Thread: engine setback

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Was having a talk with buddy and he was taking a look at my bucket.
i have a bucket with a nova front clip and and the engine is set back behind the x member approx 24 inches from stock location.
He has a camaro with a bbchevy with the engine in stock location.
my opinion is that the engine set behind the front axle greatly moves the weight towards the rear as there is no counterbalancing of the engine over the front axles.
is there a way to calculate other than front rear scales how much engine setback adds weighh to the rear and removes it from the front. i would guess anything would be a guess as it depends on the egine and car.

Short answer . . . nope. Unless you know the current weight distribution, location of the engine and weight of the engine, you can't determine the effect of moving it.

However, your opinion is correct. Moving the engine to the rear obviously puts more weight on the rear tires.

Canadian Al---my engineering software will show graphically how much the weight transfer shifts from the front towards the back as the engine is moved back towards the rear axle. Tell me the wheelbase in inches from the front to rear axle centerlines, and the current "assumed" weight of the engine and transmission package and I'll do up a model to show you.---Brian

Al--Just head out West of Swift on #1 and weigh the axles on the Dept of Holidays scale.. Or go to an elevator.

There was a post on here the other day about using a lever and regular bathroom scales to do this..........just not sure which post it was

hey brian kind of a neat idea- heres one a 1969 camaro 108 in wheelbase. engine and trans weight approx 735 lbs.
set back 12 inches

Engine setback is usually calculated in percentage.... There's an equation that will show you the amount weight transfer is increased based on the percentage of engine setback... May Richard or Brian have it around someplace, don't think I have it anymore, but I do remember it was quite accurate and very helpful in chassis setup.....

if you can get in good with a dirt car racer, modified, late model, in your area. some of them will have 4 corner scales at thier shop or garage made for car weight. the bathroom scales will only work good on a smaller scale. i used them on my go kart when i raced it. ive heard people say they used bath scales stacked like 4 high on each corner or something crazy like that. but it has to be a true level peice of ground to get fair results.

in my anglia i set it up at 10% back according to the rules for a certain class. that is 10% of the cars total wheelbase, the #1 spark plug hole can be set back in the chassis, from the front wheel spindle. mine is 93 inch wheelbase, and i set the engine back 9 3/8 inches from spindle.