Finally get to pretend I am one of the cool kids - Holley kit swap

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DionR said:
I don't think that would work. The mount on the k-frame has a flange that captures the washer. The washer and flange on the mount are what actually keep the motor from lifting. Not sure there is room for the washer if I move the slot over. I could grind one side of the washer down to fit but that feels iffy as the washer would have to be oriented from then on when bolting the mount down.

I agree that I don't expect to ever go back to an LA.

One thing that hadn't occurred to me until this morning is I haven't even tried to twist the motor. It could be that it isn't square in the chassis and my 1/8" could all be because the header is pushing the back of the motor over. Something I now need to look into before I do anything. I might have to pull the motor and remove the header and see how it lands after that.

And yes, my brain is such that I can't just let go of this.
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That flange crossed my mind as well. You might be able to run a slightly undersize washer and deal with it that way. Would still act as a safety if it tried to lift, but it might move a bit before it hit the flange.
 
So my wife opened the garage door to get her car out and I couldn't help but step out and poke around some.

Here are some pictures of the mount and how the washer helps keep the motor locate.

20241120_104829.jpg


20241120_104905.jpg


I also tried to twist the motor and it feels very solid. So I don't think there is a twist that is causing the offset that I am measuring.

I also snapped some more pictures of the header to inner fender clearance and the clearance to the valve cover on the PS.

20241120_104937.jpg


20241120_105505.jpg


In addition, I grabbed some allen wrenches and used them to check clearances. Looks like the tightest spot on the header is about 7/64" clear and on the PS there is about 1/4" clear between the VC and the inner fender.

After looking at it some more, I am starting to wonder if Holley didn't intentionally slide the motor over 1/8" to gain some clearance for the VC. I've heard that can be a trouble spot and my brother on his '71 Demon build using Holley's billet VC had to notch his inner fender. So maybe I am good and am starting to lean towards not doing anything.

@racerjoe, how much clearance do you have on your PS valve cover? Ever tried to remove it with the motor in the car? @Dantra, too late to ask how close your VC was, but maybe you have an idea how my motor location compares to yours with the above pictures? @Map63Vette, any comparison info?
 
My PS VC is pretty close as well. I know I had to cut off the stud portion of the bolts for it to make it fit. I can't recall if I took a grinder and put a bit of a bevel on it or not though. I drove it to work today though, so I'll try to remember to grab some pictures. I did do a cam swap with the engine in the car, so the covers would have come off. They don't really need to lift up if you take the coils off first, they are pretty much flush mount with o-rings, so as long as you can get to the hardware I don't think that would be a problem. I have TTI headers and an older 5.7, but I'll have to look at the DS as well now just because I'm curious.
 
To be clear, I held the 1/4" allen wrench vertical with the flat against the inner fender and slid it back and forth to check the clearance. I could feel it drag on the VC, but not enough to say it had less than 1/4" clear and enough to say it didn't have more than that.
 
DionR said:
So my wife opened the garage door to get her car out and I couldn't help but step out and poke around some.

Here are some pictures of the mount and how the washer helps keep the motor locate.

View attachment 1716329974

View attachment 1716329975

I also tried to twist the motor and it feels very solid. So I don't think there is a twist that is causing the offset that I am measuring.

I also snapped some more pictures of the header to inner fender clearance and the clearance to the valve cover on the PS.

View attachment 1716329976

View attachment 1716329977

In addition, I grabbed some allen wrenches and used them to check clearances. Looks like the tightest spot on the header is about 7/64" clear and on the PS there is about 1/4" clear between the VC and the inner fender.

After looking at it some more, I am starting to wonder if Holley didn't intentionally slide the motor over 1/8" to gain some clearance for the VC. I've heard that can be a trouble spot and my brother on his '71 Demon build using Holley's billet VC had to notch his inner fender. So maybe I am good and am starting to lean towards not doing anything.

@racerjoe, how much clearance do you have on your PS valve cover? Ever tried to remove it with the motor in the car? @Dantra, too late to ask how close your VC was, but maybe you have an idea how my motor location compares to yours with the above pictures? @Map63Vette, any comparison info?
Click to expand...
7mm (.2755) on the PS side. The 3rd bolt will have to be walked out with a wrench but not impossible. I may actually be doing it soon because I want to ditch the stock pushrods and put some beefier ones in. As much as I find the limiter, I figured it would be in my best interest to have some valve train rigidity.
 
