Author: DW

Dear Welder Series… custom transmission mount

Dear Welder Series…
Paul and Dorothy,
Ordered some parts from you all a couple of weeks ago to make a trans mount for a 1990 corvette trans that I am putting in my 56 Chevy pickup. Paul even call the day after I ordered to make sure I ordered the correct parts. Thanks, I appreciate that. Paul said send some pics when I got it made and on the truck so here it goes.
Dale

Dale cherry picked some brackets from other transmission mount kits and made his own. He used our 350 adapter plate, a shock mount plate, and a little tab that normally welds into the adapter plate, but he only used one side of it. You’ll understand when you see the pictures.

This is one of the reasons Welder Series is here. Thanks for being creative, Dale.

DW Horton

Dear Welder Series… Custom Bars?

Dear Welder Series…
Hi D.W.
I was wondering if the 21 1/4 inch bars would work on my chassis, I need them to be 21 1/2 inches long from C/C were they mount. (See) photo above, they would be 1 inch dia DOM

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Or would I have to get custom made bars, talk too you soon

Dennis

Dear Dennis…
[update: the response to this tech question predated the (mostly) standardized 1-3/4″ wide bushings, so I removed the info to avoid confusion. We can build bars to your specs.]

Paul Horton

Dear Welder Series… will your triangulated four link lay frame?

Dear Welder Series…
With your triangulated four link does this allow the truck or the vehicle to lay flat on the ground in the rear with the air bags deflated?

Dear Brian…
Hi Brian, thanks for your note. This would depend on where you establish the ride height when you’re setting up the suspension. It will also depend on a few other factors; axle to frame rail clearance, shock travel, and whether or not there is anything else that might get in the way of the vehicle and the ground. So I suppose I should answer your question something like this: “yes, BUT…”.
I hope this helps…
DW Horton

Dear Welder Series… SBC in a Stude?

Dear Welder Series…
I will be putting a chevy v8 350ci in my 1956 Studebaker very soon and will try to use the chevy mount and see if I can use the lower part of the mount and bolt it to the bracket that’s on the Studebaker frame to end up with a bolt on instead of a weld on mount system. What do you think? Has anyone done this?

Dear Dave…
Hi Dave, thanks for your note. I’m not familiar with the Studebaker engine mounts and I haven’t heard of anyone doing this. Maybe someone will see your question and have better information than I can provide?

dw

Small Block Ford in an MGB

Grant Schwartz has sent in some pictures of his 302 installation into a 1974 MGB. He modified the 3/8″ engine block plate and welded a section straight down from the mounting holes.

Parts used:

What’s With the Saran Wrap?

Nobody’s asked this question but I think about it every time I wrap some parts up to ship. I go through a fair amount of plastic stretch wrap. My logic is that it’ll be more difficult for a bundle of parts or plates to slide out of a damaged box than one plate at a time.
So that’s the story of the plastic wrap. No, I didn’t have a deli sandwich for lunch and use the Saran Wrap for your parts.

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Cold Flow

Getting the ’40 ready for the road again, we decided to change the bushings on the coilovers because they hadn’t been done (that we could remember). The first challenge was loosening the lower mounting bolt. It’s not that it wouldn’t turn; it had attached itself quite strongly to the inner tube, and the whole assembly would just spin and spin. We soaked it, we hammered it, we impacted it… nothing was going to break the love that this little 1/2-20 bolt had with the tube it had got to know so well. We gave up being civil and cut the bolt in two.

Once the bolt was free (but severed), we popped the bushings out and here’s the damage:

Over time (though it would probably be more accurate to speak of “miles”), the bushing had worked itself into the grooves in the Aldan coilovers which are there to give you the option of running spherical bearings instead of bushings. The grooves are for a C clip to hold the bearing in place. No harm done; we just replaced the bushings and will go for another xx,xxx miles. I’m not sure exactly how long these coilovers have been installed, but it’s probably in the 30 000 mile range or more.

Moral of the story: check your bushings. Cold flow happens.