This will show how I did it. It may not be the accepted way but it's working for me....so far. The motor mounts are stock 56 Y block. I made 1/4" thick plates to work as a spacer between the mount and the crossmember to raise the engine slightly. I trimmed the flange where the upper control arm bolts on for header clearance. I ended up making these headers because I wanted to make them look like the old headers from the early 60s. I wanted to keep the 3 on the tree w/OD. I know it's not the strongest ****** available but I dig the O.D. and I have never broken a 39 trans behind a SBC so I think I can make it last. The early FE bell housings with the narrow trans bolt patterns are pricey. (406s 427s $$$) I'm cheap. My 352 came with 2 66 352 truck BHs. If you look inside of it you can see the bosses are still there for the small pattern but not drilled and tapped. I used the trans and a transfer punch to locate the center of the holes to drill and tap them. Now the early trans bolts right up to the cheaper 66 BH. The early trans that I used has a slightly shorter input shaft but Ford made a special pilot bearing for the FE to make up for the difference. They were made for the truck fleets that were often swapping the 2 trans from truck to truck and year to year during the transition period. Sorry I lost the pt# The 66 truck clutch worked just fine. P*** headers installed and painted. The stock 6 cyl clutch bell crank was kept and the 6 cyl pivot was cut, welded and then bolted to the FE block. I finally located a 64 generator with FE brackets to rebuild because I wanted one. I took a factory rebuilt alternator off to put this on. They did not have alternators in 62 when my fictional build was built. That's an NOS Cal Custom stainless generator cover from the period. This was my first FE. so I was learning as I went. I'm keeping the 56 rear for now. I am looking for a cheap 57-59 9" probably not an adjective to use for a 57 9" but I'm in no hurry. If I break it then I'll get serious but I bet my driving won't hurt it. That's all that I can think of right now. Like I said I'm no expert but if I can help just ask.
looks pretty! a little hard for me to see whats going on in the pics but i get the jiff of it!! have fun and i like the tri-power!
Looks good for sure. Did you rejet the carbs for the 352? Seems to me that the tricarbs were on 390,406 and maybe 427.
The carbs are actually Rochester's mounted on an Edelbrock intake. I got everything to rebuild and convert the end carbs over to tri-power from Vintage speed including his recommended jetting and power valve etc. One thing that I like is that I was able to hook up the original 56 6cyl cable choke. I grew up with manual chokes.
The Jalopy Journal
