@nrgwizard was sleepy when replied, yes it will get a blister most likely in the louvers. my original plan was to make a blister but to have it be made from basically “bent” louvers. Once I photo shopped a mock up I realized it looked like a ribbed funeral Urn and less like a stealthy bump in the hood.
lol true! I need to find a good spot to measure to side level on the engine, the drivers side needs to stay put more or less and I think the passenger side needs to come up a little. would I be correct in thinking that the motor mount holes and land marks on the heads would be mirrored across the engine? Then I could measure from them to the top of the frame rail to confirm level
How about the pan rail or the carb base? If the carb is level side to side and so is the frame? Or put a long straight edge (level) across the valve covers and measure to the frame? I bet the bottom of the mounts is close enough.
Yeah I can find enough spots to measure I think. I was thinking if I remove the lift plate from the intake manifold I can level off that…. But then how do I pick it up to level it lol. trying to find some good picture threads of motor mounts but not finding anything substantial. I suppose I could use the stock motor mounts on the block with hot rod rubber pads under it and then I just need frame mounts. Looks like they would sit near the bottom of the frame rail so I would need to gusset them from the top. im closing in on an idea
For horizontal leveling, measure it on the machined block surface just behind the tstat housing, in front of the valley cover, where the block id# is. Block motor mount holes should be closely mirrored, but by ~'55, Studes' machining accuracy had started to slip in some areas, & was less than perfect - not horrible, but not perfect. Yup, kinda spacey for a moment there, the 2nd blister post was supposed to be in the 1st one, I got to thinking you had something *really* different in mind. . Marcus...
Its a Ford & a Studebaker how level do you think it is going to be? Is the frame any straighter than the block?
@Six Ball so last night in a fit of productivity I forced myself from the couch and into the garage level in hand. I placed a level on the bottom of the back window, the top of the center frame crossmember, the top of the transmission (on the fastest part of the bolt on plate that covers the gears etc) the horizontal flange on the outside of the firewall, the carb pad on top of the lift plate, the machined surface of the block that was suggested ( which was very tight fitting my level and I checked the reading with a mirror ) and the bottom of the front cross member beside the spring clamp on the front. all of them exactly dead level. I feel like there’s three choices for what’s going on here 1: it looks like the motor is at different heights from the top of the frame rail but it’s an optical illusion caused by motor mounts that actually measure different from each other and having totally different shimming material on each side 2: my completely flat and level frame has somehow after nearly a decade sitting pretty much just like this with less weight on it has warped or twisted in someway. I have a hard time envisioning this because the fenders and hood all fit like they are supposed to on both sides - granted I havnt had the passenger hood side all the way down with the motor in the way 3: I’m losing my damn mind. it’s a crap shoot really. the motor mounts are both bolted to the motor in the same manor which is incorrect for mock up purposes only. My existing frame pads are to far forward so I bolted the motor mounts on in a way that sets them forward. This required me to put the drivers side mount on the passenger get side and vice versa. I have seen the mounts mounted 180 deg to raise or lower the engine before but maybe they are side specific. This would mean that the engine is level I just have a motor mount that is not measuring the same as the other. I’ll draw a picture and find some reference when I get a second I’m still kinda foggy was up late
Ok some photos. This drawing shows what the bolt on mounts and the “tabs” on the block look like. There seems to be only one bolt on mount. So it is used turned 180 deg for the other side their they are bolted on as factory. The drivers side still has a stub of rubber and a nut on it from the factor rubber mount that’s basically obliterated. I left it because it let me know which one came off the drivers side and here you can see I mounted them forward and not between the two sets of tabs. They had to swap sides to have the two bolt side of the mount to the front. to be one thousand percent clear I know this won’t work for a real motor mount. This is ONLY so I could sit it down on the existing frame pads and take the weight off the hoist. I’m going to measure and see if how I’ve done this has cause some side to side discrepancy I’m also going to measure a set point on each side of the block to the floor and see what that says
4. The earth is flat and Levels aren't real lol To me take your eyes out of it and trust your instruments. If it measures level then it's probably level. There is a lot going on visually for your eyes to potentially see funny things. Long story short I think it's #1
Well with enough ocd to make a dog with a bone seem calm I have figured it out! sorta. 1: it is level 2: one mount got bolted on the inner side of the tab and one on the outer so there’s going to be variance because of that nearly 3/8 difference in placement front to back in terms of where it lands in relation to the top of the frame rail. 3: it’s the fucking fender where it sits on top of the frame rail! I measured from the ground and it’s all the same. So after giving up for the morning I had an idea and grabbed a mirror drivers side the fender is so smashed down you can’t hardly see it on top of the frame. Passenger side it’s at least a 1/4” gap! Sheeesh. Glad to have that done sorry you guys had to listen to it/ read it
I agree with redzula. That is a lot of level spot agreements. Can they all be wrong? Maybe this is why you see so few Studebaker engines it hot rods. Dearborn & South Bend may have built cars on a different level? I think you have checked all you can. Figure out how to bolt it to the frame. You can make this work, look at what you have already done! OK, you got back before I did. Glad you spotted that!
