CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

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PANDER
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CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#1 Post by PANDER » Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:12 pm

IM LOOKING FOR ANY IDEAS AS TO WHAT TO USE FOR SEALANT OR GASKETS FOR THE WATER PUMP ON MY FRONT MOTOR PLATE, ALSO IF ANYBODY HAS ANY IDEAS OR EXPERIANCE FOR WELDED TABS ON THE FRAME RAILS TO BOLT THE FRONT MOTOR PLATE TO THIS IS A 68 CAMARO STOCK FRONT CHASSIS ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED THANK YOU.

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John_Heard
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#2 Post by John_Heard » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:14 pm

I use the "Right Stuff" on mine both sides of the motor plate, works great.

On the tabs, one thing I can suggest is to make some ledges so the engine can sit down in the proper position when you start the bolts, that's somewhat handy.

bracketchev1221
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#3 Post by bracketchev1221 » Fri Feb 07, 2014 6:32 am

I still use gaskets on mine. One between the plate and the block and one between the pump and plate. Both with Ultra black silicone on them. And like John said, make the plate so it can sit on the rails and then bolt it in place.

PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#4 Post by PANDER » Fri Feb 07, 2014 10:21 am

Ray do you put silicone on both sides of the gasket or just on one side? so y'all suggest welding a tab off the frame rail so the plate can sit directly on it and then weld another tab up to bolt the plate into just want to make sure I got the idea right thanks guys for your help, I know It might be tuff but do y'all got any pics thanks

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John_Heard
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#5 Post by John_Heard » Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:09 am

Not a great picture but you should be the general idea and see the lip I was talking about.
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PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#6 Post by PANDER » Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:37 am

perfect john that's a very nice front end you got there, so theres a little lip that pushes out at the bottom of the tab and that's where you would rest the plate, that pic explains everything thank you very much for your help. oh one last thing john you said you use right stuff for your water pump sealant on the plate, what is that and hoe do you use it? thanks

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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#7 Post by John_Heard » Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:47 am

Image

It's made by Permatex, "gasket in a tube". I use this stuff all over the engine, oil pan, water pump/plate, intake china rails, etc.

Just clean the surfaces real good (Brake Cleaner) put a small bead where your gasket would go, mate the parts up while it's still wet - don't wait for it to skin over. I typically just hand snug the bolts up then wait like an hour or so (summer time) then tighten up the rest of the way.

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wikd69
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#8 Post by wikd69 » Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:48 am

Mine is similar to Johns above. I fabbed the tabs to fit the frame rails while I had the block in the car and tacked them in place on the frame. I use both a front plate and solid motor mounts - that allowed me mock things up during fab.

Mounting tabs here...

Image

Motor plate on the build...

Image

Motor plate in the car. I use Permatex Ultra Gray to seal the water pump ports on both sides of the plate...

Image
1969 ProStreet Camaro RS Best 9.75@139 1.46 60'
Blown 427 BBC, TH400 w/Brake, Back-Half Ladderbar
Narrowed 12-Bolt, 4.10 Gears, Spool, Moser 33 Spline

http://www.marsh-racing.com/harrys_camaro-1.htm

PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#9 Post by PANDER » Sat Feb 08, 2014 10:27 am

im gonna give that a shot john looks like a lot easier to use thanks for all your help,

PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#10 Post by PANDER » Sat Feb 08, 2014 10:33 am

that's a beautiful set up you got wikd69 thats just awesome, do you use solid motors mount with front plate on your Camaro? just wondering on my 68 that's how I got mine set up but haven't ran it that way yet

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wikd69
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#11 Post by wikd69 » Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:54 am

PANDER wrote:that's a beautiful set up you got wikd69 thats just awesome, do you use solid motors mount with front plate on your Camaro? just wondering on my 68 that's how I got mine set up but haven't ran it that way yet
Yep, I use both. Some guys will tell you it's overkill but I've never seen this sort of overkill be problematic :smt003 If anything, it's just a bit of extra weight and since mine is primarily a street ride I don't really care about that too much. And yeah, mine is shiny and loud and such and it's pretty quick for a street car but it really doesn't compare to most of the guys here with purpose built race rides. You should sift through the forum and take a look at John Heard's build photos for instance. Beautiful work and a serious piece of hardware. And along with John's, there are a number of other projects shown and a lot of wild talent in this group. Pretty awesome stuff and a great group of racers. (laffin) These guys tolerate me cuz I don't make any great claims to being a serious full time racer :smt003

On mine: if I take the next step and adopt a mid-plate I would likely drop the motor mounts entirely. I just wasn't comfortable with only the front plate and a tail shaft mount. It poses big problems when you drop the trans out of the car, etc., etc.
1969 ProStreet Camaro RS Best 9.75@139 1.46 60'
Blown 427 BBC, TH400 w/Brake, Back-Half Ladderbar
Narrowed 12-Bolt, 4.10 Gears, Spool, Moser 33 Spline

http://www.marsh-racing.com/harrys_camaro-1.htm

PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#12 Post by PANDER » Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:31 pm

I appreciate the reply wikd69 thank you for all your help. :thumb:

PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#13 Post by PANDER » Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:51 pm

hey wikd69 I meant to ask you, I saw some of your build pics and saw that you had a CSR flex plate/trans shield on your tranny, I was wondering how that fit up in your fire wall area when you had everything bolted up in your 69 Camaro, cause I have a 68 and I figured there relatively same I guess, and was going to put one on once I got everything ready thanks.

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wikd69
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#14 Post by wikd69 » Sat Feb 08, 2014 6:08 pm

PANDER wrote:hey wikd69 I meant to ask you, I saw some of your build pics and saw that you had a CSR flex plate/trans shield on your tranny, I was wondering how that fit up in your fire wall area when you had everything bolted up in your 69 Camaro, cause I have a 68 and I figured there relatively same I guess, and was going to put one on once I got everything ready thanks.
You'll have to use a rasp to flatten out some of the flashing and locator blocks up near the front of the bell housing on top, but otherwise it's a great form fit to my TH400. I have a finished firewall and it's pretty tight at the top of the bell-housing, but even with that, the CSR shield clears everything real cleanly.

One other thing: I ended up using a hole saw in my firewall in order to get to the bell-housing bolts from inside. Between the additional thickness of the CSR shield/plate and my finished firewall, there was no way at all for me to get to the bolts otherwise. Until I used the hole saw in the trans tunnel, I had to pull the engine and trans out together to get the trans out of the car, and vice versa. So it may be worth it to do the hole saw trick like I did.
1969 ProStreet Camaro RS Best 9.75@139 1.46 60'
Blown 427 BBC, TH400 w/Brake, Back-Half Ladderbar
Narrowed 12-Bolt, 4.10 Gears, Spool, Moser 33 Spline

http://www.marsh-racing.com/harrys_camaro-1.htm

PANDER
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Re: CHEVY BIG BLOCK FRONT MOTOR PLATE

#15 Post by PANDER » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:28 pm

So you had to make holes from the inside of the car to get to the bell housing bolts? How many holes if you did? Thanks

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