Finally get to pretend I am one of the cool kids - Holley kit swap
Man, progress has been so slow. Partly because I spend way too much time overthinking things, partly because it is cold out and partly because the holidays took a bunch of time.
But I am close to finally cutting some sheetmetal for the trans/bell. So maybe some real progress soon, hopefully before the new year.
Either way, couple of things I have learned as I beat my head against the wall.
A; it appears that the Holley mounts don't just set the motor forward, but they also put it higher by about 3/4". The TTI measurements say the crank should be 5.25" above the top of the k-frame, I am getting 6". I suspect that the 90 degree oil filter adapter wouldn't fit as well without this lift, but just a guess. I know the oil pan doesn't have enough room to come down that much either. I'm not going to do anything about it, but it explains why I felt like I was going to have to cut my firewall more than I expected since the motor was forward 1.75".
2; for anyone else looking at doing this swap, I am setting my motor at 3 degrees. Based on some semi-accurate measurements and layouts, it looks like I can keep my u-joint angles happy at that inclination. I looked at 2, 2.5 and 4 degrees down and all of them had issues with u-joint angles. I know this is just a guess right now and I will look at it again before I weld anything solid, but it looks like 3 degrees down will work with just about any pinion angle while the others wouldn't. This probably only applies to swaps using the Holley mounts though. And yes, the car is sitting at close to ride height.
D; the pinion angle on my stock 8.25" is weird. Everything I read says the pinion and engine angles should be close to parallel and best guess the stock engine would be about 4 degree down, but the pinion angle is just under a half a degree up (or opposite the engine slope). I know with a leaf spring suspension, you want it to be able to wrap up some and come into alignment but 4.5 degrees off? Something seems off.
Man, progress has been so slow. Partly because I spend way too much time overthinking things, partly because it is cold out and partly because the holidays took a bunch of time.
But I am close to finally cutting some sheetmetal for the trans/bell. So maybe some real progress soon, hopefully before the new year.
Either way, couple of things I have learned as I beat my head against the wall.
A; it appears that the Holley mounts don't just set the motor forward, but they also put it higher by about 3/4". The TTI measurements say the crank should be 5.25" above the top of the k-frame, I am getting 6". I suspect that the 90 degree oil filter adapter wouldn't fit as well without this lift, but just a guess. I know the oil pan doesn't have enough room to come down that much either. I'm not going to do anything about it, but it explains why I felt like I was going to have to cut my firewall more than I expected since the motor was forward 1.75".
2; for anyone else looking at doing this swap, I am setting my motor at 3 degrees. Based on some semi-accurate measurements and layouts, it looks like I can keep my u-joint angles happy at that inclination. I looked at 2, 2.5 and 4 degrees down and all of them had issues with u-joint angles. I know this is just a guess right now and I will look at it again before I weld anything solid, but it looks like 3 degrees down will work with just about any pinion angle while the others wouldn't. This probably only applies to swaps using the Holley mounts though. And yes, the car is sitting at close to ride height.
D; the pinion angle on my stock 8.25" is weird. Everything I read says the pinion and engine angles should be close to parallel and best guess the stock engine would be about 4 degree down, but the pinion angle is just under a half a degree up (or opposite the engine slope). I know with a leaf spring suspension, you want it to be able to wrap up some and come into alignment but 4.5 degrees off? Something seems off.