Engine Section Frame Rails Question

[Couper]

Hey Guys.... Hope all is good. Hot Hot Hot here today. Question......I'm making the engine frame rails a little longer than needed. Hate to come up a couple or more inches short, which is the story of my life

Specs say the Hemi is 36.5" back of bell housing to fan. I'm figuring 2" between fan and Radiator, 4" for the radiator, 6" out front of the radiator for the spring perch or bag tray depending on which way I go. 36.5 + 2 + 4 + 6 = 48.5 There's a few inches added in the rear cause I'm measuring from the cowl lip.

Say 52 - 54" leave me plenty to cut back?

This make sense? Am I leaving anything out?

Couper

 

[Skip]

It is always better to have a bit extra, so to speak.

The bell-housing part of the engine doesn't really need to be out in the open, so you might be able to fudge that a little. Where is the distributor?If it is in the back, you need clearance for it. If you have all your pieces, line them up where they will live and see what you get.

Another idea is to build the frame with the sections that you know for sure are "correct" fully welded and leave the parts that are still iffy safely tacked together so you can make adjustments when the time comes. Your frame design is basically in three sections. Front, cab drop, and rear. What I am visualizing is the front welded up, the cab section tack welded to the front, then the rear kick-up fully welded up to the back end of the cab section. This way, you can make adjustments (if needed) at the firewall when you know for sure where you want it.

 

[Tripper]

I used Donsrods method. Instead of guessing, I sat all the components in place & made a wooden 2x4 frame to size to accommodate everything. I used his lead & my coupe came out exactly as I set it up!

BoB