The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop TBI 350 in to 1959 Chevy Truck

I am contemplating a TBI 350 from a 1989 Chevy truck with a 700R4 transmission to my 1959. I have a 1957 with a factory V-8 under toe hood. The distributor cap is awfully close to the firewall. The problem is there only about 8 inches between the front of the block and the radiator in the '57. The '89 has about 10 inches from the front of the block to the tip of the fan clutch. My options are to lose the fan completely and move the '89 engine away from the firewall to have more room for the HEI distributor cap. I can lose the fan clutch fan and install the original fan, but the clearance is still very close. Has anyone completed a project like this yet? If I lose the fan, am I sure to overheat even if I buy an aluminum radiator? I want to stay with the serpentine system on the '89 if possible because it is complete, but I dont want to have overheating problems.

I'm assuming the '57 was originally a V8 truck. You can mount another radiator support in the six cylinder position, which is about 5 inches forward of the V8 location. You'll have to cut the fender mounts off the v8 support and leave them in place.

I did this on my '56 and installed an electric fan. I used a radiator support from a 2-ton by the way. Whooda thought they were the same?

Can't you install a thermo fan? people drop the normal fan and install an electric thermo fan on the radiator.
Brendon

All you need is a little firewall adjustment. I converted my ’58 from points to HEI a while back. I didn’t jack with the engine placement at all.

I started with only ¼”

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/alb...I%20conversion/th_About1-4inch.jpg[/IMG]

I drew a line where the firewall needed a little messaging.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/alb...n/th_drawalinebeforethebeating.jpg[/IMG]

Then, took this delicate adjustment tool and did some “messaging” on the firewall (removed the distributor cap & rotor, of course).

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/alb...th_administerofthefinalbeating.jpg[/IMG]

Ended up with little over ½” and have run it that way for a couple of years with no problems.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/alb...I%20conversion/th_about1-2inch.jpg[/IMG]

A little bondo and some paint and you can't tell it..

Hope this helps…

How's about a skinny electric fan setup? Running without fans is asking for an overheat, but a good set of electric fans is not overly expensive nd will fityour needs very well.

Kyle

The 89 comes with the small dist. If you use it you shouldn,t have any clearance problems. On my 58 carbureted I used the old point type dist with a Crane conversion to solid state.

Thanks for your help. I did not realize that the radiator was situated 5 inches farther forward. I makes sense though as the block is longer than the v-8 block. I was taking measurements from my factory v-8 truck and thought that I would not have enough space. Now I have plenty of space.