So, I finally got motivated to spend a little time on this heap. A little catch up first. Last fall, I had the 350 flywheel drilled and tapped to accept the 10.5 clutch for a 225. It laid in the garage all winter until today when bolted it up to the back of the 350 again and installed the Luk clutch kit followed by the bell housing. Made some studs to help me get the T18 on to the back of unit which helped immensely. So with this much bolted together I hung it all off the hoist and removed the engine stand brackets and bolted on the new motor mounts I bought. I started to drop the combination into the chassis when the first hassle appeared. The 3 belt crank pulley hit the front crossmember just barely but enough to hold things up.
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So, a quick cut with sawzall and a bit more downward progress was made. Not sure if I can swap to a 2 groove pulley or if I'll clear off more of the crossmember. It will depend on whether I end up using the 3 groove pulley or not. TBD.
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Next issue came with the driver side motor mount. I let the engine down and put the passenger side bolt in then let the engine down some more but the driver mount would not drop all the way down to the point of the holes lining up for the bolt. It needed like another 1/2 inch and would not go no matter what I did. So, up she goes and I swapped the new driver mount with the used mount that came on the 350. Still no luck. So, up she goes, all the way this time and I swapped the new passenger side mount for the old 350 mount. Still the same condition. So, up she goes again and I bolted on a pair of used 225 mounts that I had on the shelf. This time everything dropped right into place smooth as silk. So I guess we'll see if the used 225 mounts hold up to the 350. They definitely don't appear to be as stout.
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With he weight of the engine in the chassis I have very little clearance between the front axle center section and the cross member. As I suspected, I think I'll need to change something in the front suspension ride height to gain some clearance. Not sure which way I'll attack this yet.
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So, before continuing, I want to put some weight on the rear end of this pile of junk and see where things sit. How much weight should put back there? The front will have probably another 100 lbs on it with the winch and stuff. So...what...4,5,600 pounds on the back? The fuel tanks will be mounted amidship so the weight on the back should consider the body tub, HD rear bumper, spare parts and tools and a planned bed mounted spare tire. I know it's all kind of speculative at this point and the thing may not always have the load in it but a rough guess would be appreciated. I'm kind of thinking 4-500 lbs but what do I know. Comments and suggestions are welcome so fire away.
Oh and I'll get to drawing up my thoughts on the crossmember and get to work on that.
