Wow, Jeff! That is a bag of snakes. I remember putting a car V8 in a Transtar, with home-made mounts, and it turned out a lot better than that.
The engine sits too high, and too far forward, for one thing.
I remember you having had clutch and starter troubles, and there seems to me there's ONE good solution. Find yourself a rust-bucket V8 Champ truck to use as a donor. The parts you need are not subject to instant destruction by rust, like the body parts are.
You need flywheel, bellhousing, clutch linkage and clutch, starter, motor and tranny mounts, plus other odds and ends, too, I'm sure. A parts truck would be the answer. Can't be that hard to find. As long as you are going to replace the clutch, anyway, use a 10 or 11 inch Chevy diaphragm clutch. Pedal pressure hold the clutch in the released position, as in waiting for the light to change, is MUCH less, and the mod makes for a much nicer-driving vehicle. I did this with my old Champ, and it was well worth the trouble. You will have to go with a modified throwout bearing, or maybe the front bearing retainer on the tranny, but it's not that difficult, and the results are worth it. Your left leg will thank you! The TRUCK bellhousing has ample room to accomodate the more square-shouldered diaphragm pressure plate.
There's simply no point in trying to make the current arrangement any better; it's ALL wrong. Even if you did make mounts that work, you have an undersize clutch, and the wrong type of starter, etc., just too much non-standard stuff to be comfortable with. Non-standard stuff, withing limits, is fine, provided one KNOWS what's there, and provided the non-standard parts are there for a purpose, like to improve performance or comfort.
I wouldn't waste time using V8 car parts, even late-model Stude with a bigger clutch. You are still faced with the fact that Stude never made mounts or linkage to use the V8 car tranny and bellhousing in a Champ, so fabricating your own would still be required. If you find a parts-donor truck, all the engineering is done for you. There's got to be some rust-belt Champs just itchin' to donate their organs.
Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands
The engine sits too high, and too far forward, for one thing.
I remember you having had clutch and starter troubles, and there seems to me there's ONE good solution. Find yourself a rust-bucket V8 Champ truck to use as a donor. The parts you need are not subject to instant destruction by rust, like the body parts are.
You need flywheel, bellhousing, clutch linkage and clutch, starter, motor and tranny mounts, plus other odds and ends, too, I'm sure. A parts truck would be the answer. Can't be that hard to find. As long as you are going to replace the clutch, anyway, use a 10 or 11 inch Chevy diaphragm clutch. Pedal pressure hold the clutch in the released position, as in waiting for the light to change, is MUCH less, and the mod makes for a much nicer-driving vehicle. I did this with my old Champ, and it was well worth the trouble. You will have to go with a modified throwout bearing, or maybe the front bearing retainer on the tranny, but it's not that difficult, and the results are worth it. Your left leg will thank you! The TRUCK bellhousing has ample room to accomodate the more square-shouldered diaphragm pressure plate.
There's simply no point in trying to make the current arrangement any better; it's ALL wrong. Even if you did make mounts that work, you have an undersize clutch, and the wrong type of starter, etc., just too much non-standard stuff to be comfortable with. Non-standard stuff, withing limits, is fine, provided one KNOWS what's there, and provided the non-standard parts are there for a purpose, like to improve performance or comfort.
I wouldn't waste time using V8 car parts, even late-model Stude with a bigger clutch. You are still faced with the fact that Stude never made mounts or linkage to use the V8 car tranny and bellhousing in a Champ, so fabricating your own would still be required. If you find a parts-donor truck, all the engineering is done for you. There's got to be some rust-belt Champs just itchin' to donate their organs.
Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands
BTW, glad to see the body is as decent as it is for a Champ, but the previous owner sure cut some corners to keep it running.
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