im getting ready to put a new trans in my 61 chevy and its going to sit up higher that the old one, because of some other things ive done to the frame and motor mounts.. how much clearance is needed between the top of the trans and the bottom of the body??? also..the motor is going to sit at about a 6 or 7 degree angle down - towards the rear of the car..any problem with that?? thanks.
the engine will look funny if it's not at the normal 3 to 4 degree angle...otherwise it should work ok. you need enough room that the tranny doesn't hit the floor, and it may be nice to be able to get the governer out, and the dipstick tube, and to be able to reach the bolts that hold the tranny to the block. Otherwise, dont' worry about it too much.
could interfere with your float height in the carb... but try it first? maybe just an adjustment, or maybe get a carb spacer milled at an angle to straighten it up. youll probably need to run the trans fluid a bit lower on the dipstick due to it all being down the end.stick a new output shaft seal in it while your there!
I cut the hump on my PU and rewelded for AOD clearance but forgot to allow extra room to allow sliding the trans back. Made installation a pain.
You may have problems with U-joint failure or vibration if the cancelled angle between the rear end and the tranny is not right around 3 deg. Why not just fab up a set of mounts or alter the tunnel so the whole thing is in there with the carb base level. It would sure make things simpler for you in the long run.
"Why not just fab up a set of mounts or alter the tunnel so the whole thing is in there with the carb base level. It would sure make things simpler for you in the long run." It's gonna be a pain, but I think I'll change it to set at the 3 degree mark. thanks everyone. later.
Ha! I made a good point..........gonna go get myself a cookie now! Rub my own belly, scratch behind my own ear.... I'd do all the long labor now so that I could enjoy my toy a little bit longer. xxx Brandy
I've seen guys wrap a Garden Hose around the transmission to act as a spacer when they were fabbing up the transmission hump.3/4" -1" should be sufficient. Ideally,the angle on the output shaft on the transmission needs to match the angle on the input shaft on the rear end.The closer the better.
Ideally,the angle on the output shaft on the transmission needs to match the angle on the input shaft on the rear end.The closer the better.[/QUOTE] He's right, the angles need to be close. If you want to keep the engine/trans at the angle that you set them at now, you can buy angled shims to go between the leaf springs and the rear.....assuming you have hotchkiss drive. If it has coils then you need to change whatever type of links it has to change the pinion angle. Off-hand I don't know what a 61 chevy has.
Dang, my foot's gonna start thumpin here in a second! 61 Chevy's should have coils in da rear......my 58 does. xxx Brandy
"61 Chevy's should have coils in da rear......my 58 does" unless they have air bags in da rear...like mine does. but it did have coil originally..so i guess you win brandy. later.
So do you have a yoke on your rearend? A driveline shop here told me if I had one installed on my car, then it would give and not tear my carrier bearing out anymore when the car was lowered or raised. I wanna know if it really works before I run away with cash in hand and have it done. xxx Brandy
i do have a yoke on the rear. i changed the carrier about a year or so ago and the new one isnt too bad. next time i change it ill put one of those heavy duty ones in. i think there made by inline empire or something...theyre always advertised in lowrider magazine.
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