I am currently installing a new art carr 200r-4 with my new 383 crate. I bought a new th400 crossmember for the swap, used to have th350. I have read that the 400 cross member will need to be modified to line up. But is there any benefits to using big block mounts to move the engine inline with the cross member and avoid headers steering box clearance issues ?
Thanks,
Dave

Do you have A/C ? I know small block headers also come extremely close to the evap. box, and will surely hit if you move the engine. Also, are you getting a custom exhaust made ? I'm sure nothing else will fit. If you use '69 350 frame mounts and engine mounts there should be no clearance issues. If it was me, I would redrill your TH 400 crossmember, so motor is not twisted in your chassis.

I was planning on going with the vitange air set up and the dse firewall fill plate, but at a later date. I guess i will have to dip into the kids college fund again :rolleyes: It seems that the new location of the evap. would solve this particular problem. Thanks for pointing out that my brilliant idea wasn't graemlins/clonk.gif . Man, that's what makes this site so helpfull. You guys have saved me from myself too many times to count. Is there any other problems or disadvantages to off-setting the small block to a big block location? I rally would like to have the extra space and clearance from the steering box.

I just installed Hooker Supercomps and a BTOD T2004R in my 69, all at the same time. The headers, although close to the steering box, have at least 1/4" clearance at the closest point. It's actually the pass side that is causing me the most grief. The factory steel fuel line is bent around the very top of the idler arm, and hits the header there. So I have to cut that section out and custom bend a piece of steel line to fit in its palce. As for the trans, I also used a T400 crossmember. I cut the mount pad off first, then installed the trans and crossmember, then re-welded the mount in the proper, centered location. It was not a big issue at all. The elongated holes in the mount pad need to be elongated even further - I chose to make them open ended slots. Still, not a big deal. The main problem that I can see with using the T400 crossmember with a 200 is that the rear of the trans sits very slightly elevated. It needs to be spaced upwards a tad so that the pan doesn't hit the crossmember. Again, a minor issue in my book.

My advice - buy headers that fit and keep your smallblock where it belongs.

BPOS out.

Hey BPOS what part number on the headers? Thanks for the advise, i may just give up on the whole big block mount issue.

Offsetting the engine may cause fan to radiator shroud clearance problems. There are more differences than just engine mounts between a big block and a small block.

I used Hooker Supercomp 1 3/4 primaries, part #2131-1, ceramic coated. I used the 1 3/4 beacause I have fastburn heads and this is the size that works best with the big exhaust ports. They ain't cheap! $530ish, delivered from Summit. If you don't need the big tubes, consider the 1 5/8, or even the Hooker Competition headers...or poll the crowd here and see what else is a good fit.

thanks everybody graemlins/beers.gif