Hey, SB; "Dearborn & South Bend may have built cars on a different level." That actuality only works in a very few select localities - such as "the Spot"(& a few others) in the Dells & iirc a few in the Black Hills, too. & Timm; Too bad you had to go thru all that, but thanks for posting & pics of what you did & what you figured out. It hadn't occurred to me that you put each motor mount in different locations. But small things can sure create fits. . & then there're the fender-fitting issues. Good job thinking it thru. Marcus...
Started getting the shop cleaned up while measuring every spot that popped into my head. Took the trash out and had to take a photo. It’s getting there.
Thanks Tim, the back wheels need to come forward they got pushed back when I pushed the torque tube down out of the way. Which I guess technically would increase the take even more lol don’t really realize how ass up this car is until you look at the front then the back. Next nice day we have I’ll take photos to compare.
So the motor mounts are different front to back on each side, I put my finger on the forward side of the furthest forward hole on both sides and the drivers side mounts are at least an inch further back which is annoying because life would be a lot easier if the drivers was the further forward Anyhow I’ll measure verticals tonight with something other than a finger. I’m drawing motor mount ideas today and figured I’d go out and really measure the areas and see what’s going to be feasible
Cleaning the garage last night and finding places for everything. Stopped for a coffee break and took a few pictures. been brain storming motor mount options. Drew up some versions of the burst mounts I shared earlier and found that some early hemis have a VERY similar but not the same mount situation so I’ve been studying them a bit now as well. cory over at rjays makes these, so far that’s my favorite here are two more versions found online and last flamedabone shad this going on wfor his caddy in the 34 he’s building now. really cool build if you haven’t found it yet alright back to cleaning measuring and scheming. @Austin kays is back in his 34 so go check his updates!
Link to flamedabone build and a few more shots of his motor mounts and his kick ass headers. Really like the collector pointing down and towards the pan. Really keeps it tight like the manifolds do. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-cad-powered-1934-ford-5-window-project.1296247/
Very good stuff. A couple of those mounts look very close to what you need. The design is done you just need to tweak. (not to be confused with twerk, although it looks like you made enough room in the shop to do that) If you decide to do that please make a video! Good to see the banger is still around.
Alright so this morning I got more measuring leveling and cleaning in. got the head light bar on. I’m a little stumped my passenger side front frame horn and where it meets the front cross member is higher than the drivers side. Everything from the front of the front cross member back even the head light bar is dead level though. When @porknbeaner and I put the front cross member in we measured and checked til our eyes bled so I’m stumped why this very isolated section is reading higher. Something is ether deflecting under weight or maybe I didn’t do the “old ford dance” correctly when I tightened down the front spring u bolts and it’s clamped wonky. Or possibly the clamp isn’t all the way tight since the pack is likely shorter than a factory pack. And the weight of the engine is forcing the rest of the rail to stay level? things to investigate I’m sure it’s so Thing simple but it’s eating at me so I’ll keep picking at it. I’ll figure it out. Need this all perfect again before anything gets welded also! I’ve had to take a deep sigh and decide to change the steering. I was stubborn about it because 1: I have a lot of time invested in it and it really feels like starting all over if I change the steering too and 2: I can’t stand seeing steering joints under the hood. but I’m gonna have to suck it up. Moving the steering will let me put the motor center, and give some room if I want to raise it a bit. Which in turn eliminates at least 8 different small projects/ problems. I mean it’s pretty obvious I need to get over my hang up on changing the steering because it will result in a much better result. I absolutely love the new vibe the car gives off with the new drivetrain and I really don’t want to feel that I compromised how good it could really be. steering back to motor mounts - I got puns today- I measured and it looks like if the motor is moved To dead center I can use Cory’s frame pads and rubbers with the stock block mounts I think I will have to make one of those gussets 90 deg instead of slanting out to clear on the drivers side. need to actually mock it up with real parts but if the rubber pads are just a hair over 1” tall like most of them are I think it should work perfect. Worse case I might need to modify the factory drivers side mount a tiny bit. I’m off to read up on putting a joint in a ford steering column. Keep you all posted
I'm with you about seeing joints for the steering. Probably many of those using it don't like it either but they made the same choice you are making for the same reasons. If making that change eliminates several other issues and puts the engine where it needs to be the choice seems clear though not completely visually perfect. Do the best you can.
I’ve seen a few guys hide them in plane sight. I plan on using that plan. Sounds like guys just buy a stick of steering rod with either the DD or Spline on the end and then lathe them down to fit inside the ford shaft. Roset weld, seam weld and then I’ve seen guys even put a sleeve over top that. I’ve got Friends with lathes so that’s not a huge order but I’ll do more looking into it. If I can get away with one joint I’d be thrilled. That blue 32 with the caddy with the headers I liked has a joint that is right at the firewall best I can tell. If placed right the firewall or even a boot around the bottom of the steering column inside the car could hide it super easy
I haven’t messed with it at all but it seems like if I just bring it down enough for the motor to move over that should do it. So as long as that angles not crazy I can hopefully point it right back up. I’ll snag some cardboard tubes from the recycling when it’s time to figure it out.
Yeah I was thinking if I can do that I could easily make a little metal blister to cover it or like a shifter boot type thing
Will moving the steering solve the hood interference issue? That alone makes it the right choice. Preserving the stock body lines while keeping the engine under cover is a good thing. You can show it off when you want to. Nice picture! A gull wing.
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