My pass side vc is probably close to that if not a little closer. Man, pop those washers off and see if it won't shift.. Looks like it will. You may just need to get some grinder action going on those washers and make the like a cam
 
Map63Vette said:
My PS VC is pretty close as well. I know I had to cut off the stud portion of the bolts for it to make it fit. I can't recall if I took a grinder and put a bit of a bevel on it or not though. I drove it to work today though, so I'll try to remember to grab some pictures. I did do a cam swap with the engine in the car, so the covers would have come off. They don't really need to lift up if you take the coils off first, they are pretty much flush mount with o-rings, so as long as you can get to the hardware I don't think that would be a problem. I have TTI headers and an older 5.7, but I'll have to look at the DS as well now just because I'm curious.
Click to expand...
So you are running the TTI kit? And similar clearances, i honestly think adjusting the header would be the easiest option for him, as looks like could hug the block tighter
 
Ozyduster said:
So you are running the TTI kit? And similar clearances, i honestly think adjusting the header would be the easiest option for him, as looks like could hug the block tighter
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Yeah, it's an old setup though. I did my swap with an 06 5.7 the better part of 10+ years ago, so TTI was about the only option out there aside from stock manifolds. Can't complain too much though, it all bolted in fine and seem to fit okay. Definitely tight in a few places like the steering box and torsion bar, but it all clears as far as I'm aware. The coating on mine went bad pretty quick though. They were supposedly ceramic coated, but they have flaked and pitted pretty bad on the bottom end of the car.
 
Ozyduster said:
So you are running the TTI kit? And similar clearances, i honestly think adjusting the header would be the easiest option for him, as looks like could hug the block tighter
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that these are stainless and not everybody has the ability to weld them.
 
racerjoe said:
7mm (.2755) on the PS side. The 3rd bolt will have to be walked out with a wrench but not impossible.
Click to expand...

So if anything your motor is minutely closer to the centerline of the car. Interesting.

racerjoe said:
I may actually be doing it soon because I want to ditch the stock pushrods and put some beefier ones in. As much as I find the limiter, I figured it would be in my best interest to have some valve train rigidity.
Click to expand...

I am convinced that at least one source of the "hemi tick" is pushrods being a touch short. When they press the balls into the tubes, I think sometimes they bow the tube and end up with a pushrod that is shorter than speck.

So better pushrods make a ton of sense to me.
 
Dantra said:
My pass side vc is probably close to that if not a little closer.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Dantra said:
Man, pop those washers off and see if it won't shift.. Looks like it will. You may just need to get some grinder action going on those washers and make the like a cam
Click to expand...

The washer isn't limiting the side to side movement. The slot is only marginally larger than the bolt and is radiused at the bottom so the weight of the motor is going to center the bolt on that radius provided both mounts are located correctly. And there isn't much slop in the slot anyways. So popping the washer off alone isn't going to get me anywhere.

And based on the input here I am starting to thing I don't want it any further to the PS. I plan to see how the VC bolts come out but my gut says if I move the motor over 1/8", I won't be removing the VC's without at least jacking the motor up.
 
DionR said:
So if anything your motor is minutely closer to the centerline of the car. Interesting.



I am convinced that at least one source of the "hemi tick" is pushrods being a touch short. When they press the balls into the tubes, I think sometimes they bow the tube and end up with a pushrod that is shorter than speck.

So better pushrods make a ton of sense to me.
Click to expand...
Dennys mounts have adjustment in all directions. This is kinda where it landed.

I measured the pushrods. They were all perfect. They are just thin wall.
 
Ozyduster said:
And similar clearances, i honestly think adjusting the header would be the easiest option for him, as looks like could hug the block tighter
Click to expand...

I don't think I want to adjust the header. It might have been able to be done tighter, but I don't have a steering column in the car yet so there might be reasons.

I really think some careful hammer blows to the inner fender would open that up quite a bit. And since this is the side where the motor rocks away (assuming there is any kind of squish to the motor mounts), the gap will only get better while it is running.
 
racerjoe said:
Dennys mounts have adjustment in all directions. This is kinda where it landed.
Click to expand...

To be clear, based on your measurement and my redneck method of checking, I would say our motors are in the same spot relative to the centerline of the car.

Very interesting.
 
DionR said:
To be clear, based on your measurement and my redneck method of checking, I would say our motors are in the same spot relative to the centerline of the car.

Very interesting.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry the centerline.. these things fit where they fit.
 
I got it! Tape a block of wood to each fender well , insert jack and start spreading

:rofl:
 
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