Need Help.. Poncho 400CI in '53 Catalina

Hello fellas... Ive been searching for a little information but haven't found much, and what I have found makes me nervous about my swap.. "sorry fellas first timer here" I posted a build thread on my 1953 Pontiac Catalina and asked the question there, but its bugging me so much I decided I needed a little more help from you experienced folk.

I'm getting ready to put in a 1969 Pontiac 400 Engine and Trans on the stock '53 Frame. I've read its a pain, some say its a breeze.. I guess it depends on experience..lol.. but I would really like to see what your brackets or mounts look like.. or any suggestions on mounting techniques you can provide, maybe suggestions on universal kits that can be modified.. anything would Help..

Also.. once that bad boy is in, I'd like to Install headers, but Ive also read there's clearance issues with the steering box. How did you correct that?

I would really appreciate any Input, thanks for reading.
Simon

 

I made something similar to these mounts, except the earlier blocks had the dampner part of the mount on the engine, the last picture is mine. Also in my pic was when I had 58 Pontiac control arms to convert to ball joint suspension. Anyway so I used 2x2 tubing 1/4" thick with a 1/4" plate and bolted factory mounts to. I had a pretty hot welder to put these together 110V mig won't be enough for this thick of metal IMO. Keep in mind you'll need to keep your driveline angle the same however you mount it.

The driver side is the toughest for the exhaust because of the steering gearbox. I used 3 tube headers but had to go higher and off to the passenger side on my 55 which is similar to your 53. I ended up cutting up some nice 4 tube headers and redoing a few tubes.

 

49-54 cars you have a little more room to play with because they had a longer engine and thus a longer engine compartment. But steering clearance is key. Some guys have gone so far as to set the motor to the right one inch.

I would put the motor with my headers or manifolds on the cherry picker and set it in there in a mock-up fashion before I even got mounts and see where I need to position it to make it work. Any D-port header or manifold will bolt up, so you have some options if there's a clearance issue.

 

One other thing that may be a little differant in a differant year, the engine side mount lines right up with the steering gearbox. Either offset your driver side mount from the frame or I built this adapter out of 3/8" plate to offset the engine mount holes furthur forward to get a straighter shot.

 

I really appreciate the info you provided 55chieftain, It will help alot and give me options..

 

Thanks for the advice.. I keep it in mind during the mock up

 

I wonder if anyone here has any experience with Sanderson Headers, It looks like they make a set that fit the 400 and are meant to fit really tight on the 67-69 Firebird... Looks like they might solve the clearance issue with the steering box..

 

I used those on my old 58 project, they fit great.

 

I have another question fellas... Did any of you modify the frame to run the drive shaft after doing the swap? I'm running a Th400 with the long tail and its very close to the "X" I dont have a yoke at the moment but it looks like it might not fit.. it would sit at the narrow opening where normally the shaft goes through..