SO, I have reached the conclusion that my flathead would benefit from coming up a half inch to an inch. The mounts I used are a bit low (1/2" under the top of the rail, Speedyway bolt-in units) for the headers to come up over the frame rail and the torque tube is resting about flat. I'm using a 4" drop axle with 29" tires up front and 32" tires out back with a 2.5" kick up. The question is, can I adjust this much by making spacers and finding a longer shoulder bolt? Or should I switch to different mounts and place them flush or slightly above the top of the frame rail?
Longer bolt with spacer in the stock Ford stack of pieces probably won't be very satisfactory due to the shoulders on the stock bolt that locate the stuff...I think it would be better to put a spacer at top between Ford mount and hole in pater pump. One simple type is in this '49 Merc setup: http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/...s/Flathead_Engine_frontmounts_1949-52merc.jpg Ford used that sort twice, once to mount 59A replacement engines in '33-6 Fords, one to space the '49 Merc. Obviously it could be made several ways from flat stock, square tubing, ets, and you can buy repro of the early type from Drake as well...
I used a piece of aluminum rod about 2" diameter (would that be billet? damn), drilled it, sliced it to thickness I needed and stuck it between the water pump ear and Ford biscuit.
Thanks a ton guys! I was really scratching my head on this one, having gotten a little tunnel vision on it. @Bruce Lancaster the 49-51 setup looks like it might be the ticket. If I'm seeing it correctly, the top bolt is offset from the bottom, which may be ideal for my specific instance. I really should have located my mounts between 1/8" and 1/4" further back and otherwise my options are re-doing the frame kick or using weld in mounts as these are drilled already.
Yes, both of the Ford mounts I mentioned are offset, so a custom one can easily be made up to get any reasonable offset needed there. Square or rectangular tubing might be easiest way to go.
Eyeballing the stock reproductions, it looks like they are about 1/4" stock. Any recommendation as to thickness/design for approximating my own? I don't have a brake that will handle 1/4" currently.
I do understand what Bruce said about the shoulder bolt. But, could a longer shoulder bolt be made from a longer bolt with a pipe to act as the shoulder part? You'd also need a flat washer under the bolt head, before putting the pipe on. Which is easier, depending on what tools you might not have? That bracket looks like it would take some time, and if the motor only needs to go up a short distance, it may be difficult to get a nut in there?
That had crossed my mind but I hadn't looked into doing it yet because Bruce's answer looks to fix this and the other issue i've got going on with placement. BUT I think a grade 8 bolt and some tubing might work with a thick spacer like @RB35 made, or a stack-up of washers as well. If I wasn't dealing with an alignment issue on top of it, I'd be all over this method.
Bending that stuff would be hard...I'd look for some square/rectangular tubing the right thickness and drill offset holes in that. If you can find the dimension you need it should be a breeze. Also, Drake reproduces the early spacer as another route...it is pretty similar to the merc one in the drawing. It was made to adapt 59A's to pre-1937 Ford frames with narrower mount spacing.
I haven't had luck navigating Drake's site, it's not well suited to searching for parts I'm finding. I've got a Metal Supermarkets in Woburn just up the road from my house. I'm going to go in there and ask because the thickerst 1.5" OD square or rectangle tubing I can find is 0.188" wall. If I go up to 2" OD I can get 0.25" wall thickness no problem but IDK if 2" is going to be appropriate (though I'd buy some anyway rather than make 2 trips were it needed).
Drake site is indeed*****! I just went there looking for this...click on '35-6 parts go to flathead engine...THEN look at the click for engine mounts, the J shaped thing is it. Note that I said LOOK...if you actually CLICK you get a picture of a polar bear lost in a blizzard... The J design would be easier to bend than the 90 degree look, but it would still be pretty hard to bend stock tough enough to hold shape under engine!
I can't find it; you must be some kind of new fangled hacker, @Bruce Lancaster! I think at least for the sake of mockup, I'm going to make some out of rectangle tubing. With my portaband and drill press, they should be pretty easy to knock out. Since this isn't a stock upgrade install, this may be what I have to do regardless and I don't really want to bend & hammer 1/4" strap then just hope it holds up as a motor mount.
As far as a longer bolt, we had the same setup you do but needed a longer bolt. We just took the original Speedway bolt to a machine shop with the dimensions drawn out. Worked perfect. I actually had it made a little longer than I needed so if I needed to adjust upwards I still had some thread.
If you use Chassis Engineering pads it is simple, they use a standard 7/16 center bolt. Machine a spacer to sit on top of the pad, and use the correct length bolt.
Good to know for future reference. Personally, I don't have a lathe, so I'd still be using tubing, plate, or washers to add space but I'm still wishing I had these Chassis Engineering pads instead of the two sets I've got.
Nah, that's an old wives tale. A game puck is kept in a freezer before it is used, it is smacked around at over a hundred miles per hour into crossbars and boards. And you are worried about it cracking because you torqued it down to 40-50ft-lbs? I have used them for body to frame mounts in the past and i am going to use them to mount my trans. Hashtag-not scared
Just something I had heard. I suppose I could double them up with a long bolt to solve the problem, but, in my specific instance, I'm going to go ahead and make steel spacers. I would have this weekend but the steel shop was closed because of the 4th. I did good plumbing instead (speaking of torqued down to 40-50ft-lbs).
Got started on my mount spacers. Here is version 1. I didn't bother drilling the bottom holes because I was immediately dissatisfied and I'm going to make a new set with an angle so they cover the tops of the biscuits entirely. But proof of concept is here, in this pudding:
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