tight at the firewall but it's very workable and you have plenty of room up front for a fan. He explained the mix-up in this post: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58724 The easiest way to locate the motor mounts if you are using a stock 32 wishbone/K-member is to install the axle, hook up the wishbone/K-member as an assembly and let the K-member find home on the frame rails. The flatty will sit in the Model A like it's supposed to be there (At least in a 28/29. I did give the lower edge of the firewall a couple bumps with the butt end of a post hole bar for a little more clearance at the oil filler for the throttle linkage). Here's a picture of my car so you can see where that put the mount:
The Jalopy Journal
