The CF Bedford Rebuild Begins
Part 13: The rebuild starts - the mid mounted 350 chev
The only requirement the engineer wanted for the mid mount was a sub frame, over doing it as always I went one step further.
Because the engine was to be mounted behind a Ford 9in diff, the suggested minimum length for a drive shaft was 12inchs (one foot), but this would of put the engine between the front seats.
What was one to do? Change the diff of course. An IRS (Independent Rear Suspension) from a series 3 Jaguar wouldn't require a very long drive shaft at all. In fact it's currently 80mm (3 1/4 inches) long. The front of the motor sits behind the front seats which may prove to be a pain in the butt getting into the back of the van but what the heck, it's different ;).
The jaguar diff has a slight offset which is a pain but also helps with keeping the motor within six degrees. So the front of the engine is straight and the transmission tail is in line with the diff head which makes a nice five degrees.
The diff mount can be seen at the bottom of the picture with the gearbox mount in the middle. The engine can be removed from the top or from below but both ways have restrictions.
Here you can see the 350 Chevy motor and transmission (turbo 350) mounted; there is a solid mount above the tail shaft of the trans. There is no floor yet as I am having trouble finding some exhaust headers, will probably end up making some as they need to go away from the engine instead of down beside it.
Here is a better picture of the engine with the floor. The section around the engine is removable and so is the bit over the diff center.
At the top of the picture (behind the diff hole) is the petrol tank with filler going out the back (behind the number plate).
Here you can see the 350 Chevy motor and transmission (turbo 350) mounted; the engine has the tunnel ram on it (and it looks good) but am unsure whether I will run it.
The tunnel can also be seen infront of the engine and the up-rights in front of the rocker covers are the seat backs.