Hot Rods 1937 Chevy car sbc motor mount locations

Hi looking for the best location to mount an SBC in a 1937 chevy frame, going to run AC, I have these mounts , but don't know who made them to look up instructions, the car has a homemade K member , that I can move or change the mounting tap for the trans

If you can ID the mounts let me know

Also what is a good exhaust manifolds or headers to use (it has an OT little pony front end)

Thanks for the help kb.

 

Hmmm....maybe you ought to gather up all the pieces, including steering shaft, fan, radiator, distributor, engine/transmission, fuel pump, some type of headers/manifolds, and start mocking things up. The engine will tell you where it wants to be.

And I would not make decisions about where the engine wants to be, based on a pair of bolt in motor mount brackets. I'd probably trim off a lot of them, if I used them at all.

 

^^^^ I like the style that uses the "Ford" biscuit mount rather than the Chevy stock rubber style

 

A/C or not, it’s a tight squeeze. I have an SBC in my 37. Those engine mounts look like the ones on mine, but I don’t know where they came from.

I have a modified set of Allen Grove mounting brackets (100R / 200L) for the alternator and compressor.

https://alangrovecomponents.com/Small_Block_Short_Pump.htm

There’s a detail wrong on this page, but it’s good information. There are three water pumps (not two) for SBC. Everybody knows “long” and “short”, and those are right, but there is also “Corvette short”. You’ll gain another 3/4” if I recall correctly, running the early ‘Vette pump over the standard short pump. You’ll need it.

On mine, the distributor cap is just barely removable, it’s very close to the firewall. With the Vette pump and a Spal fan, there is less than 1/2” wiggle room. Changing belts is difficult.

Mine has stock style manifolds.

Watch out for where the steering shaft has to come through. That’s also a tight spot.

 

In the fifty years I've had my 38 Chevy, I moved the engine location once. Initially I had it fairly close to the firewall and ran a fan, close but it worked fine. I used a radiator out of the junk yard with home brewed brackets, stock steering and Corvette Ram's horns. I had the clutch/brake cylinder mounted on the firewall and they worked fine. I decided I wanted the floor pedals so I had to move the engine forward for brake pedal clearance. I also bought a new radiator that fit as it would have originally. I didn't know about a shorter Corvette water pump so I am using an electric fan which is less than ideal. Fenderwell headers eased locating the steering shaft for the OT front suspension.
I'd suggest that you trial fit everything before striking an arc or drilling any holes, good luck!!

 

I'm curious about the shorter Corvette pump. I have a corvette...pump looks the same to me....

 

Those mounts appear to be the 3659291M mount from SRHQ. As @squirrel states, I would let the motor/trans combo tell you where it wants to be- front to back, side to side, and height.

 

I made my own motor mounts, but mine don't go down the outside of the frame rails. Mine go up the inside, and over the top and stop. Going over the outside is stronger, but not sure there's any need for that much coverage unless you were only bolting them in, and not welding.
I'd never install any motor mounts without having engine also there to mock them up. And I'd either install the distributor, or make sure I allowed room for it. I located my engine, with headers on it, and then fabricated my mounts with the engine and distributor as close to the firewall as possible. I used a short water pump on my SBC, but later ended up using a 1" fan spacer to get the fan closer to the radiator. But I'd rather space the fan than have to relocate the engine if it doesn't clear.
With these old Chevys having a six in them, I'm surprised anyone would have issues with a shorter V8 swap?

 

What Jim ^^^^^^ said is exactly right. My suggestion is to make a pair of temporary mounting bars from the engine mounts to set on top of the frame rails. May have to put a z shape to get appx height. Best to be too low because its easy to shim upwards. Also a temp trans mount that sits on top of the frame. That will allow you to move the engine around some side to side and fore and aft. Then moch up all the components on the front of the engine to see what will clear and work and what needs different brackets to work. also the steering and exhaust. When it looks like everything is in the best place...........make a temporary front mount bracket like the picture below.

With your engine temporarily secured this way, you can build mounts to fit your exact needs. No trying to shim and the engine moves in two directions. Its exactly where you want it and it doesn't move while you make or modify your mounts to suit what you have.

 

Actually the corvette length pump is a little longer than the short pump If measured from the mounting flange to the face of the fan hub the short is 5.625 and the vette (71-82) is 5.795 Also the frame on that car is 14 ga. Steel so if your welding on it be aware.

 

Stab the engine and trans in the ch***is, mount the accessories, get thr angles correct and build mounts
Temporary mounts

turn into permanent mounts

 

Never heard of a "Corvette short" water pump. It's just a short water pump.

