engine mounts
Those Buick high arched front subframe rails leave me no where to mount the engine to.
they are also why I dispensed with the idea of going low with a tubular cradle mounting something like a mustang II setup.
I can draw one up I just don't want to build it.
My other option was installing the rear as a 4 link and going with custom one-off a frame suspension in the front. I just can't spend that much time on it and i bought the car to build it like this in the first place.
yes quite a few people have been telling me to pro street it or build a ralleye cruiser.
I had a 71 firebird for 20 years you almost couldn't roll a beer an under. time for something different.
I think the arch in the sub rails makes them stronger vertically and also less subject to twist.
The questionable area is going to be where the front unibody meets the cowl.
Anyway since it is what it is, and my plan was to leave as much original car intact as possible...
I'm going with a front motor plate and a rear tranny mount with no mid plate (no room).
The engine is a 67 pontiac 389 bored .060 over to 400 with 6x heads and edelbrock Performer-rpm cam and intake with an 800cfm 455 quadrajet and hooker super comps...
The 389 has a lakewood and a Billet hays flywheel
I could fab little batwings to bolt to the lakewood which would mount to the sub rails to stiffen up the chassis but I’d like to avoid using the engine as a structural component.
I’m going to have to tap the oil filter pad for AN fittings and run a remote filter
there are AN fittings in brass but they call them J-something for "joint..something something.". I need help remembering what they are called I want to go with brass.
they would be the same ones used in the commercial vehicle market with braided line.
If I have room I'm going to fabricate a clutch pedal and linkage assembly...
If not I have one of every gm non-electronic trannies they used in the 70's and 80's I could put in there.
200r4, 700r4, th350 th350c th400
If I'm lucky I won't have to butcher the firewall
It's a highboy, the engine doesn't have to touch the radio
It looks like if I remove the heater and go with a desert air i can get the new mill installed in roughly the same location as the little 215.
A benefit of the pontiac engine in a tight spot like this is that the exhaust manifolds point down.
I'm still undecided if I want to use a Saginaw 545 steering box or a grand national or SS power box
it's going to be front steer/cross steer- plenty of room for either.
My radiator tank saddle mounts I make are kinda cool
I use short pieces of smooth 3/8 rod and force plain black rubber 3/8 fuel line over them for cushion after I bend them into U-shaped radiator saddles and weld them to brackets.
They work very nice without harming the radiator.
I invented them for my Firebird after I tossed the broken plastic shroud.
Put many miles on them with no problems.