393 install progress.....a few questions

[JWMcCrary]

It's in...finally.

The engine is so close to the firewall on the drivers side that I had to dremel the lip on the back of my valve cover to get the bolt holes to line up. IS this normal for a cast aluminum valve cover? It sure is tight on that side, but everything appears to be lined up properly and sitting like it should.

As you can see in the last picture my stock throttle linkage is not going to work. I was going to change over to a throttle cable. Can someone tell me what I need for this or suggest some options? I looked at some Lokar setups, but not sure which one I need.

The header on the drivers side is resting against a bolt on the brake line block on the frame, it's not under pressure but is touching it, should I "tune" the header a little? Is this normal to have to do this?

I have a 3 1/2 suspension lift and a 1" body lift and extreme motor mounts. With the air cleaner I have been running the hood will not close. It would close with the 302 even before the body lift. bummer. My stock fan shroud centers around the fan now better than before..imagine that.

When I tried to turn the motor over to get to TDC the starter would not engage. When I turn the key on the radio comes on so I know I have power to the switch. I took a screwdriver and jumped across the solinoid and the starter spins fine, so I found TDC with this method for now to get the dizzy in. I have not troubleshot this at all, any ideas? No wires were removed from the solinoid, so I know it's correct. I did take the wires off the alternator (2 wires), could something connected wrong there cause this problem?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Broncobowsher]

1) looks like trick flow heads. I run those on my 351 and it is very close to the firewall. At times the body mounts shift enough to get minor rubbing. Staticly I have about 1/2" clearance. Without a body lift I had to use stock valve covers (with the baffles clearanced) to clear my mastery cylinder.

2) I got my throttle cable off something at the junkyard that looked like it would work. long cable wraps completly around the throttle body so it has no sharp kinks in it.

3) didn't see the picture, but you don't want the exhaust touching the brake system conducted heat will boil brake fluid and then you can't stop. I rerouted my brake lines when I instaled the headers on the 351 to solve my clearance issues.

4) could be related to #1. If the engine sits high or the transfer case sits low the head to firewall clearance gets tight and the fan goes higher to the radiator.

5) alternator wiring is not related to the starter solenoid curcuit. is it automatic? did you unplug the nuetral start interlock wiring?

 

[JWMcCrary]

5) alternator wiring is not related to the starter solenoid curcuit. is it automatic? did you unplug the nuetral start interlock wiring?

BINGO....
That's got to be it. Thanks a bunch.
I can't beleive I didn't think of that.

 

[70_Steve]

I have no experience with those Extreme motor mounts but I've read other saying that they make the motor sit up about an inch higher. Looking at your last photo of the throttle linkage and master cyl, I'd say that's about right. You negated any advantage you gained with the 1" body lift by installing those motor mounts. You might try installing the stock motor mounts, or go another 1" higher on the body lift.

My headers hit the frame on both sides when I did my 351 install. On the advice of Tom, of Tom's Bronco Parts, I just bent the headers in a bit. He says he runs into that a lot doing 351 conversions. I got my engine running to heat up the header tubes, then pried on the collector with a 2x4. Sounds kinda crude, but it worked great!! Moved my drivers side header 1 1/2" .

 

[JWMcCrary]

Thanks for the info. I chose to use the extreme motor mounts due to putting in a Ron Davis radiator. I didn't want to chance a broken mount ruining a $500 radiator. Lucky I decided to do the body lift, would have been a lot worse problem without it. Now I have an excuse to get a new fiberglass hood.

Bending the header a little would probably give me all the clearnace I need. This shouldn't be an issue with aluminum heads would it? Not sure how much prying they can take vs a cast iron head?

 

[broncodude_73]

I have the extreme motor mounts and AFR heads with wildhorses headers. When I first installed the motor the headers rubbed on the inside frame rail. So I just tillted the motor over some using the adjustments built into the motor monts.

You could try that first