chevy in a ford...

[1FATGMC]

Frank thanks for the input on putting the 350 in Julie's ford pickup.  I forgot to ask one thing.

It has power steering.  Could I use a Chevy power steering pump with the ford box?  I recently put a rebuilt pump on her motor, so the other alternative would be to see if I could make brackets and use it on the small block.  I like that from the expense standpoint, but pumps aren't that expensive and a Chevy pump on the sbc would probably be a cleaner install as the ford one is pretty large.

Any thoughts??

Thanks,

Sum

[enjenjo]

The chevy pump actually works fine with the Ford steering box, after all it was made by GM too. It's a Saginaw box. My Ford van actually had a GM Saginaw pump from the factory.

After talking to you, it dawned on me that you have a 390 in there now. I am not 100 percent certain the mount for that is the same as the 302/351/300 six mount. As I mentioned with the above mounts, the hole for the isolator bolt has to be slotted up about 1/2", then you can use a Chevy truck mount isolator, from 68 to 72 or so. It has one 7 16" threaded hole coming out the bottom of the mount. Flip the angle brackets that hold the trans crossmember to the frame upside down, and reinstall the crossmember. Use the trans mount with a single hole in the center, it will bolt to the Ford crossmember. Then bolt the front mounts to the engine, and use that to locate the Ford front mounts on the frame. Depending on which mounts you have, six or 8, one of the bolt holes on the frame may line up, you will have to drill the others, or weld the mount into place.  Four 1" welds on each mount is enough.

Throttle linkage will bolt up with a little tweaking, same with the shift linkage. There is a Ford radiator that has the right outlets for a Chevy engine, but you can move the ones on the original one to fit. The Ford alternator will fit the GM brackets, you have to sleeve the bottom mounting hole, and file out the upper bracket to fit the bolt. The belts line up.

If you have AC, there are brackets to use a York compressor on a Chevy engine, or you can use a GM compressor with the Ford system, you have to make up hoses to fit.

The driveshaft may or may not fit depending on which trans you are using, but in any case the yoke has to be changed for one from a Chevy truck.

That should about do it. we used to do this changeover in a day, but we did a bunch of them, usually with a big block. It was easier to install a Chevy than to track down the parts to use a 460. At least it was until I figured out I could use the Chevy truck mounts on a 460 to fit the 351 frame mounts, but that's another story

[1FATGMC]

Thanks Frank,  I got all that saved.  I'm a little confused over 1 or 2 things in the second paragraph, but no use going over that until I'm ready to do this.

Next time you drive to Vegas come by here and we'll see if you can still do it in a day   .  I'll even feed you and give you a place to sleep and take you out and march you up and down a couple hills   .

I'm going to have to get this done as I'll use the truck to pull the lakester to the salt probably.  I'm hoping the gas mileage will go up from the 10 mpg it is now to 15 or so.  I'll miss the torque the 390 had though.  It pulled the 4500 lb. Desoto back from Missouri easy.  The gas mileage only went down 1 1/5 mpg doing it also.  It seems as if you are never pushing on the gas much with the 390, but it does use it.

Thanks,

Sum

[Sean]

I don't know what year truck you're messing with, but my '65 had a 352 in it, which from what I understand is the same block as the 390. I used '69 Chevy truck motor mounts for my swap and they set right down on the Ford frame towers like they were made for it. I don't remember having to make the slots any bigger on the frame towers, but that has been several years ago, so I might have.

For the transmission crossmember, I just used a piece of  1 1/2" tubing with a 2"x 4" plate welded on each end to match the inside diameter of the frame. Instead of trying to measure where to put it, I got the motor bolted in with the tranny attached, then got the crossmember in place and drilled the frame.

I got lucky at a swap meet and found got a brand new aluminum radiator with a hole in it (shipping damage) for just over $100. About 5 minutes with a TIG took care of the hole, and instead of the chevy core support mounts, it had a 2x2 angle welded down each side.

Mounting it was no problem, but I had a little trouble with the hoses. I think what I ended up using was hoses for a '66 Belair. The bends were in the right places, but I had to cut 3 or 4 inches off the length to make them fit right.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

my gosh why would you do that to a Ford truck!??

[enjenjo]

my gosh why would you do that to a Ford truck!??

It's a great truck dad, but I made it better.

[1FATGMC]

Double posted, see the next post.

c ya, Sum

[1FATGMC]

I don't know what year truck you're messing with, but my '65 had a 352 in it, which from what I understand is the same block as the 390. I used '69 Chevy truck motor mounts for my swap and they set right down on the Ford frame towers like they were made for it. I don't remember having to make the slots any bigger on the frame towers, but that has been several years ago, so I might have.

For the transmission crossmember, I just used a piece of  1 1/2" tubing with a 2"x 4" plate welded on each end to match the inside diameter of the frame. Instead of trying to measure where to put it, I got the motor bolted in with the tranny attached, then got the crossmember in place and drilled the frame.

I got lucky at a swap meet and found got a brand new aluminum radiator with a hole in it (shipping damage) for just over $100. About 5 minutes with a TIG took care of the hole, and instead of the chevy core support mounts, it had a 2x2 angle welded down each side.

Mounting it was no problem, but I had a little trouble with the hoses. I think what I ended up using was hoses for a '66 Belair. The bends were in the right places, but I had to cut 3 or 4 inches off the length to make them fit right.

Thanks Sean,  saved all of that too.  I guess if you and Frank come on the same day we can get it done before lunch   .

c ya, Sum

[48builder]

That should about do it. we used to do this changeover in a day, but we did a bunch of them, usually with a big block. It was easier to install a Chevy than to track down the parts to use a 460. At least it was until I figured out I could use the Chevy truck mounts on a 460 to fit the 351 frame mounts, but that's another story

Is there anything that enjenjo doesn't know? He is a constant source of amazement to me.  

[1FATGMC]

Is there anything that enjenjo doesn't know? He is a constant source of amazement to me.  

I haven't found the right question yet  :cry:, but I will, it will just take a while     .

c ya, Sum