DIY4X Crossmember with a BBC

[Mr Banshee]

Been a member of this site for about a year now and found this a wealth of knowledge in addition a great resource for parts for my 72 K5 4x4 build and just wanted to say thanks to members that I have been in contact.

Moving forward on my build or should I say I am at the point de-rigging 40 + years of mechanics in training on this truck. I’m currently reworking the Big Block 396 placement in the chassis. The current drivetrain is a turbo 350/205 trans/transfer combo with a 14 bolt floater out back and Dana 44 up front. Current plan is to install a Turbo 400 Trans and rework the 205 transfer to mate with it.

The engine installation at best would considered hacked. The frame and cross member was mutilated to clear the headers which who knows the header application should have belonged to. I decided to go with the DIY4X Engine cross member. What a great fit this member has been. Read a lot about pan clearance on this site but with the one I received there was plenty of clearance with the stock pan, maybe a different story with an aftermarket one. For round one of mock-up, the cross member was installed in the small block mounting holes. During attachment of the cross bar the frame pulled in somewhat however the engine dropped right into place. With this position, the engine is right at the fire wall. No chance to put valve covers on without serious firewall massaging. In addition with the turbo 400 bolted up and the transfer case adapter on, I noticed that the orientation for the transfer case shifter will enter into the cab about 3 ½ inches back from the original hole basically putting it right thru the floor cross member.

Round 2 of mock-up, my plan is to move the engine cross member up to the next set of holes basically moving the engine forward about 2/12 inches. This should give me ample clearance for valve covers without chopping into firewall and putting the T-case shifter close to the factory hole in the Trans hump. 2 things that I am struggling with are the header selection and the cooling aspect. So this leaves me at the moment a couple questions to ask. Header Selection and Cooling. I have been reviewing a lot of threads and it seems that the Hooker Headers 520-2463 series has been used more and with better fit. Has anyone that has used the DIY4X member and what was there best header option? On to the second question. I currently have a pristine 4 core brass radiator that I will be using. The plan is to use a clutch fan. The water pump and brackets are of the shorty water pump style to give the most clearance. From my initial measurements of the engine placement with the factory cross member, this fan style was going to work out great with a 2wd fan shroud. Now using the DIY4X member and shifting the engine forward for the added Trans length this is not in the cards. My thought is to come up with a happy medium for engine placement so I can use a clutch fan with perhaps a Big Block fan shroud. This will force me to punch new holes in the frame and rework the Trans hump. So this question maybe more of what is your opinions and suggestions for cooling ideas. I’ll get some pics posted after this weekend. Thanks….Mike