I'm looking to move my motor 8-10 inches back in an 86 Blazer frame and I'm interested in ideas on how to set it up. I'd like to hear from anyone who's done this and has advice and or pics. My setup will be 350/350 to Dana 20 t-case with AA adapter.

Cut a big hole in the firewall?

Not exactly what I was going for, the body work is not an issue. I'm more interested in motor mount/frame alterations.

well, in a blazer you are gonna kill yourself with the rear driveline issues, albeit helping the front. first cut out the firewall and floor-completely. go to stockcarproducts.com and order some tab motor mounts and some rear motor mounts. get some tube and angle, a bender, a welder and a torch (and a LOT of time to burn) and turn it out.

All of the internet advice in the world is not gonna get you ready for this project. That being said, why not get a Casale V-drive and put the engine and tranny in the back(as well as up out of the way)?

Well I guess I should have given more detail. The body mods are not an issue because I'll be using a fiberglass Jeep tub. Driveline issues, (rear shaft length), will not be a problem, because replacing the 203 t-case with the dana 20 t-case will allow me to use a normal or close to normal rear shaft length, since the dana 20 case is over 10 inches shorter than the 203. I actually have all the driveline parts, including a 14 bolt with a locker and a D44, so my biggest exspense will be the jeep tub.
I was just looking for ideas on how to locate the motor mounts and attach them to the frame. Since the frame dips down I was wondering how people dealt with that drop, etc. I have my own ideas, just looking for some more.

Why not just move the front axle forward?

I don't want the longer wheelbase, and I don't think there's room to move the springs forward 8-10 inches.

I've done this many times. My 04' supermod buggy was based on a suburban frame, and I moved the engine back almost 2 feet (pics - www.hsoffroad.com).

The easiest way to do it is to box the section of the frame you need the mounts to be in by welding some flat plate to the inside of the framerails. Then get yourself some universal wingtip style engine swap motor mounts for the block (Advance Adapters I know sells them, as do a few other places), and fabricate a flat piece off of the boxed section of the frame to mount up to the wingtip mount. Then just bolt the engine in place. If you want you can run a poly body mount bushing, washers, or some kind of solid puck between the plates & the wingtips, or just run them with a bolt through them. Pretty simple, provided you know how to get the driveline installed in the right place with the proper offset & angles.

You could also fab some mounts with some tubing & some flat plate but that's a good bit more involved.

As for the body, obviously you're gonna need to section & redo the firewall & floor area. Be carefull with engine location & exhaust routing, or you might wind up interfering with the the pedals.

Hans

Yep, letting people know what the fawk you're doing does help with the answers. From your first post it looked like you wanted to move the engine back while keeping the rest of the Blazer... First question would have been why? Knowing that you're changing everything else under the sun as well does make for different answers.

Well I guess I should have given more detail. The body mods are not an issue because I'll be using a fiberglass Jeep tub....

Hans,
Thanks, that's good information. Did you raise the motor mounts to keep the stock motor height in the frame or did you let it drop down as the frame rails drop down? Do you have any pics during the motor fabbing or pics of the finished motor mount setup?

Yep, letting people know what the fawk you're doing does help with the answers. From your first post it looked like you wanted to move the engine back while keeping the rest of the Blazer... First question would have been why? Knowing that you're changing everything else under the sun as well does make for different answers.

Well, I knew what I meant. :grinpimp:

I set the mounts up so that the driveline sat very close to level with the bottom of the driveline just above the framerails (so that I could run a flat skid pan under the chassis for ground clearance). Where I stuck them they wound up pretty close to the vertical centerline of the framerail on the curved area of the frame as it slopes downward behind the front axle. It's going to depend on the rest of the build how you mount it (driveline angles, body location, etc.) Short of being there and seeing what you are working with firsthand I really can't help a whole lot more. And sorry, no pics of my actual motor mounts that I know of. Gimme a call if you want to discuss the build in more detail, my number is on my website.

Hans

Thanks, if I run into problems I might take you up on that.