I am putting a chevy 350 in a 53 chevy that sits on a s-10 frame. I am using a t-5 trany. In order to keep the shifter in front of the platform that supports the seat, I am looking to put the motor mounts for the 350 in the same place as the origional six. In everthing that I have read, people say to push the engine back till the distrubtor almost touches the fire wall. Will I notice a diffrence in handling buy having closer to the front? thanks, Herman
Center Of Gravity Yes , you will ~ if you do this , you'll have an ill handling pig you can't wait to sell instead of a fun old truck that you like to drive . Consider using an AMC Pacer front suspension as it allows the V-8 to sit way down between the frame rails and still looks lowered . Or (if you're rich) maybe a Fatman front end kit . If you look in older posts , you'll find all the info you need to do this correctly , several different ways , look at Evans posts , he's a professional builder . Take you time researching before you do this to avoid winding up with a yard full of junk parts , no one wants that .
You might be able to use a custom shifter that will allow your stick to be forward of the seat. I have never heard of your problem before but if you will go to the stovebolt.com website there are hundreds of guys there that can offer suggestions for you.
In doing more research on the t-5 trany. I have a worldclass t-5 out of a camaro. What I have found is that the housing is longer than other trany and the shifter is way at the back end of the trany. So, in order to get the truck to handle correctly, I should move the motor back towards the firewall buy the three/four inches that I can and just cut out the seat platform to allow the shifter to come up where it will. It looks like I will be using bucket seats to get more leg room as I am a tall guy. Does this sound better
Check on the stove bolt page for info on the T-5. You will need a S-10 tailhousing which has the shifter closer to the bellhousing. You will need that world class behind your 350, the non-world class wont hold up. Chris
Changing the tailhousing from an S-10 T-5 to a Camaro T-5 is really pretty easy. I've got the same setup in my truck, except that my Camaro T-5 is a non-world class, and the engine is a 235. I know the gears, bearings, etc, are different between the WC and non-WC T-5s, but am not sure on the tailshaft housings. I'd bet they are the same. There are about four T-5 tech articles at this site: http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/ . Also, go to this site: http://www.inliners.org/ , click on "Tech Tips", then on the T-5 link, scroll to the bottom and click on the "Camaro T-5 Hybrid" link and there's the article, with pictures, to do the swap. Good luck!
