Hey does anyone know where to find motor and transmission mounts for a 1989 240sx to 350 sbc motor swap? If anyone could answer this it would be really helpful because i am trying to find these mounts and i havent had any luck..

A motor plate would be a reasonable solution for a street set up

russb31021 wrote:Well can you give my any tips on how to build the motor and transmission mounts and whats the problem with the oil pan i have heard alot of ppl talkin about the major problems with the oil pan. Im new to this i just had a 350 laying around and i bought a 240sx without a motor so i decided to put the 350 in the 240sx.. I appreciate all your help

russb31021- I'm pretty sure you sent me an email and since the question is pretty general I would rather address it here so others can benefit. You're first question is about how to make the mounts here is an overview:

First what you're going to need is a mock up engine. Basically it's a plastic model version of the engine that is 100% exactly to scale and even has all the bolt holes in it so you can attach any real parts you want (oil pan, valve covers, accessories, transmission, etc). They cost around $300 but you can sell it when you're finished for around $250. I can't stress this enough... Under no circumstances do you want to attempt this without a mock up engine it makes everything a THOUSAND times easier!!!

Once you get your mock up engine, put your transmission in place on a transmission jack and bolt the mock up engine to the transmission. Next you're going to have to take the engine in and out a million times (why you have the plastic engine) finding the best spot for it, and making sure nothing (headers, oil pan, valve covers, brake booster, steering rack, steering column) hits each other. One thing you can do is mark where the transmission will hit the tranny tunnel and bash that spot with a mini sledgehammer, this 'technique' will help you get the tranny a few inches further back. Next you're going to need one of these:Which you will use to make sure everything is lined up side to side, and about a 3% incline higher in the front than back. Then bolt on your engine side motor mounts, from there it's up to your imagination. Think of a simple way using a few pieces of metal to bolt the other side of the motor mount to a flat piece of metal and attach it to either the frame rail or the stock crossmember. Make a prototype out of cardboard, then cut it out of steel, tack it together and see if everything bolts up right or not, if everything is ok then weld it together and you're done!

Your second question was about the oil pan: Take a look at the oil pan on your SBC and you'll see the sump is in the rear, the 240SX uses a front sump, and the crossmember and steering rack are where the rear sump would go. You have a few choices, move the steering rack (big PITA, will destroy handling and possibly be unsafe), cut out the firewall and move the engine WAY back (PITA, will never be streetable again), go with a dry sump system (PITA, expensive, complicated), or possibly the 62-67 nova front sump pan might work which looks like this:If anyone ever tries the Nova pan please let me know! Also if you're thinking about doing the Nova pan or dry sump, SBC engines/oil pans changed in 85/86 from a 1 piece rear main seal to a 2 piece so make sure your engine and oil pan are compatible.
Modified by Davidss at 4:14 PM 12/19/2007

russb31021 wrote:Hey one more question. What kind of radiator did you use for your swap?

I used a koyo brand 240SX radiator, you could probably even use the stock one. If I did it over again I might look into mounting the radiator where a front mount intercooler would go, that would give you a lot more room in the engine bay and would make using a 'long' water pump setup possible. For radiator hoses, search on ebay for "steel radiator hose" and you'll find flexible stainless hose you can cut to fit like this:

the chevy nova oil pan you got do you know were i can get a deal like that or do you think the person off ebay has another

thanksruss

Just watch ebay, packages like that seem to go for around $100 shipped used. But you need to get one that matches your engine, the engines and oil pans changed in 85-86 from 2 peice rear main seal to 1. What do you have?

pm ruckus-racing hell hook you up

russb31021 wrote:Hey does anyone know where to find motor and transmission mounts for a 1989 240sx to 350 sbc motor swap? If anyone could answer this it would be really helpful because i am trying to find these mounts and i havent had any luck..

Do you have the website for the Ruckus Racing? I couldnt find it and i dont know anything about them.

Thanks,Russ B.

i'll do you one better, hinson makes the ENTIRE KIT. and don't use the nova oil pan, the new gto one works perfect.

http://www.hinsonsupercars.com/faqS13.htm

it all comes in the kit on this website.

too bad the hinson kit is garbage, much like your signature ls1 = aluminum

and im relatively confident their kit wont work on an iron block SBC anyway.

