Project "Endless Challenge" 4l80E, dry sumped 500 wedge

[Tubbed440]

Wow, you have a lot of talent! Great job on your project. 

Thanks man! It'll all be worth it when she fires for the first time! 

[Tubbed440]

Well, tonight, I made some progress.  Welded the ladder bar crossmember back in and mounted up the rear again.  I also put a dummy block in the car with the trans - this is the first time they have been in the car since I moved the motor mounts. Needless to say, it looks as if I have created more problems than I solved when I moved them. 

Here, you can see the pump.  Looks fine, yes? No.  Rack will not mount in the car because the engine is so low in the car...



I'll also have to clearance the mount for that -10AN fitting  -that's the oil pressure port.  Even if I use a 90 fitting, it would not clear after tightening the belt.

Here you can see a radiator fitting fail.  I'll have to do some chopping on that K frame to get clearance for the fitting.  This one doesn't really bother me that much, I can get this handled in about 45 mins.



I didn't take any pics under the car -but I should have.  The oil pan will not clear the rack either.  It's mostly because the engine it too low in the car.  The bottom of the trans bell housing is now the lowest point in the car, which is not too good - so I'll have to raise the engine back up about 2 inches to get everything back to good.   No problem though, I made the intake short enough for this kinda issue.

[Tubbed440]

Well, today seemed like a complete and total cluster F#%^. It started out well, but ended kinda sucky.

Here you can see I have more clearance for the radiator fitting.





This is the car right before things start to get funny. At this point, I have fabbed new engine mounts to raise the engine..........



I did a fit check with the rack installed. Pan clears with miles of space. HOWEVER - this totally screws up the fitment of the bell housing in the trans tunnel. At this point, I start doing some other fit checks, ie, oil pump. It will not fit with the existing mount configuration, and it will not clear the steering stem of the rack. After some massaging, I kinda get it to fit - with some issues. So, now, the engine is two inches higher than it was, an inch higher than stock. I decide to try and free up some space for the bell housing by lowering the engine an inch - so stock height. I do this, bell housing still hits. All of this is due to me moving the engine back 2 inches. Who would have thought..... At any rate, I have come this far, there is no way in hell I'm moving the engine back forward in the car. I need as much weight as I can get towards the rear of the car......

Moral of the story - I'll make it fit.



Here it is with then engine and trans back in the car with the new mounts...





Sometimes, I feel like I'm trying to stuff 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag.... The pump will not fit with any of the new mounts, old mounts, etc. - and it will not work on the drivers side of the engine, unless, I ditch the mounts all together and make an engine plate. . So, guess what happens tomorrow?

Oh, and I started adding structure to the frame for the transmission crossmember, but I don't have a mount for the trans yet, so I would unable to finish that. I'll hit the parts store tomorrow and pick one up so I can get that finished.

[ShelbyDogg]

Looks like you'll figure it out.   I once stuffed a 440 with headers into a Plymouth Arrow. My first real chassis\panel race car that I built from the ground up. After I mounted the engine with elephant ears, it too was too high. I then had to lower it and move it back about 8 inches to get the front balancer way behind the rack and pinion. I had to use a front motor plate, the 10 quart dragster pan and cut out and redo the firewall again to close it up.
Some things won't fit till the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th try.   

[Travis72]

You have some amazing talent!  Keep up the good work.  I like the cage and new SFCs.

Travis
72 Cuda

[Tubbed440]

You have some amazing talent!  Keep up the good work.  I like the cage and new SFCs.

Travis
72 Cuda

Thanks man!  I just peeped your ride a minute ago - she's lookin sweet. 

[Tubbed440]

Made the engine plate today.  This should help with a lot of the clearance issues.



More to come tomorrow.

[hpe600rt]

great job

[Tubbed440]

A little more time and detail work and I can make the mounts look good.



You could drive a bus through here now.....





Problem solved.





Water pump *may* go here, I have not decided yet.  I'll have to get the radiator back in before I make the final decision.





Here you can see there is a good amount of clearance for the oil pump.

[Tubbed440]

More work today..  Finally started making headers after almost an entire day of machining flanges.

Here's the kit. 


Here's the flanges.





....and I decided to move the water pump over there.......



Here's a little tool I made to make my life easier with the header fab.  This will hold all the tubes that go into the colector end.  You can weld it to the body where you want your collector to end up.



First tube welded up.



Merge bullet.




First tube done.

[Tubbed440]

Second pair





Not quite what I was thinking, but it'll work.



One more for good measure.  Stainless looks good when welded.

[Tubbed440]

Good progress today.  One side mocked up and ready to weld.





Purrrrdy....



More to come later today.

[Tubbed440]

So, I definitely have a new found appreciation for people who make stainless headers.  It's a tedious and time consuming process.   

1 down, 1 to go. 

Bullet welded on.



All done.






They're not PRO quality, but for my first header fab ever, I think it turned out all right. 

[Tubbed440]

Got a couple more tubes mocked in place on the passenger side....but I'm not done yet.  Don't have any pics of that side either.  I do have some pics of the water pump placement and the bracket that Chandler made (friend of mine).  It was nice to have some help yesterday. 

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Nice job!

Hey, if you can start making headers for 440's that drop right in, you will make millions.     A Bang here, a bend there.