Quote:
Originally Posted by 68c10airstream
My choice in mounts is not the norm but these were my reasons for doing what I did
Late model mounts for smoothness, safety, and quality.
Mount the engine as low and rearward as possible to accommodate better handling, better factory ls ac mounting, more room at firewall.
Dirty dingo mounts seem to raise the engine up higher than what I wanted.
I used "F" body oil pan because it's the thinnest up front (above the crossmember)
I sourced trailblazer ss AC parts because I wanted the suction and discharge lines running front to rear instead of side to side and didn't want to notch my frame for a ac line. Some have worked around this issue.
I put a 5.3 in my 68 c10 with sanderson tight tuck headers (68-72 nova ls application) and used the factory organ donor ls mounts and made my own motor mount bracket to bolt to the crossmember. I did this all about 6 years ago.
Reservations?? None, I would retrace my steps again but would probably source maybe Camaro or corvette mounts that look like biscuits, down low and tucked in, would probably sit on top of the crossmember with a minimum bracket needing to be made.
I notice many ls headers rubbing on the factory engine perches that attach on top of the frame rail. I removed those when I did my own mounts.
Dirty dingo mounts and a few others have to be modified to use the gm ls ac compressor, mine doesn't because it was not a problem when in it's stock configuration.
To be honest my ac isn't completed yet because of major house repairs but I have mocked mine up and all is good. Special fabricated evap box and I should be good to go.
I stuck with factory ac because I like the blower motor on the outside of the firewall pulling in fresh air. Some aftermarket ac systems pull under dash stale air and the blower motor is inside the cabin. They work very good but I favor Harrison ac systems. As my auto teacher told me " if it's good enough to go in a rolls Royce it's good enough for me".
I've ranted enough as a few probably are not crazy about what I have posted, but after 30 plus years as a ase mechanic I like factory stuff, hard to beat a room full of factory engineers . This is in my mind why the ls is such a fantastic platform.
|
So your mount is lower than Dirty Dingo, fairly far back, and AC fits? Could you post some pictures?
Tejas Steelworks on FB was claiming that pushing it up/forward doesn't hurt handling at all because the iron block LS is 160lb lighter than an SBC
every little bit matters, doesn't mean you'll notice on a street truck