So Where Does the Engine Go?

Since my last post, I have hoisted the engine into the frame a couple of times. The issue: motor mounts. Since the frame had a pair of welded on ears that were supposed to have gone with the Offy engine, I knew they wouldn't be right for the Flathead. Those aside, the tricky bit was in locating both the height of the drivetrain (engine and gearbox), but also the fore and aft position of it. Further, it's also a case of whether the chassis itself is at the right height with this added weight.

So, after putting the suspension and axles back on the frame and rolling it to a flat place on the garage floor, I placed about 250 lbs on the back of the chassis (attempting to duplicate the weight of the body, passengers and some fuel). I'm probably a little light, but given the stiffness of the torsion bars, I don't think adding another 200 lbs would have dropped it more than an inch.

Up front, I sat the engine/ bellhousing/ gearbox on the frame to see where it put the chassis height (I'd put the torsion bar levers on in the same position they were when I disassembled the car).

So, even though the chassis was a bit high in the front, I then checked for fore/aft positioning. I hoisted the drivetrain up again. I found that the driveshaft that came with the car actually fit between the differential and the gearbox (plus the splines matched the gearbox). All together, it put the front of the engine crank pulley extremely close to the frame crossbar, however I can probably trim an inch or so off of the front of the spline receiver on the driveshaft which will make it a perfect fit.