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Saying Good-bye to the 90 and Hello to the 72 Build. NEW:Hidden Exhaust

It appears my valve covers are going to clear. Even more once I drop the motor some more. The valve covers are also angled down lower on the exhaust side.:waytogo:

Rather than cutting, bending and redoing my headers I'm going to cut my frame. I plan on taking all the area under the green tape.

What do you all think? After I cut should I leave the area as is? Box that section? Put a piece of angle under what is left of the top. At most I'm only taking away 3/4".

I could also lift the motor a little higher but I really want it as low as it can possible be. :dunno:

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I'd be tempted to take the chance and cut the framerail the way it's marked there.

It does get a little thin looking at the collector flange, but you'll just have to use your judgement and add more material to the underside to beef it up... maybe something that can extend back from the engine crossmember to create a longer supported structure on that side. :thinking:


:usaflag:
 
I bent me old 83 truck frame right about where you are looking to cut. I straightened ti then ran a piece of like 2"x 1/4" strap along the top of the frame to help support it. I think I would cut it like you have then make a 12" to 18" strap with pointed ends (less stress than a straight cut perpendicular to frame) and stitch weld on top of the frame there.
 
When I put the 500 into mine I dropped the radiator in place and centered the fan into the shroud. It sounds weird to do it that way but the result is that I run the stock fan and can easily change to an electric if I want to.
 
Sorry, I just got your PM. I am going the other way, building headers for my rig, now that I decided to keep it. Still need the pics?
 
Finally got the Motor in where I wanted it. My goal was to have it sit as low in the frame as I could and as far back. Being my first custom install and working it alone. (meaning I had no clue!) There was a lot of head scratching and staring going on.



I have the motor sitting with a 4 degree angle. From what I read the motor should be sitting any where from 3 to 6 degrees with a rearward slope.

The headers posed the most clearance issues. The Cad 500 is a little wider than the SBC. I will need to plate the frame once the motor is pulled and sent to the machine shop.
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More...
After I had the motor sitting where I thought it should be it was time to start the crossmember and motor mounts. I modeled it after Kert’s first gen crossmember
In fact I had him make me the 2 C pieces for the frame since I couldn’t make them myself. I wish the radius on the bender could have made the bottom tube a little flatter across. I thought about using squared tubing and a bunch of pieces and welding. I think it came out OK.



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Another issue I ran into was clearing the oil pump. Cads have an externally mounted oil pump. It didn’t help that I bought a high volume pump and also an adapter for an external oil cooler. I ended up notching the crossmember to be able to remove the oil filter.



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Last..

I got a great deal on a Lokar floor shifter for my 4L80E. I needed to mod the transmission cover a little. The 4L80E is longer plus the motor sitting back as far as I put it caused problems with the shifter for the 241 Transfer case. The xfer case is also back another 1/4" with the clocking ring. I added some metal to the cover and this is what I came up with. Most of it will be covered by the shifter boots.

And no the filler isn't that thick around the shifter. I just tried make the edges look nice from where it was welded in. The x-fer case shifter was also a donor from the rolled 90..


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Where is the external oil cooler adapter from? I want one. I plan to run a remote filter, too.
 
Now that the motor is heading to the machine shop and I am done with prepping the body for the paint shop, its time to finish a few loose ends.

Shock mounting!

A few good points made here http://www.4x4review.com/Features/Tech/BeAGeniusShockAbsorbers/tabid/307/Default.aspx as well as on Pirate.

Just of few of the highlights.

If we could have our druthers, each shock would be mounted as close to the wheel as possible, be exactly perpendicular to the travel of the suspension cycle and be about 8 feet long. If you could do this 100% of the time, you would be able to reap 100% of the shocks benefits, with no loss and have unlimited axle articulation.
Leaf Sprung, Front Axle
If you have a leaf spring, solid front axle with the shackles mounted in the rear, your shock absorbers should be mounted as far outboard as possible, but with a slight lean to the rear (About 1 to 2 degrees of rearward rake for every 2 inches of lift above stock, compounded geometrically). This is because as the suspension cycles, it does so with a slight arc backwards. Transversely, a leaf sprung front axle with the shackles mounted in the front would have a slight rake forward.
Leaf Spring, Rear Axle
Your rear shock absorbers should be mounted as far outboard as possible as well, and in as close to perpendicular to the travel of the suspension. Referring to the location of the shackles above, you’ll want to rake the shock absorbers forward or aft-ward appropriately.

You will notice that our Blazers contradict most of this. The front shocks are mounted with the top leaning towards the rear and the back shocks are leaning forward at about a 30 degree angle.

Another problem with our trucks is that the frame is narrower than a second gen.

If I leave the front in the stock mounting position. They lean the right way and the lower mount is as far outward as it’s going to get. (Dana 60) However they lean reward about 15 degrees and with my lift they should be about 4 degrees. They also lean inward towards the frame at a 10 degree angle. I haven’t read anywhere where they address this angle. I’m sure it affects the dampening effectiveness of the shock as well. If using the stock mounting on the 60. (Which is in a good spot) the upper shock mounting position to the frame is about 5” from the frame.

What kind of bracket and gussets would be needed to stop you from ripping it off the frame? That is a lot of leverage out there.

BTW shock fade is very important for the type of wheeling/racing I do. I do plan on running reservoir shocks. ( I picked up some Edelbrocks on clearance)

I'm going to fab up a few ideas the next couple of days.

Suggestions??
 
The direction of the angle is largely irrelevant, unless you are trying to provide some other secondary benefit (axle wrap control)...

Up front, I'd build a good strong shock hoop that will put the upper mount in a favorable spot and allow for a long enough shock based on the wheel travel you've got.

Out back you're stuck (usually) there is no space to place the upper mount without cutting a through-hole near the wheeltubs, so a lot of guys build shock pyramids (shocks laid-up to the same crossmember at almost 45 degrees each! :yikes:) Try to avoid that....it's almost like not having shocks at all.

Super angled shocks have very little movement of the shaft. Guys will brag about having a 12" shock that gives them 20" of travel, but the shock does almost nothing to dampen the suspension.....it doesn't move enough.

Are you planning to run a body lift? I was able to sneak a 12" shock out back by building a small shock tower into the gap where the bodylift was...I kept the shocks really far out at the wheels and had no more than maybe 15* of installed angle when I was done.


:usaflag:
 
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