My dad and I just started a project. He bought a '35 ford two door sedan in nice condition, with a 21-stud motor. The car is stock except for juice brakes and dual exhaust. We want to keep the stock appearance (except for the dual exhaust) but put a street-rod flatty under the hood. Dad just brought home an 8BA flathead from a 1950 ford. We plan to strip the motor down to the block and do a complete street-rod rebuild with merc crank, 3 5/16" bore, etc. I am concerned with how difficult it might be to fit an 8BA motor into our '35. The idea is to set the 21-stud motor aside so the car can be put back to stock without too much trouble if someone really wants to do it. Therefore our preference would be to alter the car as little as possibe. So far I have read about a few issues: 1. The side-mount distributor makes the motor longer, so a crab-style front-mount distributor would probably be better for my purposes. Please advise if this is incorrect. 2. The truck-style bellhousing should allow me to bolt up to the original transmission. Does this setup produce any issues with making the engine/****** ***embly too long or too short? 3. What water pumps do I need? 4. I have read that there may be an issue with oil pan clearance requiring me to use the truck-style rear-sump oil pan? 5. Are the motor mounts going to line up if I use the correct water pumps or do I need to fabricate/buy some kind of spacers? 6. Is there any modification to the frame required? If so would a 59AB block make frame modification unnecessary? The goal is to do as little to the car as needed. The engine will be fully torn down and rebuilt, and I don't have my heart set on any particular configuration, so anything I can do engine-wise short of going with a 21-stud motor... Thanks in advance for the guidance, this board is like gold.
We through an 8ba in a friends '35 sedan and ended up having clearance issues as well. I think we used a merc rear sump oil pan, I know it wasn't the truck with the big cleanout. It was a surprise cause on the 40 it didn't have that issue. Also decided to raise up the engine about 2 or so inches cause we ended up lowering it, (just reversed eye springs) enough that the drag link? would rub on the oil pan TP
Since you are tearing it down, throw in a 59a front mount distributor and cam setup. It will get you around any clearance issues for the fan/generator and radiator and get you away from using the poorly designed 8ba distributor. FI Truck pumps will get you to the height you need. The new bellhousing will not cause any clearance issues. The 8ba block size configuration is no different than the 21 bolt.
I have a 59ab in my '35. Do what Petejoe said and it should work. I would have to go look but think you will need a rear sump oil pan. Neal
Thanks for all the tips, guys. Petejoe, the front-mount distributor is needed because it will allow me to run the fan off the generator without it hitting the distributor and therefore I can run the single crankshaft pulley and my belts/pulleys/fan won't stick out too far? I plan on running an alternator on this car. Can the radiator fan/pulley combo be fitted to an alternator? Also, please forgive the ignorance, but what is an FI truck water pump? I know I need to change pumps to get my motor mounts in the right spot, but I don't know anything about how to identify the correct pump. Are they available new or rebuilt somewhere? Take this newbie to school, please.
I think I found the water pumps at speedway. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/531...9-1953-Truck-or-1932-1948-Car-Water-Pump.html
Found the fan mount pulley for GM alternator, too. Sorry for the stupid questions. This pulley is at speedway also. Cool.
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