The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 1940 1/2 ton sbc engine placement

Hi guys and gals.
I have the frame almost boxed in. what i need to figure out is how far back the engine should be from the rad?
i want to put in the motor mounts and trans mounts.
I'm not to sure where it should go.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Barry

On my 38 I suspended the v8 and hydro to get placement. I wanted clearance for the HEI cap.Will probably do an electric fan.

I'll put a tape on mine later today. Are u looking for face of rad to face of block ?

Thanks Britcon. That would be great. That measurement should be fine. i was thinking 6" from rad to front of water pump. thats with a short pump, no fan.

OK...I have 10" from back of rad to face of heads / block. I am running short water pump with flexible fan. Have about 1 3/4" clearance tip of fan blade to rad. This placement allows good access to distributor. Rear of valve covers about 3/4" from firewall

ok Thanks!!!!
That sounds about right with my guess of 6" LOL
Now on to the next part of the build.
my goal is to have a rolling chassis by summer.

Any pics of your pickup during the build?

sure!
I have some pics on webshots here: http://rides.webshots.com/album/581220297RGQJgB
Hopefully it works LOL

yea worked perfectly. thanks. Going to start the tear down to box my frame this winter. Any tips, tricks, advice? what gauge steel did you use?

i just used 10 Gage plate from work.
you get stronger steel with the MII for the front.
we have a plasma table so i just gave the programmer the dimensions and he blasted it off for me.
The frame is quite even from the end of the boxing plate to the rise of the rear diff.
I just put some weld through primer inside to help prevent rust etc.
The truck probably wont see any rain/elements anyway so I'm not to worried about inner frame rust.
Just make sure you have good penetration and you should be good.
They made these old truck out of decent steel so i think 10 gage is fine.
What way are you going to go with your truck?
stock front? MII?
Here is one i followed to install mine:
http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0903clt_1939_chevy_truck_total_cost_involved_ifs_upgrade/
hope this helps.
Barry

10, that's what these guys use too....
http://www.progressiveautomotive.com/Boxing.htm

My father in law works in a metal fab shop, so i was going to try talk him into cuting them out on his table. Just need to figure out how/what measurements he needs to set it up.

As for the front end, i'm not sure. I'd really like to put a MII in it but, i have a 6 month old and another on the way. So i'll have to see where my play funds are when i get to that point, But in all honesty, i'll most likely end up running the stock front end for a couple years(if i can get the motor in there with the steering gear there). What did you use for the rear end, Spring wise? Did you get a kit or fab up brackets and find springs? Im thinking of doing a TCI kit and my 10 bolt

I happen to come across your original post about boxing or not, It brought up some points of flexing/welding on the frame that i had not considered. What made up your mind to box rather than not?

well i did lots of lurking at various sites and most if not all were boxed(that i could see).
I had to box in the front for the MII so i figured why not keep going.
Better to be stronger than not i suppose.
If you look at the frames on the progressive site for example, i think most are boxed.(mind you its square tube to start with).
i bought the spring kit with the heidts kit.
went with a 74 nova 10 bolt. fit right in.

I chose to use the original SM420 4 speed transmission with my V8 transplant. That meant that I could not space the 350 further forward like most people do when they switch to the easier automatic transmission setup. And that meant that I needed to clearance the firewall in three locations; where the rear of the two valve covers are, and where the HEI distributor in the middle is. Also, the valve covers I chose were more rounded, and not so square. That minimized how much clearancing I had to do.

I also had to space out the steering gearbox about an inch outboard to allow room for the wider V8. It still allowed me to use the stock steering system, but if you change over to an independent front suspension instead of the solid axle, I would recommend that. It's just that there is so much less available for 3/4 ton trucks than there is for 1/2 tonners.

I recommend a brake upgrade too, because you'll be a lot quicker, and the weak brakes will become a problem.

I started out with a 350, but when that wore out, I rebuilt a 283 this time for my truck. With a Rochester Quadrajet, and a Dana 60 with 3.50 gears, I get an honest 20 mpg on the highway. Plus the 283 has roughly 3 times the power of the old stovebolt motor.

Some metal retailers will have scrap metal from stuff they have cut. They will cut any size you need