Gotta just pull the trigger

[wayno]

So I've been waiting for the new motor mounts for my new porterbuilt cross member and they arrived late last but I've frozen on putting this thing back together. I get the general idea behind pinion angle having spent the last couple of days reading but only want to do this once with all these parts being powder coated - it's a one piece drive shaft and I have the electronic angle meter from HF - so I keep telling myself it can't be rocket science but I guess not having a drive shaft that is to length after having replaced the tranny has me a little nervous. Should I get this cut to length now - or can I get this motor and tranny in - drop the tail down 3 degrees and then just match up the rear later (it's bagged and notched)? what do you think?

[Captainfab]

All you need to do is mount your engine and trans so that the output shaft of the trans is the same angle as the pinion. And by that I mean they should be parallel at the same angle. If you have a yoke you can slide in the back of the trans, that will make it a little easier. Just measure the angle of the yokes on both the pinion and the trans, and make them parallel. If you are installing an auto trans, the pan surface of the case is parallel to the output shaft. Then after you get the engine and trans mounted, you can measure for your driveshaft length.

[wayno]

Thanks Captain - new motor mounts in - so I got what you are saying about the rear end and the tranny being parallel - just wasn't sure if I had to be at all concerned about the angle of the drive-shaft between the two or is that just is what it is? I guess I wouldn't normally be concerned it's just that I have bagged it and she now sits lower and was concerned that the angle has changed not sure if that makes sense or now that I'm thinking about it - everything is lower so the angle should be a whole heck of a lot different right - mired in the details I guess.