Started SBC installation

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[quote author=HI^C link=board=1;threadid=11593;start=msg105795#msg105795 date=1076967347]
first one PO did it, placed the engine so far in that the heater hose was on top of the valve cover at the firewall and the dis was within a 1" you could only clamp 3 of 4 cap hold downs as a screw dirver would not fit. this ran hot period. Just by looking at the pics it appears you are close to the same? PO did this to avoid driveshaft length changes, but in the end I had to fix it any way.
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I'm in the same boat. Had to put a jack under the tcase to get the distributer out. Fan was about 6-8" away from the radiator (not good for cooling).
 
[quote author=HI^C link=board=1;threadid=11593;start=msg105795#msg105795 date=1076967347]
Each time i do a SBC into a fj40 i learn new things.

first one PO did it, placed the engine so far in that the heater hose was on top of the valve cover at the firewall and the dis was within a 1" you could only clamp 3 of 4 cap hold downs as a screw dirver would not fit. this ran hot period. Just by looking at the pics it appears you are close to the same? PO did this to avoid driveshaft length changes, but in the end I had to fix it any way.

My buddies has a 350 465, 3 speed, dont remember what adapter. But his ended up with about 3" engine to firewall clearance at the heads. and with the drivetrain so long he still ended up with a super short driveshaft, and it barely works with his SOA. rear driveshaft was 19" or less long i believe mount to mount.

mine redone 406, th350, 3 speed gears 4 speed case, I pushed the engine as far forward as possible, and still be able to take it apart. stock rad, electric fan, and i can undo the waterpump pulley with a rachet and short socket. Water pump pulley to stock radiator is about 4", center of engine mount to center of shock tower 11.5"
rear driveshaft i believe is 23". I like this setup so far, pushed spark plugs and such out to more easily change, can do carb adjustments easier.
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My rear shaft with my 350 to 700R4 was less than 8 inches first go-round. Moved everything forward about 6 inches and am still having a **** of a time with pinion angle/vibes.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....
 
tewlman, I think my 350 sits about the same as yours. My shifter is within 1/4" of the stock heater. That was the main criteria I used for positioning. My rear driveline is pretty short, but not too bad. (I can measure it if you're interested.) The truck drives great.

You might think about finding a newer 465, or even just the shift tower off of one. The shifter is several inches farther back than on the old 465s. I saw one for sale this weekend from a '90 Chev 1-ton. The case and innards are apparantly the same; only difference is the tower.

The only problem I had with the motor as low as yours is having to use a smaller fan to clear the lower radiator hose. Also, the shroud I'm building will have to sit below the radiator about an inch or so. No big deal.

I did a little cut and fit on the stock skid plate and now have OK protection for the transfer case. I'm changing to a 5-speed in the coming months and I want to raise the drivetrain as much as possible to get it above frame level. If I would have had the newer transmission I could have moved the engine forward (and up as a result).

Yours looks great so far!
 
I have the 350 465 tlc3 and I am using stock driveshafts motor heght looks good but i put mine front as much as I could so stock shafts would work and I can take my dizzy cap off easy
 
I had to double check on that top housing difference you mentioned on sm465, well i do not believe i have ever seen any difference. Also there is this auction
ebay # 2460634658 that is a later model and looks like the same top to me?


TJDIV, 8 inch driveshaft? oops lmao, so you are at a 14" now? Did you spring reverse rear springs yet? this is on the blue one, damn i have to check your pics again. too nice to cut the wells out.


I guess i should also mention now that i think about it and others have said stuff.
I did not spring reversal yet, will do it soon, so those mearsurements are pre doing it. also the 23" driveshaft worked pre soa and even now soa only moved like 1/2" on slip. When i did this conversion i also setup the rear mount, ( i am using a downey rear transfercase mount) so i could change the driveline angle from about 2.5 to about 6 degrees with the use of different size spacers to almost no spacer, while not sounding like much, it made about a 2.5 in difference in where the rear output ended up. This was done to help with the different angles driveline, drivetrain, ujoint bind, etc...

all of that helps, right now none CV and just about within specs on ujoint degrees ( one is 2 degrees more then the other). And when i do a spring reversal i have the option to raise transfercase again to play with the angles. or i might go cv.

I had a 2" spacer in when sua, down to a 1/2"spacer now at SOA, and going for spring reversal soon.