 

on my 37 Chev, I used these mounts with Ford type rubber biscuit.
They bolted to the frame where the old friction shocks were mounted

Don't know who made them., wouldn't be hard to make

 

For reference, this is what a Ch***is Engineering bolt in mount looks like for your and my car. That company has been around for decades selling bolt on ch***is parts so maybe that’s an early version.

 

Dan...my '38 has a custom built mount for an early Olds engine. Dont think if it was intended to be permanent. It's awfully spindly. I wonder if those CE frame brackets can be used with Hurst style frame brackets? I see yours are behind an independent front end crossmember. Mine is a straight axle..so as long as the frame doesn't taper..I could slide those CE frame brackets forward to line up with the Hurst/Olds stuff..im hoping that is.

 

Oh yeah I think that would totally work... just slide them forward to where the hurst mount is, the frame doesn't taper. They use the same rubber biscuits as a Ford mount.

 

Dan...the beauty of those Hurst engine brackets is that the engine width measurement remains the same regardless of engine. So hemi, small block Chevy, nailhead..center to center was a constant 20 1/2" or 22 1/2" I cant remember what the actual measurement is. I wonder how close the CE mounts would be to the proper width to correspond to the Hurst engine bracketry. Sad thing is that Hurst made engine swap frame brackets for most ch***is but for some reason 1933-1939 Chevys were never made.

 

KB cookout, The dilemma is this............

You can use some pre-existing mount that will bolt your engine into a specific position in your frame and then later work out problems when your various brackets, exhausts,starter,steering, distributor,and radiator want to occupy more space than you have available at that mounting position.

OR

You can mount all your components on your engine and lower it in place to see where it fits the best when all the necessary components are on it. Then make a temporary mount to hold it in that position while you fab a mount specifically for that location.


Not all people put the same accessories on their engines, and even the OEMs have been known to offset an engine slightly off center to clear things. The exact best spot to place a complete engine can only be determined by using the actual engine and components in the locations they will occupy later. Many times, trying to adapt the other parts or find things that will work after the engine is installed is a bigger and costlier job than making your own mounts.

 

A - not welded in yet. B - Hurst front mount. C - Stacked 1/8” stock to get desired angle. Still can slide engine forward and back as needed

 

Thats a nice way to do it.........kind of a variation on what I suggested. It would depend somewhat on where his accessory mounts will be though and what things he plans to use. I'd want to be sure there is room for an A/C compressor and mounting holes........just in case he wants to add one later on. Many people mount them up high but I prefer a lower location if at all possible.

Question: Johnny Gee, what brand of rubber biscuit are those and appx diameter ? Tks, Mike

 

No idea. This project all ready had them but I cut them loose. Who ever put them in also cut the firewall and engine was set back. I got firewall back together then purchased a Walker radiator, bolted a water pump with fan then got the engine sitting in just fine.

 

Chevy small block V8 fits easily in a ‘37 only the bolt-in floorboard needs to be modified for a bigger trans.

 

Has that got a rack and pinion set up for the steering? This is a good example to show the OP how the steering had to be modified to work around both the exhaust and the motor mount. If he uses a different exhaust set up, the solution will be different as well.

 

Yes it is a R&P. I believe that manifold also clears with a stock steering too.

 

If you're OK with exhaust going under the frame please stop reading this at this point. Otherwise read on! There's so much going on on the drivers side withthe narrowly spaced ch***is rails, pedals, starter and steering there's nowhere to route the exhaust. Taking it forward and crossing to the p***enger side in front of the deep part of the pan and going 2 into 1 after the p***enger exhaust manifold worked great for me. Many seem to go the fenderwell route though but I don't see a way of getting rearward while nog going below the frame.

Chris

 

Never had any problems with the head pipes on mine and it is pretty low. Seems a lot of overthinking a pretty simple swap on this thread.

It has been on the road since 1992 so it not a show car undercarriage. But no evidence of damage seen.

 

My 38 coupe has had the exhaust go under the frame for 40 years now, but it sat really high. I'm lowering it now so I'm going to either relocate the battery to the trunk or use a smaller AGM battery in the same place. The reason for this is the exhaust dips down pretty far to go under the stock battery tray. The driver's side is not bad so it'll stay as is.

 

The battery in mine is mounted in the p***enger side fender. Nice short cables, but kind of a h***le to remove and replace. I was worried about damage placing it there but have never had a problem.

 

I did the same thing on a 40 Ford sedan I built. I think what I’ll do on my 38 is use a small AGM battery mounted on its side and attached to the bottom of the stock battery lid on the p***enger floor so I can lift up the cover abs bring the battery with it to change it. Not sure if it’ll work it’s still in the idea stage.

 

mounted my battery on the p*** side of firewall...