Motor Mount Perches?

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

I was thinking about this a little more. These pictures are how I repaired the frame on my SWB K10. I would check your frame really good for wallered out engine and crossmember mount holes, it’s super common on the K trucks. I would also check the area around where the steering box mounts for cracks before you install the engine. That’s another Another super common thing on the K trucks, that’s much easier to repair when the engine and front body clip are out of the way.

Someone at some point in time removed the very front frame crossmember and ran the trucks that way with 33” tires for who knows how long. The frame was cracked pretty bad at the steering box, as well as the upper holes were elongated on the frame and motor mount crossmember both. I drilled the holes to exactly 7/16” and then welded these thick washers to the frame. The washers were originally 3/8” that I drilled to 7/16” in an effort make sure the fit was as tight as possible to try and prevent any excess movement of the frame rails while driving. I had to do similar to my K20 at the very front crossmember as the rivets were all loose on it as well. My K10 is a long term project that I had to boot outside for a while so excuse the surface rust on the frame where it was repaired. I’ll get back on it one of these days.

Great suggestions, thanks. I suspect I may have to re-drill my engine and trans crossmember holes when I install the engine. Since I'm running a rebuilt 700r4/241C passenger drop from a 1990 Suburban, I bought a 1990 burb front and rear driveshaft at a wrecking yard, and my plan is to drop in the engine and trans and hook up the front driveshaft and use that as my guide as to how far forward to mount the engine. That way I'll only have to have my rear driveshaft cut to length. I don't foresee any issues with that approach unless the front driveshaft is a way different length than earlier ones, which I doubt is the case. If I'm wrong, I hope someone can chime in.

Someone also previously installed power steering on it, and they welded in a thick metal plate to reinforce the steering box area, and they welded up a crack also, so no worries there. I bought a new 1978 quick ratio ps box to replace the earlier one they installed though, which was 4.5 turns of the wheel compared to the newer 3.5.

I'm going to start a new thread in the k10 builds forum once I get some pics taken.

Thanks-