Theres a few out there, but from what I have heard they had alot of trouble making motor mounts because of the positioning of where there are located on a Gen 1 and 2. And the ones I have seen had custom made oil pans with the rack going right through the pan.

If your serious buy a dummy block the styrofoam look a like and get to work

Kamin wrote:too bad the hinson kit is garbage, much like your signature ls1 = aluminum

and im relatively confident their kit wont work on an iron block SBC anyway.

idk i'll find out i sent them a message for my 305 HO. and how could the kit be garbage when they offer the corvette mounts? (ls1) and you're right, but what i meant by my sig was sr20 sucks, ka = schaweet. sbc are bad *** though

you seem to be not understanding something

a SBC and a LS1 are completely different. their kit is for the LS1 engines. and it sucks. its overpriced and ive seen people take it off because it fits so horribly.

For the record...the GTO pan is for the LS only. Not the SBC motors from any generation prior to the LS series. The Nova II pan is the only close option that I know of and I believe even that will need to be modified to lower the motor far enough into the engine bay. That's not fact, just something I'm pretty sure about after looking at the pan closely.

I have heard good and bad things about Hinson, but since I have no practical info I'll hold my opinion.

Cutting and modding a new oil pan isn't THAT hard if you get one that's close. The NovaII is close enough IMO to be cut up and reworked.

WD

Thanks for all the help but i need to know what oil pan does work. I've heard about the Chevy II Nova Oil Pan but are there anty others that will work this is the only problem i am now running into. I have everything else I need. Thanks,Russ B.

Russ...... You kinda gotta make your own for the old gen1, or go dry.

I have seen S chassis with small blocks, and a Ford 302 in progress. They are modifing oil pans to work. Your going to have to do the same.

We need a good writeup on fabrication with particular attention to oil pans. I'll start browsing today...

But isn't that a tin can?

contact

russb31021 wrote:Do you have the website for the Ruckus Racing? I couldnt find it and i dont know anything about them.

Thanks,Russ B.

contact [email protected]

No one on this forum should waste their money on Hison's mount kit. Its way over priced and easy to do.

just need to know were i can get a chevy nova II oil pan cause i heard thats the cheapest and the best way to go so if anyone knows just let me know

thanksrussb

my next question is what do i do about the driveshaft so if anyone knows just let me know

thanks russb

russb31021 wrote:my next question is what do i do about the driveshaft so if anyone knows just let me know

thanks russb

dude seriously if you cant figure out how to get a driveshaft you might wanna reconsider this swap. theres about 300,000 other things that you are going to have to figure out yourself. a driveshaft is STUPID easy. http://www.questdex.com type in driveshaft shop. call them, ask what they want. probably count the spines on the trans, and bring them your stock one. theyll make a new one for about $300.

but honestly, dont get in over your head on this. it is NOT AN EASY SWAP TO DO.

i already have the motor in and the oil pan on all i needed was the driveshaft i didnt ask for your sarcasm if your going to be rude about it dont answer my question.

Thanks,Russ B

Hes not being rude hes telling you the truth. If you cant figure out how to get a drive shaft then what makes you think you can handle the swap?

I think that was pretty rude. To someone doing their first swap the driveshaft can look like a pretty big hurdle to get over.

When it comes to the driveshaft you can go full length to the diff or 1/2 to the carrier bearing. I would just take the half from the carrier bearing forward to your driveshaft shop and they can take it from there (they will tell you how they want you to measure).

I got my nova pan in (FINALLY!) and found a shell to put it and the mock up in and it looks like it's going to work perfectly! Looks like I'm going to have to cut up the crosmember and modify the steering rack but nothing major...

yeah i was looking around for a nova front sump about a 66 year.and the guy that was selling it told me that the pan would not fit my 78 350.but idk i would be nice if it would so i dont have to fab. one

it should fit fine the only difference for an oil pan in a 350(excluding the olds 350 diesel i know nothing about that engine) dint happen until 86 when they went to a 1 piece rear seal previous to that they where all two piece rear seals and used the same flange/bolt pattern. mayby he was thinking the oil pump wouldnt work? but those are pretty easy to find

RLS are you the guy who myspaced me? I would try that Nova pan if so, the gen1 pans should work on that gen 1