Wally,
The small-block will fit fine. If you want a little more clearance in the
engine compartment use the short water pump. With a reproduction radiator and
short water pump I have nearly an inch behind the HEI distributor and more than
an inch in front of the fan. The short pump will necessitate mounting the
alternator above the engine, however. It looks cool there, though.
You should check out Sanderson Headers for your exhaust. They have a _ton_ of
different applications available and are a very reputable company. We got some
for my buddies '60 from them when we couldn't find any anywhere else. They
have a very nice catalog too.
My dad fabricated my motor mount brackets for me out of 1/4" X 2"(or 2&1/4)
flat stock. We set the engine in using a pair of neat brackets on the front
that have bolts going down to the frame. With these bolts we were able to move
the engine up and down and side to side. You should level your truck as good
as possible and then adjust your engine until the intake manifold mounting
plane is as close to level as possible in both directions. Once we had that
done we just built the brackets out to meet the motor mounts. We have a piece
of flat stock going straight out to the frame, one going down at an angle and a
diagonal gusset between them, all welded. I used V8 motor mounts from Chevy
Duty that worked out well. I've also seen the old flathead F*rd V8 "bisquit"
style motor mounts used to good effect.
For your brakes you can get a dual chamber power or non-power unit or bracket
kit from brake places like ECI or Master Power. You can also get a firewall
mount kit from Industrial Chassis for your truck. I'm using the firewall mount
kit and can give you more info on it if you like. It's a no-brainer to
install. My buddy just got a Master Power kit for his '60 Chevy pu; it's an
extremely nice kit with all new cad-plated booster and new old style Corvette
master.
Hope this helps!
Dave Riffel
>All this is good news Jon. I had planned on using the shorty rod
>headers instead of the rams horn manifolds, but may have to consider the
>extensions in any case. And I also may do my own motor mounts. But
>then working in a welding shop has its plus side! I'm assuming you
>found the stock radiator was sufficient for the small block cooling.
>
>Thanks for the tips.
>
>Wally / Templeton, MA
>53 3100
>
>
>>
>> I have a '53 with a 327 and an HEI ignition. It sits in fine without
>> firewall bashing. However, with the original steering box I have to
>> use
>> RAMS horn manifolds with extensions welded straight down. The RAMS
>> horn
>> exhaust arcs up, over the steering box with a good 1/4" clearance. On
>> the
>> other side, my stock mechanical fuel pump has a good 1/4" clearance
>> between
>> it and the frame. When replacing it recently, I found I had to bend
>> the
>> output line on the fuel pump itself to get the necessary clearance. I
>> have
>> a stock radiator and the engine mounting looks like it was done with a
>> kit
>> from HURST. (The engine and transmission mounts do not look home made
>> and
>> the y have HURST stamped into the metal....good clue, eh?)
>>
>> Jon Elerath
>
>
>oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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