Engine positioning questions We are getting ready to work an old (restored) set of Blackjack headers on my sons car. I have installed several sets throughout since around 1980. the maverick is tightest I have seen, in the critical locations. We put a 302B in a '66, I dont recall it looking as close as the conventional 302 does in our 72 maverick. Heres the question. The motor is mounted using the 250 six cyl frame mounts (reversed) and 70's ford truck mounts. I have no reason to suspect any weird or backyard engineering has been done on the set-up prior to us getting the car. The motor is sitting about 1.25" closer to the shock tower on the driver side. I know that all cars do not necessarily have perfectly centered engines. New mounts were going to be purchased when we install the headers, but the side to side alignment looks like the driver's side is not going to fit, to the best an measure. You guys with V8 cars factory and converted, are the engines dead centered in the bay (side to side)? I am not afraid of the work, but if all you guys' motors are definitely centered, then I need to do some additional investigating to see why ours isn't, and correct it. the only problem is there is not really much that has been done to really make it out of whack. ITs a straight forward swap with no weird stuff redrilling/welding involved, so it should be sitting close to where it should.
A couple of weeks back we went ahead and got the headers installed. I posted a question regarding engine positioning. When we got done with all the new motor mount installation and positioning the motor so the clearances were shared between both sides, the motor was approximately 3/8" closer to the driver side. The frame mounts were orginally thought to be the stock 250 mounts (reversed). they weren't. They were a home-made angle bracket (similar to the 250 mounts). The motor is sitting at a good height, but I think it may be about 1/2" too far forward because the centerlink rubs the primary tubes when the front end is compressed. As usual, it will sort of make the clearance it needs, once the tubes get hot. They are old Blackjack 042's (late 70's likely) that I picked up used (but awesome condition). I was hesitant to their success at fitting, but they looked the same as everyone's mustang/maverick header. they ended up working fine. slight denting to clear the pass shock tower, and slight denting to clear the steering box. these would have fit my 67 cougar awesomely, but I have some old shelby style tri-Y's on it. I will add some pics, once I hit 10 posts.
I'm not sure about your mounts..but it sounds like the headers to me..there isn't that many that really "fit" properly here is a list of the ones that do http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=61798 others have made diff brands and types work but most of these cars are wierd and different as hooker 6901's WOULD NOT fit in my car and tons of people run them. i ended up with hedman shorties..best fit i've ever had and i tried a bunch of brands..plus the install is WAY easier than longtubes. running a header that isn't on that list, well you can most likely expect problems and have to shorten/notch a tube here and there.
When my engine was sitting in the stock front end, it did seem to be about 1/2"-3/4" closer to one shock tower than the other. My headers actually touched the shock tower on one side, but I had a little clearance on the other. But then, I never measured the actual engine block, so it may have been the headers. I don't think anyone else had that issue with the same Hooker 6901s, so it might have been the engine not centered.
My 6901 Hookers fit the same on my 75, touching on the drivers side and about 1/2in clearance on the passenger side.
