Thread: Engine Swap... and more

Tweet

ya i was figuring i'd keep the same thread so i wouldn't have to go to a million pages to see what to do next.

I ordered the cross member today and it should be here in two to three days.

I drew up a mock frame set up today and i'll try to scan that in so you guyz can look at it and give me some advice for more things i could use or things i could do with out. I'll get that on after i get off work tonight.

Well thats all for now

Ok so um.. ya working on the frame waiting for my cross member to get in... I have an angle grinder that i'm using to take the rust off of the frame anybody know a faster way... (I tried sand blasting but it is too humid here so moister clogs up the spray gun, I got an air drier filter for it but it went bad in 15 min. so ya thats no good.)

well i finally got back from being out of town and when i got back my front cross member was here. I have it ready to be welded in today. Now all I have to is find some one to weld it in. I'm grinding out more of the unnecessary parts off of the frame and getting ready to head to some bone yards for front suspention parts. Any ideas on what type of of car i should take them off of?? Tech suggested a chevy s- 10... any other ideas guys??

"Tech suggested a chevy s- 10"

Jeremy, I think you're a little confused. You need to go back to the top and read all the posts. When I suggested an S10, it was a frame clip swap from an S10. You have chosen to go another way, using a Mustang II crossmember. You must now use Mustang II suspension parts to work with your crossmember. You may be able to find them in a boneyard, or you may not. If not, there are several shops around the country that manufacture brand new pieces to fit your new crossmember. Is the crossmember you've purchased set up to use a wishbone lower arm or a strut rod arrangement?

Just a bit of trivia, the AM Pacer "bubble car" used Mustang II/ Pinto front end with a bit wider track and 5-bolt Chevy pattern hubs. Harder to find, but may be worth the effort.

Sorry bout that tech. my mistake. I finally got some pictures of my project so hopefully i can download these onto this forum correctly.
OK first pic is the new front cross member

The 350 sbc four bolt main that i took out of my 1984 gmc jimmy, with the 700 r4 tranny.

as full a shot as i could get of the frame. Since the picture was taken i removed the stock transmission mount.

here's a better shot of the side of the front cross member maybe it will help tell you if i can use stut arms.

and here's the rear of the frame.

O.K. Jeremy, you can go either way on the control arms, original style with a strut rod or with Heidts fabricated arms. If you use the original lower arms from a boneyard, you'll have to order one of part # MP003 strut rod brackets from Heidts to weld to your frame. If you use Heidts upper and lower arms, there are several options......

If you're basically cheap like I am and are more concerned with the way the car works rather than bling-bling, go with the economy fabricated mild steel arms CA103-E lowers (no strut rod req'd) $259 and the CA101-E uppers $199. They come complete, ready to install with all new bushings and ball joints.

Here's where you have to choose whether you're going to come out better by using boneyard parts, disassembling them, de-rusting them and installing new bushings and ball joints, welding the strut rod brackets to your frame and going with the OEM design or using Heidts parts which require no strut rod.

There are other higher cost options available from Heidts as well, including tubular stainless arms it you require bling-bling. Surf their website.

Whichever way you go, I recommend using a front sway bar on the car. I also recommend setting the front ride height with dropped spindles instead of altering the attitude of the control arms with chopped springs. When you do that, you upset the suspension geometry and the car will never be right. When the car is all back together, on the ground, ready to drive, the lower control arms should be parallel with the ground.

When you get ready for front springs, here is the place to shop. Look at all your choices.....
http://www.eatonsprings.com/m2coils.htm

Jeremy, another thought, if you decide to use strut rods, the rear mount for the rod MUST be EXACTLY in line with the centerline of the bottom arm mount, just like OEM. I've seen guys heat and bend the strut rod to make installation easier on their particular car and it ends in disaster, puts everything in a bind and parts break. If you have to, use a piece of rod or tubing that is EXACTLY the same size as the holes in the OEM crossmember where the bolt goes through to mount the lower arm. Run the rod through the bolt holes and back to the strut rod mount, at the EXACT center of the mount and mark the distance very carefully. Then, you can use the same rod in your crossmember holes to locate the strut rod mounts where they will weld to your Chevy frame.

Again, DO NOT alter the stock strut rod.

thatnks for the advice tech. the crossmember kit came with the two metal peices of i wanted to use struts. If you could help explain to me or give me some web sites to go to to help me understand the front ends of cars better. This project is my first car project. I do a lot of work on older 4x4's that use straight axel front ends so the front ends of cars i know are a lot different.
I've got most of the bottom of the frame sand blasted so by tuesday i should be through sanding and primering the frame.

ok so today i spent the day at the bone yard collecting the front suspension off of a 1978 ford pinto. tomorrow i sand blast and primer the parts. well thats all the update for now but when i get the front suspension together i'll post more pics

"If you could help explain to me or give me some web sites to go to to help me understand the front ends of cars better."

Jeremy, the very best information on the planet is a set of books authored by Carroll Smith. When I was trying to get educated years ago about suspension geometry so I could design my own front and rear systems, I read every book I could get my hands on and none of them made it clear to me until I read Smith. He was the Crew Chief for Ford Motor Co. when they went to Le Mans and whipped Ferrari and really knew his stuff (passed away now).

My very best advice to you is to cough up $99.95 plus $15 freight and get the complete set of Smith books. It'll be the cheapest hundred and fifteen bucks you'll ever spend on your automotive education....
http://www.carrollsmith.com/books/purchase.html

A couple of years ago, I suggested this same course of action to Jani in Finland who wanted to understand suspension and build his own system. We just recently heard from him again with pictures of his progress. If this won't make a believer out of you, nothing will......
http://www.clubhotrod.com/t17547.html