Motor / Trans mounting help! (lots of questions....)

[LDO]

First let me apologize for the lack of pictures, my phone's picture gallery decided to stop working. I will update this thread as soon as it decides to start up again.

Here's what I have:
1966 C10
283 with a Saginaw 4 speed w/bench seat.
Still using the original (heavy) bellhousing and crossmember.
Motor mounts (67-72 mounts) are bolted to the frame using the rear bolt holes which I assume are at the 6cyl location. There are 3 holes on each side of the frame.
Z Bar pivot ball on the 283 is mounted to motor just below the oil dipstick.
Everything works fine and fits however, my shifter boot and ring are so far back, that 1/2 the ring is bent almost 90 degrees up along the hump.

Here's where I am going.
350 w/ Muncie 4 speed.
Bench Seat.
eliminate the shifter location issue.

So I started thinking. Is the jacked up location of my shift ring/boot a matter of engine location or the type of shifter I am using or both?

If I move the motor mounts to the forward position, that would move everything else forward as well.

So, this means I would not use the crossmember or original bellhousing correct?
And if that's the case, I would need to attach some type of crossmember to the tail end of the Muncie correct?
I would also need to lengthen the drive shaft as well.

Also, in order to retain the original frame mount location of the z bar bracket, would I mount the motor side ball pivot towards the rear of the motor? I see a threaded boss a few inches to the rear that looks like that's what it's for on the new 350.

[Captainfab]

I'm short on time, so just a couple quick things. The '67-'72 small block engine mount brackets, bolt in at the forward location. The '63-'66's used the same engine mount brackets in the rear location for both the 230/250 I6 and the small blocks.

If you are having shifter clearance issues with your bench seat, check into a shift lever for a Tri-Five Chevy.

It sounds as though you may have a short trans hump?

[LDO]

thanks Capt. yes on the low hump.

The shifter doesn't actually hit the bench seat.

My clearance issue is with the location of the shifter hole and how part of it goes up onto the hump a little making it difficult to find a boot and ring that works properly.

[Captainfab]

Yes, that is going to be an issue with the low hump. A high hump wouldn't have that issue. You could fabricate a box to raise the area around the shifter to the same level as the floor behind the low hump. Or step the rear floor area down to the level of the low hump.

[LDO]

If I moved the motor to the forward mount location, wouldn't that fix the issue as well?

Downside would be that I can't use the original bell housing and crossmember and that would be corrected with a new/different bellhousing and a rear crossmember on the Muncie.

Am I missing something?

[Snowbound]

I had the same issue with my engine/trans swap.

I used a TKO-600 though, not a Muncie. Is the shifter location not way back on the tail shaft on the Muncie? This might put it right at the front edge of the seat.

I looked at moving the engine forward also. Would have to relocate the z-bar frame bracket forward to match. There are no holes in the crossmember for the engine mounts, so would need to drill it to match.

It would certainly add some much needed firewall to distributor clearance. My HEI is super close!

Not sure why the frame has those forward holes anyways, since both 6 and V8 mounts used the rear holes.....confuses a lot of guys!

Brian

[Captainfab]

Yes you could move the engine forward with a set of '67-72 small block engine mount brackets. But then everything that is attached to the engine will no longer fit and will need to be redone. Plus if your engine has a long water pump instead of the short pump it is supposed to have, your fan shroud may no longer fit correctly. It can be done, but it is a bit of work.

IMO a change to a high trans hump would be far less work to take care of the shifter boot issue.

Originally Posted by LDO

If I moved the motor to the forward mount location, wouldn't that fix the issue as well?

Downside would be that I can't use the original bell housing and crossmember and that would be corrected with a new/different bellhousing and a rear crossmember on the Muncie.

Am I missing something?