Mounting 283 in a 55 ford PU, Volarie sub?

A friend of mine is trying to figure out how to mount his 283 into a 55 ford PU. It has a Volarie(SP) sub frame. The steering box seems to be in the way of the mount on the drivers side. Does anyone have any tips on how to mount the engine. Any tricks, any info will help. Thanks HAAS

 

1) offset the engine a little.
2) yank the box and convert it to a rack.

If you choose to use a rack, make sure it is one from a car that mounts on the back side of the spindle. Don't ask why I know this.
TZ

 

All you have to do is offset the motor 1". You'll never see it. I did my 53 and it worked great. DO NOT BUY NO LIMIT ENGINEERING volare stuff. It sucks and their tech support guys tell you that if you are not a "pro builder" you don't need their stuff. The quality sucked too.

Tell him he can look at mine if he is interested...not a whole lot of graphic pics but here ya go...Go to member's rides. Root's page

 

most people offset the engine towards the passenger side about an inch to an inch and a half... seems kinda funky to me. (it shows in my car... big block mopar, offset 1.6 inches... looks funny)

If you can live without power steering, a manual box is way smaller... but sorta tough to find. Some base model, 6cyl volares, aspens and others had a manual box. That would let the motor sit in nicely, without a funky offset.

The rack & pinion steering idea would be cool, but the K-member is kinda in the way of properly placing a rack to avoid bumpsteer.

For my money, i'd track down a manual steering box... power steering is over rated, anyway...

 

Remember, if you offset the front of the engine, you MUST off set the rear of the engine/transmission exactly the same amount.
The engine must remain parallel to the frame when looking down at it from the top, or the drive shaft U joints will be out of phase. (unless you use a three U joint, two piece shaft or a CV jointed shaft)

 

I disagree Doc. Ujoints only work when used in an angle. The tranny will naturally have to follow the motor but the rearend doeesn't. Mine was fine.

 

never mind...I reread.

 

i just went out and tried to take pix of my left motor mount structure. too dark under there and the pix didn't turn out. sorry. but here's a description: i just built up a steel framework over the volare steering box. i did it in such a way that i can replace the box if it ever goes bad. i just started cutting cardboard patterns. built up and over the box starting nearer the centerline of the truck and bridged out over the box. been that way since '92 and has performed flawlessly.

engine is centered side to side (no offset).

'48 ford f-1 (frame is nearly identical to 53-56 f-100's except the f-100 frame is an inch or so wider. also has 283 for power. original rams horn manifolds.