Builder

I am thinking about making a little product after struggling with the stuff that's available. Right now, you can buy an LSx adapter plate and a separate SBC mount. Do you think an LSx to SBC mount would be a good product made as one piece? I guss I would have to make two types; short and wide, and tall and narrow. I would make them without the hole drilled for the chassis mounting bolt. That way, they could be drilled where needed for each installation. Let me know what you think.

hals73rs

iTrader: (4)

That is bad ***!! What would they sell for? Can I test a prototype?????

67RSCamaroVette

iTrader: (63)

For sure! If I wasnt already set up, i'd buy that for a nickel. Looks excellent. Just be sure to give some dimensions, as many of us shy away from stuff we cant' measure. (for exhaust, firewall, steering, frame, ground clearance, etc..) They look great, polished 6061 or 7075? What's the scoop on price, should you decide to manufacture them?

olly

Builder

Oops! The pictures are of the parts you can buy today...not what I would design. The pictures show one side that went together properly. The other side wouldn't fit because the parts don't fit together well.

In my design, the three bolts holding the SBC mount to the LSx plate would be eliminated. The SBC mount would be integral to the LSx plate.

I am thinking polished or chromed CNC billet 6061-T6 and red or black urethane. I have no idea what they might cost.

Stu Cool

iTrader: (13)

The plate is not such a big deal actually, if you want one that you can position your own mount on, that is easy enough to make out of a flat piece of steel or aluminum. I think the item that would be great to have would be the motor mount itself without the holes drilled so you could position the the way you want. For those that want an insulated mount with rubber or neoprene, I think that having the plate and mount seperate is best. If you wanted to have a solid mount then having a one piece unit would be ok.

Pat

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

I think it would be a great product idea... but here's a question... does that plate from S&P interfere with the A/C compressor? That could be the big up-side to your product... if you used the stock LS1 mount that's farther towards the back of the block, you could eliminate any potential interferance with the A/C compressor.

But first off, does that plate and mount interfere with the A/C compressor?

Builder

Thanks, Pat. Yes, I see your point. A one-piece solid mount would be a logical and product. The urethane mounts might be hard to duplicate in the different types that are available.

Builder

That's a very good question...that I can't answer. It will be some time before I get to the A/C on my setup. I can see this is going to take some reseach before such a product could be developed.

Which is more important; mounting the LSx so the bell housing flange is located at the same spot as the SBC, or moving the mount so the A/C fits without changing brackets? It is really hard to know, with all of the different setups, where to drill the holes.

billg

iTrader: (3)

The problem you will have with a one piece mount is that each "series" of the older cars actually use 2 different mounts. For Example, a 68 thru 72 Chevelle uses a thin mount for the lo perf small block cars and a thicker interlocking mount for the 4 barrel SBs and the BBs. The motor winds up sitting exactly the same but the lo perf cars have taller frame brackets and "thin" mounts and the Hi Po cars that use the "thicker" mount then use shorter frame stands. The same rules apply to early Camaros except the BB cars actually used off set stands that pulled the motor forward slightly and offset it to the right and the 67 68 BB cars used different frame stands than the 69s did. So to offer a "universal" one piece mount you would have to either include the proper frame stands with them or at least be sure to tell people exactly what to buy. Im not trying to "rain on your parade" and youve got a great idea but theres gonna be a lot of "pitfalls" in it once you get the wrong(?) people buying them! HTHs......... Bill

Builder

No, I underdstand what you are saying and I agree. It's not as simple as it sounds to make a one-piece mount...albeit an ideal solution. There are many iterations to consider. If you were to choose just one setup (say, the most popular), what do you suppose it would be? If I decide to do this, I will have to start with my setup first, then do the most popular next, maybe then continue to add varieties.

billg

iTrader: (3)

I would think that 67 thru 69 Camaros would be the most popular, that would also fit 68 thru 72 Novas. Probably 68 thru 72 Chevelles after that. There seems to be quite a few 70 thru 81 F bodies also getting LSx swaps but the problem there will be that the 70 thru 72s used the old style mounts with the rubber on the motor and the 73 thru 81s used the later style mounts with a solid "clamshell" on the motor and encapsulated rubber on the frame. And the bolt patterns in the subframes changed right along with the mount styles. JMO. YMMV................. Bill

FastKat

iTrader: (10)

What I am wondering is if a well engineered product can give you both. Putting the bellhousing in the same spot a regular SBC should fit will be a priority and simplify the swap for a lot of people. If you use a regular LS1 motor mount (that mounts a littile farther back on the block than the SBC mount) you will clear the A/C compressor... the question is can you sneak a pedestal around the A/C compressor to mount up to the mounting point on the chasis?

billg

iTrader: (3)

That would vary by every different chassis. Making a mount to recieve the LSx mount and then bolt to the frame is a good idea and its kind of what I did by using the engine side cages off a later "normal" SB. But the problem will be that a Camaro will have a different frame pattern and location than a Chevelle, a big car different again, etc. Plus you will wind up with varying heights for the different chassis also. When the AC enters the equation, it gets even more carried away! The AC compressor cleared just fine in my 69 Elky during trial fits using my rigged mounts but the hoses required a small dent in the frame to clear the outer/lower hose end at the comp. Plus the lines would NOT have cleared the stock Elky frame bracket and mount even tho the comp itself had lots of room. My 87 442 is gonna require frame surgery for the comp no matter how you do mounts since the frame is so narrow right there and even if you tried moving the motor forward enough, the "protruding" part of the frame where the idler arm bolts would interfere nevermind that pulling it forward would take a bunch of oil pan sectioning or frame cutting to clear the pan. HTHs.... Bill