ALL mearsurements are roughly in this post, but the degrees are true.
 
I had my engine back there for the same reasons, stick clearance. i moved it forward a ton and up a bunch too. higher in the frame gave me clearance for the front diff and steering pump to Astro steering box. Forward gave me better cooling and better driveline angles with the auto going in. It's also a lot easier to get my valve covers off. The current set up with the Toyota 4 speed means no heater box, but the top won't fit on anyway, so who needs a heater. When i install the auto it doesn't matter where the shifter is.
 
[quote author=HI^C link=board=1;threadid=11593;start=msg106389#msg106389 date=1077061621]

TJDIV, 8 inch driveshaft? oops lmao, so you are at a 14" now? Did you spring reverse rear springs yet? this is on the blue one, damn i have to check your pics again. too nice to cut the wells out.


[/quote]


Yeah, actually centered the rear axle. I guess I should clarify something. I ran into more of an angle problem than a length problem. All's well that ends well though.

Turns out the transfer case needed to be brought down (shimmed) to even out the angles (just enough to not have to mess with the eng/trans) and now I'm having the drive shafts re-built and balanced. We'll see.

Everything else on this beast is right on...just got to get the last kink worked out. Kinky.
 
[quote author=HI^C link=board=1;threadid=11593;start=msg106389#msg106389 date=1077061621]
I had to double check on that top housing difference you mentioned on sm465, well i do not believe i have ever seen any difference. Also there is this auction
ebay # 2460634658 that is a later model and looks like the same top to me?
[/quote]

I'll let you know more after I bring it home with me and check it out personally. The guy that's selling me his NV4500 is willing to part with the 4-speed out of his '90 Chev 1-ton. Looks identical to my '69 sm465, except the shift tower. A long time mechanic/brother of a friend confirmed it for me. Eventually I'll have proof one way or another. Will let you know. :)
 
Ahhh. That shift tower sits back quite a bit. The NV4500 has the same deal so getting the engine up front allowed keeping stock shifter location. So Theo, you're thinking that tower will bolt directly to an older 465??
 
theo, yeah it would be great if you would measure engine placement for me. Are you sure that is a 465 not a nv4500? would be interested in that top plate if it is a 465, maybe you could just send that one to me!
I have a 1.5" body lift, so that makes it look lower than stock. any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
That is not a 4500, it is a 465, and there should not be any reason why you can not swap the top covers between any 465 trans.

Good luck!

-Steve
 
Rice, I'm thinking the towers are interchangeable. That's what the friend of a friend told me.

And Poser agrees so what else do you need? :D

tewlman, I can take some measurements if you like. Let me know what you need. But it seems like from your earlier posts you have a good handle on it.

All, I'm transmission rich right now. I bought an NV4500 to replace my rebuilt sm465. Plus I have this newer 465 that belongs to a friend. Plus I have a 700R and a LC 4-speed.

Obviously, the rearward 465 tower would make the conversion better for a number of reasons. I wish I would have known about it last year. :)

I want to end up with the 4500 in the FJ. And I want to sell some of this stuff to help make up the cost. (Just the AA TC adaptor is $650 :'( ) But I don't think I want to sell just a tower, then have half a 465 lying around.

I have other stuff too and I'll place an ad in a day or two, maybe this weekend.
 
where are you at theo? if the deal was good enough, i could put your top on my tranny and then sell your tranny with my top.

Any takers?
 
Something like that might work for me, but it's a fair piece from Montana to Kentucky. I'm happy to work with you but let me do a couple other things first.

I want to actually swap the towers and drive the old tranny/new tower combo for a day or two, just to make sure it works. I also want to call and get the mileage on the newer tranny.

Give me through the weekend and I'll get back to you, or you can PM me or email or whatever. ted.christian@umontana.edu

cheers,
theo
 
progress has been slow, but a few late nights have netted the following results:
 
this pic is not very good, but hopefully you can see how close my shifter is to the heater
 
i read that the motor should have a 3-5* tilt to the rear. my handy dandy inclineometer reads about 4 or 5. can anyone back up this info?
 
i am concerned that my transfer case is hanging too low below the frame rails. the bottom is about 2" below the frame. is this of major concern? i haven't put the skid plate up there yet to see how it looks.
 
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