Locating motor to cab

[Az33]

Hey guys. I have a WC T5 bolted to a 350 motor. Going to make up some motor mounts, but want to make sure I'm clearancing for clutch arm on trans correctly. Frame is Z'd and cab is channeled. I want oil pan at or slightly above bottom of frame rail so I'm gonna have about a 10" trans tunnel.

My question is the forward/rearward location of the motor. I know you want it back as far as you can toward firewall, but I have a clutch arm that needs to actuate and want to clarify it's location before I begin.

Do I need the arm in the engine compartment as opposed to in the cab? It ends up right about where the firewall would be if I leave 2-3" clearance from distributor to firewall. Should I move it forward to clear arm movement in engine compartment?

Cab sits right at front where fram starts to kick up.

Any insight is appreciated.

 

[kenny c]

The more room you have to work on it the better. Also the more room in the pedal box area the better. What cab are you using. What you using for clutch linkage? I'm using a cable on the T-5 I have from a Mustang. some use a hydraulic slave cylinder, some use mechanical linkage. More info may be helpful.

 

[IAM-LDS-2]

When placing a non stock engine trans / in a vehicle , the space available can be limited . However , when building your own frame , you control the amount of space available . Never could understand how guys who built their own frame and were in control of the needed space wound up with problems .

 

[Az33]

The cab and frame (since i didn't build them, just modified them) are a '33 Chevy truck.

Was planning on trying to use original pedals and figuring out how to make it work when I came to it, like much of the build since this is my first and it's all a learning process.

I was really just looking for a little info on things to consider (like clutch arm location/clearance, etc) before mounting the motor to the frame.

 

[Old Iron]

As a personal preference, I set my builds up with 1" of clearance, distributor to firewall.
I've had too much trouble when using the internal clutch slave throwout bearing setup.
I either use external slave cylinders or mechanical.
As a reference, the clutch arm coming out of the bell housing will be about in the middle of where the toe board angles down from the firewall to the floorboard.

 

[Az33]

Thanks Old Iron. My cab doesn't currently have a toe board and that's where I was getting lost as to why the clutch arm was running right at the firewall. Now it makes sense.

 

[Skip]

Thanks for posting this question, Az33. Appreciate it. I'll make sure to sort out linkage issues and other fit challenges before starting my next build. It will be more from scratch than my 39 is.

When I put the engine in my 39, the issue I had to avoid was spending money. So, I put the engine in a place where the drive shaft that I had would fit. Then I only had to buy a fan spacer to get clearance between the fan and the radiator.

 

[Bamamav]

You need to figure out where your floor will be in relation to the throw out arm, too. Will it be at frame height or above, or will it be below the top of the frame?

I'm with Old Iron, if going hydraulic, I'd use an external slave cylinder. easier to adjust free play, easier to bleed. Either way, you will need to know the floor height to clear the slave cylinder or mechanical linkage.

By the way, there are slaves made that pull as well as ones that push, so that might help in placement.

 

[Old Iron]

By the way, there are slaves made that pull as well as ones that push, so that might help in placement.

If you go with the pull style slave, you could use a cable instead of a rod.
If using a cable, the slave could be put almost anywhere.

 

[Az33]

Without having done a ton of research on linkage, was planning on going with mechanical.
Arm as it sits is a couple inches above floor. Pretty sure i can make something work as far as that goes. Big thing was getting motor in 'proper' forward position. Think I got lucky as everything appears to be lining up great.
Changing style of motor mounts, so gonna get those in pretty quick here and go from there.
I'll prob start a build thread soon. Hoping for constructive criticism and helpful advise without too much 'how'd u mess that up'
This has been a great site so far for my lurking/research and I appreciate the knowledge you guys share...

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Start a thread. Everybody here has made mistakes, done things wrong three times, etc., etc.

.

 

[Skip]

The only time we see anyone get static for what they do (how they build something) around here is when they are doing something that can kill people and they don't want to give their bad idea some rethinking. That is very rare.

Start your build thread. Can't wait to see what you are up to.

 

[kenny c]

This is the most helpful and polite site out there. We have all made multiple mistakes. We will help in any way possible. Once we get to know you a little we may tease you some,but all in good fun. and don't feel bad about mistakes. I've cut more welds than I care to admit. Now I tend to tack most stuff together until I see if it works.

 

[Old Iron]

I agree with the others on starting a build thread.
What I've noticed is the builds seem to come out better from all the help and suggestions.
Constructive Advice is more the term to use around here as apposed to Constructive Criticism.
Lookin forward to seeing the thread.