I bought my '55 chevy like 25 years ago. It was running and looked great. I think I put about 50 miles total on the car going to a couple of car shows. Didn't look the car over that well when I bought it. I went through a divorce, and stuck it in the garage of my new home. It has been sitting for over 20 years without ANY attention. I shoved it outside a couple of weeks ago to start getting it back to running condition. I wasn't even sure what small block or trans it had in it. Looked up numbers, and it has 327 with turbo 350.. Whoever did the swap put a strange crossmember in for the trans. Seems like the tailshaft is a lot higher than it should be. I am posting a picture of the crossmember, and trying to find if it looks LEGIT to you. It looks like it might be 3 or 4 inch channel iron. I have a ton to do to this car, so I will have tons of questions.... TIA LARRY
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python_one
Agree that's a strange cross member. If it happens to be bolted to the frame and not welded, you may be able to flip it upside down. You could also buy a nice pre manufactured one and go from there. Usually they are made with the mounting to the frame at about where yours is, but they curve down in the middle so the tranny sits lower yet the exhaust can stay that high. Then you will have to match the angle of the rear to the trans angle if it doesn't fall into place with the reworked cross member. Have to watch the distributor to make sure it doesn't hit the firewall when it's tilted back.
You sound angry yet left a smiley face. I think posting the link is something we do quite often in this forum, it's so the OP can see what kind of cross member he can purchase. Not everyone is good at fabrication or has the ability to fabricate one at all. What was the point of your quoting my post and highlighting some in red? I'm glad yours works for you and I'm glad mine works for me (mine is similar to the one in the link). I bought my cross member about 15-20 years before I bought a welder.I don't need a cross member - what it the point on the link? Too many negatives with that product for me.
I made a point with the images. I don't have a drop in the center. My header collectors are between the frame rails, not below. Therefore collectors and pipes are higher than the crossmember. I can remove the crossmember without fooling with the exhaust. I can pull the trans get to the clutch without fooling with the exhaust.
Note how simple it is to change eng/trans angle - but I do not need to do that either. It is correct from the initial set up long ago. I made the new crossmember that bolted right in because I gave the original one to someone.
Oh well, just a couple misunderstandings. I don't think we have anything to argue about after all. Have a great day!Not angry. In your post #36 you posted quoting me, not OP. So the link is directed to me. A general reply would be to OP and I would probably not even posted pictures of my crossmember,
You asked "What was the point of your quoting my post and highlighting some in red?" I highlighted the text in red to indicate specifically what my pictures were in reference to. I used little text because a picture is worth many words. My posted pictures show that you don't need all of those jogs to permit a high exhaust, the crossmember can be below the exhaust.
Ugh, I had those headers at first. Hanging low, had to watch every bump and dip in the road. They were made pretty bad. Besides going under the trans mounts, they left almost 4" of space between the frame and the collector on the one side and almost 3" on the other. I was welding them up all the time. Don't know why I didn't weld a skid plate on them? Rookie for sure.
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