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My "Official" Stepside Restoration Thread and LS Swap 2021
- Thread starter Chevy305
- Start date
This was my thought... until i realized the driveshaft didnt reach anymore...
And up in Canuckian land they want to lob off a few frozen toes to have one made.
LS Swap the World!
Haha love it.
The upstairs shop is different but I make it work. I just wish I could have a lift but I don't have enough space or height for it.
Omg, I don’t even want to know how much I have in driveshafts. I have had to have them redone about four times now I think?This was my thought... until i realized the driveshaft didnt reach anymore...
Hitting a snag on my engine mounts. I can't get the passenger side bolts to line up. After fighting with it for a while I realize I need to come down about a 1/4 inch to get the bolts to drop in. I look underneath and see the corner of the oil pan hitting the cross member... Now wonder why I can't come down any more.
This is the ORD BBC/LS cross member with the DIY4X competition engine mounts and LS adapters. Anybody have any sharp ideas here?
This is the ORD BBC/LS cross member with the DIY4X competition engine mounts and LS adapters. Anybody have any sharp ideas here?
Big Block?
Not helpful?
Martin
Not helpful?
Martin
My first thought was that maybe mixing parts from different companies isn't playing correctly. But I have no actual experience in this.
That’s my first thought.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
While Martin's suggestions of a big block is truly the correct answer. I'll offer this.
Put a washer under everything and move on.
Add a couple of washers to the engine side of the engine mounts. A washer to the ls adapter and a washer to the frame side.
A couple washers here and there will probably get you the 1/4" clearance you need.
And no one washer set is going to compromise any real strength.
It's probably not the best way but it would most likely give you what you needed and you could move on. Or...
Unbolt everything and start again. Sometimes a reset is all you need. I kinda had this same problem in my chevelle, where I had one side that wasn't working.
I finally had to tear everything apart and kinda reset and I got it to work.
Or.
Notch that crossmember for the pan and move on. Certainly a little notch and smaller welded piece to fill the notch wouldn't be a big deal to fabricate.
Even if you paid someone else. Maybe a 100 bucks?
Put a washer under everything and move on.
Add a couple of washers to the engine side of the engine mounts. A washer to the ls adapter and a washer to the frame side.
A couple washers here and there will probably get you the 1/4" clearance you need.
And no one washer set is going to compromise any real strength.
It's probably not the best way but it would most likely give you what you needed and you could move on. Or...
Unbolt everything and start again. Sometimes a reset is all you need. I kinda had this same problem in my chevelle, where I had one side that wasn't working.
I finally had to tear everything apart and kinda reset and I got it to work.
Or.
Notch that crossmember for the pan and move on. Certainly a little notch and smaller welded piece to fill the notch wouldn't be a big deal to fabricate.
Even if you paid someone else. Maybe a 100 bucks?
So far I'm taking this approach. I actually had some sort of factory bracket sitting around from an OBS truck that bolts to the small black mount so it has the 3 bolt flange and is about 3/16" thick. With that sandwiched in-between the mount and the LS adapter it's giving me the room that I need under the oil pan. The only issue is the frame side holes are now completely covered. I'll have to drill new holes or maybe weld it. Or I can cut the mounts and reweld them.
I had to use washers on my recent install. I was using ICT billet plates and gen 1 style mounts and shells. About 1/4" worth of washers.
Here's some pictures. I have about a 1/4" now of space between the oil pan and the cross member
Here's the bracket I had kicking around sandwiched in the middle
Looking around some more at how the hell I'm going to get a drill in there, I realized that since I have the ORD cross member, the original frame bracket that the mounts bolt to is only held in with bolts and no rivets! I can jack the engine up a little and just remove the bracket from the frame to drill the new holes!
Here's the bracket I had kicking around sandwiched in the middle
Looking around some more at how the hell I'm going to get a drill in there, I realized that since I have the ORD cross member, the original frame bracket that the mounts bolt to is only held in with bolts and no rivets! I can jack the engine up a little and just remove the bracket from the frame to drill the new holes!
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Factory strut brace bracket. Squarebodys use them to.
What engine mounts are you using? I had the same problem with the Dirty Dingo mounts. I had to notch my crossmember for the time being. Still plan to get an ORD crossmember. If I were to do it again I’d buy Tejas Steelworks engine mounts.
I'm using the DIY4X competition mounts and their adapter plate. It's supposed to put the engine in the exact same place as the SBC that came out. However perhaps it's an issue with my frame or perhaps it's an issue with mixing and matching DIY4X mounts with the ORD cross member. So I had to space up the engine mount on the passenger side and I had to pull the transmission forward about an inch. My driveshafts seem to have enough slip to make up the difference but I think after playing with the mounts a bunch I should be able to pull it backwards about a 1/4".
Don't the Tejas mounts move the engine up and forward mostly for the low mount AC compressor?
I believe you are correct. It seems like on the LS swap 73-87/91 Facebook page that people have the least amount of issues with the Tejas mounts. Even with a 4x4 swap.
That’s a big plus to be able to reuse your driveshafts!
Small progress
Finished the holes for the motor mounts and got them all bolted in. Also got the transmission cross member fully bolted to the frame so I moved on to the clutch linkage. I dropped the header in to see how much clearance I have around the z bar and it appears to work just fine. In fact it fits great around the frame and everything else except the oil pressure sensor for my autometer gauge. No problem I can just install a 45 or an elbow.
I go to start hooking up the linkage and I noticed inside the clutch fork window the pressure plate is much closer to the bell housing than previously with the SBC. I figured I had better rotate the engine over by hand to make sure and sure enough it hits...
I am hoping that is the only spot as it looks like I can fit a die grinder in there to shave off a little. As mad as I am that I didn't check this before putting the engine in, I'm glad I found this now and not when everything was hooked up and I hit the starter...
If you're wondering this is the Advance Adapters NV4500 bell housing. It allows you to run an NV4500 with either the driver side external slave or mechanical linkage. The weird thing is that their own instructions talk about having to clearance the inside for room for the larger tooth count flywheel on the SBCs. Indeed I did have to do that when I first installed it 10+ years ago. Got figure a truck transmission bell housing only set up for a car style smaller flywheel out of the box. I thought that was stupid then, now I think it's definitely stupid now.
Finished the holes for the motor mounts and got them all bolted in. Also got the transmission cross member fully bolted to the frame so I moved on to the clutch linkage. I dropped the header in to see how much clearance I have around the z bar and it appears to work just fine. In fact it fits great around the frame and everything else except the oil pressure sensor for my autometer gauge. No problem I can just install a 45 or an elbow.
I go to start hooking up the linkage and I noticed inside the clutch fork window the pressure plate is much closer to the bell housing than previously with the SBC. I figured I had better rotate the engine over by hand to make sure and sure enough it hits...
I am hoping that is the only spot as it looks like I can fit a die grinder in there to shave off a little. As mad as I am that I didn't check this before putting the engine in, I'm glad I found this now and not when everything was hooked up and I hit the starter...
If you're wondering this is the Advance Adapters NV4500 bell housing. It allows you to run an NV4500 with either the driver side external slave or mechanical linkage. The weird thing is that their own instructions talk about having to clearance the inside for room for the larger tooth count flywheel on the SBCs. Indeed I did have to do that when I first installed it 10+ years ago. Got figure a truck transmission bell housing only set up for a car style smaller flywheel out of the box. I thought that was stupid then, now I think it's definitely stupid now.
Are you talking about the ugly stamped hole for that dowel pin in the pressure plate? It looks to me like they stamped the hole, then pressed it. I don't know for sure but I agree it's butt ugly. This is a Luk brand oem LS truck replacement clutch.
