hey i know that this has probably been asked a hundred times but i have searched for threads on it and found a whole bunch of "can i do it?" or "should i do it?"... can anyone point me in the right direction of any past post about how to put a sbc in my 54 2 door...or maybe a fellow hamber who did it and posted the progress during the swap...thx
If your lookin for a simple swap than checkout walton fab for parts, check out 50chevy.com all the info you need
we are puttin in a 55 331 caddy in my dads 52 its a little long but it sets in their preety well. no clearance issuse really,exept the stock fan.
If your bagging it go with Gambino's lil dave motor mounts, here's the link http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456476&highlight=lil+dave
Never put a sbc in a '54, but Idid help a friend put one in a '50. used an Ansen front mount and homemade trans crossmember. We used a pedel assem. out of a '55 chevy. If I remember right, it went in very easy, almost a bolt in! even used the '55 clutch linkage Buzz
maybe i should have mentioned that it will be a motor/trans swap. i know that i have to cut out the supports that run down tha fire wall but where can i find mounts and any info on tranny crossmember altering. also will i need to modify the fire wall at all to fit the motor???
What do you wanna know? I did it. Alone. basic tools. the chassis engineering bolt in mounts work great, pitman arm and other steering bits are kinda in the way to drill the holes. stock manifolds work great. 6 cylinder radiator works, use a short pump. You don't HAVE to, but it helps
Did it! But, was'nt my idea, the nephew wanted a V-8. I wanted to go later model six (194, 215,230,250,292), and keep the original trans and torque tube rear. Even had the entire conversion setup that I eventually sold to another HAMBER. Going V-8 is pretty easy. Cut the firewall supports accordingly, use Competition Engineering frame/engine mounts (their trans mount sucks, as it welds in, and is'nt removable). Made a usable trans mount from a modified Dodge Dart unit, and cut 8" out of the stock crossmember. Used a 56 Chevrolet rear end, and found a driveline that was the correct lenth (from a Lemans-GTO, and used conversion U-joints). Exhaust is the hardest;it's best to use exhaust manifolds that the "log" is above the spark plugs, so, use EARLY 265 end dump exhaust manifolds, late 60's-80's rear dump exhaust manifolds, or do as we did, and use 90-94 Caprice LT1 upswept, rear dump manifolds. They require some modification (plugging/drilling holes), but sound GOOD, and look like they will make good power; they're almost cast iron headers. Actual headers for this swap are mismatched side-to-side, and fairly short in lenth, not to mention costly. You can use the stock radiator, but we bought an aluminum one off that auction site we all know and love. We kept it generator (tried to go for a 50-60's look), used stock wiring, put a Runtz resistor in for the gas gauge, and rebuilt the heater for a 12 volt motor. You'll have to change all the light bulbs as you'll be going to 12 volt also. You'll lose the stock parking brake for clearance, and will have to move it, or go to a floor mount as we did. I think that about covers it. The only firewall mod, is cutting the supports for exhaust clearance. Butch/56sedandelivery. I have an old 1968 Hot Rod Mag article where they put a V-8 in a 53, and moved the engine forward so as not to cut the firewall supports. Was a 283/cast iron Powerglide/57 Chevrolet rear end they swapped in. They used the old 265 exhaust manifolds, and a "hoakie" affair for the accelerator linkage. I had made a bunch of copies and gave them out. If anyone is serious, and wants one, P.M. me.
Chassis Engineering Inc is an easy to install kit..A bit more work if your going to bag it but the bolt in crossmember and top hats are pretty slick. They also have crossmembers too. You will need to shave off the gussets on the front body mount supports..I just rebraced them from the back side, You will not have to modify the firewall if you dont want to. Good luck!
I just bagged all four corners of my 54 i used a ford nine inch cut to 60 inches hub to hub, it has 31 spline axles and a 350 gear ratio and disc brakes. I fabricated my own triangulated four link rear suspension. When setting up the four link i used one of many methods, as you will find talking with people who have done it there are allot of different ways to get what you want. The thing i kept in mind is that once you determine your ride height, i set mine up at 3 inches, meaning the frame sits 3 inches off the ground at ride height. Once you have your ride height i fabricated mine so the upper and lower bars a parallel to each other and the ground at ride height, in doing this your chance of any binding is reduced as well as decreases the amount your rear end will rotate as the suspension travels. As the suspension travels up into the car the upper bars with push the pinion angle upwards into the car, and as the suspension falls out the revers with happens. This all do to the arc created in link type suspension. Once i had my ride height then comes measuring a thousand times and some math to figure out where you have to mount your upper bars on the chassis. As you can see in my pictures i may have over done my mounts they are pretty beefy. I also used Gambino customs notch kit it is great and very easy to use, as long as you correctly find the center line of the axle on the frame before removing it then just center the notch kit. Some may say not to center it do to possibilities of not clearing floor for back seat yet Gambinos has engineered them to work with keeping the back seat in tact. My trans cross member is incorporated in the cross member i made for my lower for link bars to mount to, witch also has exhaust cut outs in it do to the fact that when it sits on the ground fully laid out there is no room for it under the chassis. The cross member also has a drive shaft hoop that i fabricated into it , the hoop i purchased from Art Morrison, another company that has a ton of trick stuff that you can modify to fit your needs. The only thing i am going to change is the mustang two kit i put on it , i used one from TCI its a good kit but it does not sit low enough in the front , im going to put a fat man ultra low kit on it. As far as cutting out your wheel wells i would wait till you have all your chassis stuff done first. I started with my chassis and worked on it till i was done all the way up to pluming the rear brakes and hard lines for the rear bags. I then had to put the body back on due to moving to Washington so i still have allot of work to do but i would suggest sitting down and making a time line for what you want to start with and prioritize things it will make things allot easier. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Its been a bit since i did all my four link stuff so you may double check what i said just to be sure if i made any mistakes hopefully some one will read this and catch it and let you know again there are many ways of doing this. Remember it is just metal if you make a mistake cut it off and try again go for it
Another swap that was popular in the 50's and early 60's was to use a GMC truck engine (A Jimmy 6).....Had bigger displacement and more stock HP........... Got stomped one night by a Plymouth that had a Chrysler 6 in it...........
i don't know what u mean by re motor swaps really i don't sorry about that i just wann'a know thanx KILLER GREEN
Well then post a new thread about it instead of burying your question at the end of a two year old thread that is only barely related to what you're asking. Or look at some of the links above, since I'm sure they answer the question as to what fits.
if you want to do a 200 4r overdrive i cut the rear out of the crossmember and welded in the speedway motors 55 chev replacement crosmember and used 2x2 square tube to space the mounts and welded it to the frame and it will be bolt in when its done and it sits behind the stock frame crossmember i rember in 1963 they were running SBC in 53 chevies but they were not done at all like they do them now speedway has some motor mounts if you dont want to buy a kit which really consist of some flat iron and small piece of pipe
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