Engine offset?

[frank p]

This has probably already been discussed before and if so please forgive my ignorance. The PO of my sons 1964 f100 had installed a 302 engine in the truck but added an extra under engine cross member to mount the engine, he installed it about 4 inches above the front axle and built his own frame mounts off the cross member which had some tall towers to reach the motor mounts. We are going to flip the axle and need to build new mounts to make room for the axle. I bought a weld it your self engine mount kit and am quite pleased with the design and simplicity of the kit, however, I supported the engine under the pan and cut away one side leaving the other side still connected to keep the engine from shifting. I built the one side and welded it to the frame and was happy with the way it came out....but when I cut off the other side and began fitting the frame mount to that side I discovered that the motor had been installed with about a 2 inch offset to the passengers side. Looking at the transmission mount, it look like possibly the stock mount but it also had a 2 inch offset. Is this the way it's suppose to be or am I going to have to cut everything off and start again this time centering everything?

[jkimbrel65]

yes should be offset to the passenger side

Mike

[rickairmedic]

Hey Frank in a word yes the engines in slicks were mounted towards the passenger side . The rearend is also offset to the passenger side of the truck ( the pmupkin that is ) .


Rick

[frank p]

Thanks for your responses, there's a lot I'm learning about these trucks>

[sully5]

I installed mine 3" to the right. Aftermarket crossmembers (engine and/or tranny) do NOT have the offset built in. Mine is a 64 so there was no engine or tranny crossmembers in the usual places for a 302/AOD swap. I dumped my Speedway transmission crossmember and highly modified my Speedway frame adaptor motor mounts for the offset. I used a factory transmission crossmember from a '66 when it was all said and done and it had the 3" offset built in. The steering box on mine was too close to the manifold (and forget about mustang shorties) with the engine centered. Even with the 3" offset, the mustang shorties wouldn't fit with either the stock or the toyota steering box, so I ran manifolds. I finally got to install the headers once I went to rack and pinion steering.

The pinion on a ford 9" is offset 3". On some models (cars) the left side axle tube is actually 3" shorter to center the pinion.

[4 Baja]

Yes, they are offset. The Ford 9" R&P where offset to allow equal length axles. As mentioned above, the engine offset allows room for the steering box. Just make sure your crankshaft and transmission output shaft are the same distance off centerline of the frame so they are parallel to your pinion shaft. They don't have to be the exact same distance off centerline as the pinion, as a composite driveline angle is actually better. Helps avoid vibrations.