Thread: engine swap steering clearance scare

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as some of you may know, i am putting a 350/350 in my 1950 chevrolet four door. the more i read about this, the more i see very vague mentions of the engine not clearing the steering. does anyone know of this problem or have any experience with this. if so, how do i fix this little bump in my super long road?please help!!! oh yeah, i am using the stock suspension. thanx

I'd bet mine is dead center in the car, LOL. But, you are right, it won't hurt a thing to have it offset to one side as long as the output shaft on the tranny is in the same plain as the pinion to maintain the proper phasing of the universals.

Dean

ok, im sorry but i don't think i understand. i will admit i am a little tipsy right now and i am having trouble understanding how if the tailshaft is coming in at an angle, how is the driveshaft going to line up and still take the ujoint? the main knowledge, mind you, of cars besides minor tinkering that i have is the fact that i sold parts for six years. i am familiar with all the parts but do not understand how the u-joint will flex to accomidate the offset. please explain in dummy/novice terms. thanx again. the krom.

p.s. i may understand when i sober up so........hahahahahhahaha

I don't think I would offset my motor.
Rather, I'd mock up new steering linkage from the end of the column to the steering box. If you need to go around motor / exhaust headers cut lengths of broom handle or pieces of round wood. Attached the pieces using rubber hose, this will give you the various angles you'll need to go around the motor. Go to Borgeson.com and buy all the universals and shafts you'll need using your mockup as a measuring guide. Don't forget if you use more then 2 universals you'll need to add a heim link somewhere in between and bolt it to your frame, this will keep your linkage from flopping over when you turn the wheel. In the photo I've sent, you'll notice the heim link half way down the shaft. If you use 4 universals you'll need 2 heim links and so on. Also in the photo you'll notice I used a double universal at the column therefore I needed to use a heim link.
There is also another universal at the steering box.

Good advice from both points of view. Which way you go depends on what you are doing elsewhere. You state you're using the stock suspension, so I'll assume you're trying to use the stock steering box and column. Since this is (visually anyway) a "one piece unit", bulletnose's idea would mean you'd have to change at least your column, and perhaps the steering box. Standard hot rod process, but maybe not what you had in mind.

As for Richard's comments on offsetting the engine and your trouble visualizing it, put down the brew and come back later. Visualize a straight line drawn through the center of the engine/trans (which is pretty much what the crankshaft, and trans main shaft are). That needs to be parallel with the centerline of the chassis it's full length (from the damper to the end of the tail shaft). The universal joints will "compensate" for the offset and not set up a bad harmonic if you maintain that parallel centerline. If you were to put the engine in at an angle, aiming the end of the tail shaft at the yoke on the rear end, that would "confuse" the universal joints which causes them to give you vibration as a punishment. Assuming here too that you're replacing the rear end with an open drive rather than the torque tube setup that's stock.

Don't buy headers before you've got the engine in place. With the stock front end under there, your options are very limited. You should probably have a conversasion with the guys at Chassis Engineering www.chassisengineeringinc.com They have a lot of experience with this swap.

I don't believe we have ever discussed the reason for maintaining a parallel line through the drive train here before?

As universal joints turn, they speed up and slow down. By maintaining a parallel line with the trans output shaft and the rear pinion, the universal joint at the trans output and the pinion cancel each other out.

Say the trans output shaft is at a 3 degree angle down, and the pinion is at a 3 degree angle up. When the output tranny shaft joint speeds up, the pinion joint slows down and vise versa, cancelling each other out. The same applies if the trans output shaft is off center of the pinion.

Dean

Borgeson has quite a few different universal ends / adapters depending on the output shaft of your column and your steering box. Go to Borgeson.com and see if they have universals to fit your stock column and steering box. Send them an inquiry. You may find that this could very well be the lesser of 2 evils and possibly the cheapest and easiest way to go.

Here's a link to an article written by the owner of Inland Empire Driveline, talking about Dean's comments on driveline angle, with illustrations. This would be a good time to point out that Richard's original comments on engine/trans angle relative to the chassis is from an "overhead" view. These are a fixed angle (or not angle if you prefer), since the engine/trans and the lateral movement of the rear end are "fixed". The comments Dean made in his last post, and the info in the article are discussing the other driveline angle, in a vertical plane, that needs the 3 degree offset because of the up and down movement of the rear axle on it's suspension.

http://www.streetrodderweb.com/tech/0203sr_driving/

if you click on the illustrations they get bigger and more legible.

bulletnose has good advice as does everyone else , but be sure if you use universals, that you don't position them to close to your headers, or the heat will cook the grease out of them and they will fail. I've seen it happen. I wouldn't come closer than one half inch, but others stay as far as 2".