Well, the motor is sitting in the truck... Literally!

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » November 21, 2006, 12:43 am

Well, spent this morning disparaging mount makers! LOL The trans mount is either too high or too low depending on which way you put it in and the engine brackets need to go right where the brake lines are mounted! Moving the brake lines is no big deal but the brakes are working and make it easier to move around so I hate messing with them. I will simply mount them above the frame rail for the time being. Tomorrow I am going to the junkyard to see if I can find a good donor for the trans crossmember and hopefully next week I can actually bolt it together. I did get a heater installed. The truck was ordered without one (belonged to the city of Oroville CA and they don't need one but the previous owner had installed an old small box heater). I found a 61 with original heater and radio so that was that. I also put on a new set of hood hinges, a hood, and right front fender. It is almost acceptable in appearance now! LOL Hawkrod

mcarlson11 · Post by **mcarlson11** » November 21, 2006, 1:07 am

looking good hawk.

Slick Fan · Post by **Slick Fan** » November 21, 2006, 8:28 am

Looks like you might be cruising in it pretty soon.

Unibodyguy1 · Post by **Unibodyguy1** » November 21, 2006, 9:38 am

Hawkrod is that a 302 you puting in there?? Looks like it to me.

Michael

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 21, 2006, 9:44 am

Thats what the sensible crowd are running with these days Michael

Looking good Tom. Too bad about those brake lines. Did you use the transdapt mounts?

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » November 21, 2006, 10:46 am

Yes, it is a 302. It actually was a freebie. I had a neighbor moving and he had this 79 Granada and it had a 9 inch rear (on drum brake Granada's that is a one year only item and even then it isn't common) which I knew I could sell to a Mustang guy for more than I paid for the car (which I did). I then sold the front disc brakes on eBay and a few more trinkets and kept the rebuilt 302 and C4. Both engine and trans have been rebuilt within the last 18 months and I got the receipts with them because they had a transferable warantee. It makes it hard not to use it! The mounts are the TransDapt ones and there are no instructions of any kind and I can see why. If they told you that they didn't fit as is, most people would make their own. I may modify the engine brackets slightly but the trans bracket simply will not work because the yoke will either hit the bottom of the floor or point to the ground! I measured the crossmember in my 76 and it looks like a winner so I am going to go get one in about an hour here. Unfortunately I will not get to work on it again until next week because I have to work tonight and in the morning and then I am dealing with the holiday. Later, Hawkrod

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 21, 2006, 10:59 am

Tom. My transdapt came with zero instructions, too. Took me a while to figure out how it worked also.. I think I finally pulled a set of (very rudimentary) instructions off the Net.. have no idea where now tho.
The angle brackets on mine were not an issue since my frame is boxed over the axle (actually Aerostar cross member) so I had to modify one side anyway to make up the difference in frame width. I took the opportunity to offset the engine properly too, since I had the choice. Thank goodness I did or I doubt my brake booster would fit. And I didn't have brake lines installed either, they were stripped out at the time awaiting new ones.

I made my own trans cross member. But there is a transdapt in my other truck that seems to work just fine. I never put it here, though, so I don't know the issues.

six-two · Post by **six-two** » November 23, 2006, 11:46 am

Nice lookin' truck. It seems like these of kind problems always happen to me too. I'll tell the story about my week long oil change at a later date. (well, maybe not ) At least the most important part is done... choosing the right vehicle.

_________________________________six-two

NJ2000R · Post by **NJ2000R** » November 24, 2006, 8:13 am

nice looking uni, hawkrod

nice collection too!

Unibodyguy1 · Post by **Unibodyguy1** » November 24, 2006, 9:55 am

Hawkrod,
the sounds like a pretty sweet deal you got on the motor/trans. combo. That should prove to be a good trouble free setup when you get it all dialed in. If I didn't have the Y-blocks that I have in my trucks that would probably be my next choice for a motor.

Michael

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » November 24, 2006, 10:31 am

It really wasn't my first choice. I had an oportunity for a really built 302 but my wife didn't give me the phone message and it had to sell that night. I called the next morning and the car I had offered 1K for ended up selling for $200. It was a built 68 Cougar that had an interior fire and the owner got a violation notice from code enforcement for having sitting in the driveway and they were down to the last day on the notice. I had made an offer a couple of weeks before but she had decided to hold out and then in the end didn't get any better offers. When she couldn't get ahold of me she got desperate and sold it to a neighbor. The car had aluminum heads, JBA headers, roller cam, and so much more! Oh well! LOL Hawkrod

Well, the motor is sitting in the truck... Literally!

Well, the motor is sitting in the truck... Literally!

Well motor is sitting in the truck.....Literally!

Well the motor is sitting in the truck... Literally.