Trinten's SBC/F23 build - The work has begun! (Page 15/76) fieroguru AUG 18, 05:07 PM Here is the finished and smoothed front transmission mount: Then I started on the rear mount. Picked up some cardboard from the recycle bin (pink works) and roughed out the needed shape: Transferred it to 16ga mild steel and made it a little larger. I used a 3" hole saw for the circular cut, but I need to see if I can find a 2 7/8" one for the final product: Then did a test fit to make sure it would still fit in the area. I used the shear to make some minor tweaks the shape until it fit. Then I threaded in one of the center punch bolts and marked the hole location. Then drilled the hole, moved the center punch insert to the bottom hole, threaded a bolt into the top one, marked the bottom, drilled it and installed the bracket again: Then I made some marks on the template to show the areas that needed to be trimmed, took it to the shear, trimmed it, and used the washer trick to radius the top bolt hole area: The other part of this mount I am starting with 16ga. It will bolt to the engine block in the stock SBC starter pad location, then extend out and follow the shape of the other template while it tapers down to about 1 1/2" wide. I am just starting on that one... Jims88 AUG 18, 06:22 PM Really enjoy seeing the fabrication techniques. Motor looks cool Trinten Trinten AUG 18, 06:39 PM Thanks for the info and update, Guru! I really like that the mounts are not only good looking, but it definitely looks like it's going to make them a lot stronger - and I love functionality! When you get form thrown in there, too... pure bonus. Jim, thank you! I was really happy with the speed shop that put that engine together. I told him that if blow it up down the road with the power adders, he'd have to build me another and over-build it a bit more, he said no problem. lol FieroMaster88 AUG 18, 07:01 PM This makes my engine swap look like a pos! I can't wait to see this completed. fieroguru AUG 19, 08:00 PM The girls had dance this evening, so I had the whole place to myself and could make as much noise as I wanted... so I didn't take a bunch of pictures, but nearly have the rear mount bracket mocked up and ready for welding. You can see the shape of the part that bolts to the transmission is slightly different, noticed another bolt hole in the transmission and said "why not" (I do still need to make the spacer for it - its not in the same plane as the other two). Installed: I mentioned earlier that I wanted the drivetrain to be removable to the PS of the cradle, so if this bracket was welded to the cradle, that wouldn't happen. So that's not the plan. On the left side of this bracket will be another plate that will be welded to the cradle and bolted to this rear bracket. That will keep the direction of removal correct and allow this bracket to stay with the engine/transmission during removal. Here is a picture of a previous mount I made like this (you can see this one also had another mount on the other side of the differential as well): fieroguru AUG 22, 06:34 PM The rear mount is nearly complete. In this picture you will see I drilled the 3 holes that will bolt this bracket to the cradle and I extended the small leg down to the end of the plate: Partially welded: Fully welded and smoothed: Trinten AUG 22, 08:49 PM That is really nice looking. When I had snapped an axle last year, CowsPatoot had tried to replace both axles for me. The broken one (driver side) popped out without any issues, but the passenger side would not pop. He wedged a pry bar in there and I laid on the ground and leveraged my legs against it, and it still didn't come out. I noticed in some of the pics that it looked like you had gotten the driver side axle pulled, but the passenger side is still in - did you have issues removing it as well? Or did you not need to pull both sides so didn't? Just wondering if there's a magic trick that we missed. fieroguru AUG 22, 09:22 PM Yeah, the passenger axle is being stubborn and doesn't want to come out. So far I haven't "needed" it removed, but I will try a few more times to get it removed. Trinten AUG 22, 10:20 PM If there's any concern or possibility that the teeth on the axle have started to 'strip' trying to jump a notch in the transmission.. I'm almost worried about it coming out, we might discover that the transmission might need to be repaired/replaced. I have no idea how likely that is, but if the axle is supposed to come out rather easily, the only thing I can think of is that the teeth are (or starting to get) jammed up. So... I guess don't try too hard to get it to come out. lol fieroguru AUG 23, 07:49 PM This evening, I went and capped off the notches I made in the cradle for clearance: Then I added a piece of 1/8" steel to the rear cross member to replace the section that was previously cut out. The tab for the rear transmission mount bracket will be welded to this new plate. On Saturday, I need to go pick up another tank of shielding gas, fab up the rear weld on mount bracket, and weld the inside of the side cradle notch around the suspension box. Then with the mounts tack welded into place, I will do another test fit to confirm placement/fitment and then weld the mounts solid to the cradle.