Looking at North American v8 engines from the 60's I see that most of them are installed at a 3 -5 degree downward angle. That is, the back of the engine crankshaft sits lower than the front. With my current project I want to alter that to 2 - 3 degrees upward. I do this because the rear differential going in this car will sit higher than the output of the (TH400) transmission. Higher by 6 inches. I'm trying to avoid extreme angles and binding of the propeller shaft's u-joints and keep drive-train power losses to a minimum. I'm keeping the controlled fuel leak(Q-Jet carburetor). Looked a bit more and found an article by Dean Oshiro Selected quotes: I'm not building a drag car but I think as long as I keep several things in mind I can set the angle at just about what ever I want. 1. The oil in the pan needs to drain to the pickup/sump area. Oil starvation: bad; lubrication: good. Plus I don't want it pooling up getting in the way of the crankshaft. No splashing! 2. I need to mind the floats in the carburetor bowls if I can't get it to sit level with the ground, regardless of engine angle. Use carb spacer "wedges" to try to level the carb. I wanted to install a spacer anyway so I may just machine down a 1 incher to the proper angle. 3. Even though I could, I shouldn't install the transmission output to have a straight shot to the rear differential. I should design a 1/2 to 1 degree kink so the u-joint bearing needles wear even. 4. May have to fab a bigger ****** tunnel. Your thoughts?
less work, cheaper, all around easier to run a 2 piece drive shaft. u-joints don't know if they are going up or down, as long as they have a little angle, and it matches each end.
You want the intake level when car is at ride height. Mill the wedge out of it may be an option or a milled spacer that levels the Carb. Your pinion angle and transmission angle need to match. They can be opposite or parallel but they need to be the same. If your Trans is @ 0 then pinion should be @0. Since there is 6" different the ujoint will not be stagnant. If it's impossible and wind up exactly pointing at each other when viewed from the side, thats when you put one or the other to the left or the right. I'm guessing a 30" rear tire? : Leaves about 10"+/- at pinion to ground on a Ford 9" 6" down from that for Trans out put shaft. That leave drive shaft 4" from the ground. Figure your Trans pan & oil pan will be about 1" BELOW THE ROAD SURFACE. Of course you didn't explain the components you are using those are just my calculation on common items.
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