55 HT Project Page 12
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Now that there's a water pump, time to add the alternator,
power steering pump, and AC compressor.
But first the headers need to be bolted up...
Checked out the exhaust port size...
Against these gaskets...
Looks good on both sides....
The driver's side is touching the steering box, a little clearance needs to be
added, easiest way is to grind a bit off that part of the steering box.
And the passenger's side is touching something...
Let's take a closer look...
It's a grease nipple on the steering idler arm...
So, a few problems to work out here, but so far it's a nice looking motor....
Got some more work done on this....
With this style motor mounts, the motor can be shifted a little
to one side or the other if needed...
These motor mounts have a solid poly bushing that the bolt rides in,
It doesn't move much....
Rotating that steering idler arm shows how much clearance there is
with the grease nipple out of the way. I'll drill, tap and reposition that grease zerk.
Grinding off the corner of the steering box gave this much clearance...
I could grind a little more, or I could move the motor to the right slightly,
or I could even put a small dimple in that pipe for more clearance.
The headers are bolted up nice and snug to the heads on both sides now,
and not hitting anything. Now I can proceed with fitting on the
other accessories.
As I mentioned on an earlier page, I have this to work from for the accessories...
Unfortunately, this bracket does not fit on the LT1 motor in the '55 chassis...
The AC compressor hits the right side motor mount,
and the alternator hits the right side valve cover,
So I'm looking around for some mounts that will work here
without me having to fabricate them.
Unfortunately, there is not much available for an LT1 motor in a '55.
March Performance seems to have the best setup, something like this:
Mine would also have a PS pump tucked in on the left side of the
motor under the alternator.
March Performance says I need to have the correct ATI damper for a
Corvette on the front, so I am trying to verify that...
I'm not sure if this was spec'd for a Camaro or a Corvette when I got it...
So pulled it off...
Split it apart...
And reviewed the part numbers with ATI...
This balancer is a neutral balance early Camaro LT1 piece,
but by changing out the flanged hub only to the early Corvette LT1 hub,
it will work with the March "Outward Mount" setup shown above.
The Corvette LT1 hub from ATI is a longer piece than the Camaro hub is.
This is the Corvette LT1 flanged hub:
One of these is on order...
Removed the steering idler arm assembly and took it apart...
And found that the "upgrade" ball bearings have been added,
replacing the OEM bushing system. But the bearings are worn, dry,
and have not had grease in some time, so a new ball bearing set
is on order from Danchuck, should be here any day now...
In the meantime, I need to drill and tap to relocate that grease
fitting where it will not hit the #4 header tube...
More on Accessories and Steering on Page 13
