anyone have any suggestions on how to provide enough clearance in a '53 chevy sedan that i'm dropping a Chevy inline 292 in? from what i've gathered, the only real issue i'll have is the radiator and engine fan... i've been told to just "move the radiator support forward engough to get the clearance...but never had a "how to" on doing that... what do you think?
You will need to hack up your old rad. mount and relocate it foward a couple of inches. I have seen one w/ a 260 and the radiator was moved foward but have never done it myself. Also, I don't know about that engine but the 235 has a long shaft w/p and a short shaft w/p. You can get a short shaft pump or shorten the shaft on the existing pump and that will give you a little more room. Run an electric fan (which I don't personally like) will save ya' some too if you run a pusher. Other than that, you'd better start choppin' up the firewall or find a 235. Good luck!
Man...it seems like I'm posting in all your threads! These issues are all common to our cars, so you might want to do a search if you don't get the info your looking for. Anyways, here's a thread where I posted some pics of my friend's '52 with the radiator moved forward http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127603&highlight=radiator. Keep in mind you'll probably have to trim back part of your hood near the latch mechanism to clear the radiator once moved forward. Bryan
hehe, yea i know...i'm in "FULL FORCE" car mode...due to recent tax returns. so i'm trying collect the info i need on the projects i'm about to tackle. and i don't know what it is...maybe its me, but i haven't had any luck with the search the last couple days...maybe its the way i'm typing the **** out, maybe i'm being too specific with my searches. but i do try and search before i'm the 1,000,000,000,000th person to ask "that question". hehe. thanks a ton for the link!
Something you might try is a pusher electric fan and thermostatic on/off switch. If you use short bolts in your water pump instead of the studs and nuts, it should give you even a bit more clearance. Depending on whether or not you run a shroud of any sort, this might give you in the neighborhood of 4" to 6" additional clearance. Just depends on whether you want to run the original fans and such. Might even give you a minor horsepower boost losing the fan/fan clutch.
All good...not flamin' ya. Sometimes these threads get p***ed up if they've been brought up recently. The Search feature isn't the greatest...took me many wasted days at work to figure it out If you're bored, check out the thread in the Questions and Suggestions forum on the Search feature...there's a cool tip for using Google instead. I'm with ya on the tax return...every Feb I go nuts like a fat kid bellied up to the dessert bar at Sizzler. Bryan
haha! its funny, i actually had to slow myself down and make a list of stuff i NEED vs. WANT....just cause i wanna drive it! haha. take care man!
i just put a 250 in my 36 pick up. i set the engine as close to the firewall as possible and reworked the radiator mounts to push it forward about 2 inches. ive got enuf room for a stock fan. ive heard that a 64 nova has the shortest pump available but im not 100 percent sure. i think a 250-292 is about 1.5 inches longer than the 235. good luck. mike
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