I race Dirt Pure Stocks, currently racing a 79 Firebird with a Chevy 350. The tech's are harassing me about the placement of the engine and are saying that my engine sits too far back. I am using factory Pontiac motor mounts. I've been told when using a Chevy engine in a Pontiac, the engine will be lowered 1" as well as moved back 1", which will replicate the engine position of a Camaro. Is this true?
Normally the rules say that the #1 spark plug cannot be past the upper ball joint. This track, the rules are very vague. The tech is going by the location of the fuel pump and says the fuel pump should be one and a quarter inch ahead from where its sitting now. The same tech also said he supposedly went out to his barn to look at his 71 Camaro to specifically look at the location of the fuel pump and that his 71 Camaro's engine sits further ahead. Im sure the difference in years between his Camaro and my Firebird alone are enough to void that judgement.
I'm hoping some of you can get me some pictures of your fuel pump in relation to the upper control arm area. My fuel pump is almost touching my control arm. I am also looking for some concrete proof to take with me to the track that my engine is sitting in stock location. It's going to be a huge inconvenience if we have to move this engine. We will probably have complications with the driveshaft and transmission mount (it lines up perfectly the way it sits in the car now). Not to mention we will need to adjust our clutch, throttle, and shift linkages.
We are running cast exhaust manifolds compared to the other cars with headers. We have a stock intake manifold, they have aluminum intakes. We are running legit mufflers, they are not. We are using legit street tires, they are softening their tires. Whatever advantage I may have on the other cars as far as engine placement goes, it's not going to matter. The car count for this class is also very low. The first week I went, there were 7 cars. Last week, there were 4 cars. I really don't understand why they are picking on us when there are only 4 cars. This week, I am taking my American Racers and if they have a problem with it, I will race with the Street Stocks that consist of well over 20 cars while the Pure Stocks will only have 3 if I do switch.
sounds to me like the tech man is just being an a$$
if you look at all the mounting hole options in the clip, who is to say the one in the barn is located in the correct position. what if it is a 6 cyliner car, and they put a v8 in it. If they used a set of holes that worked, but were not exactly the correct ones, the motor will not been the correct position, therefore is not a proper comparison.
Last edited by JustAddDirt; 07-14-2016 at 03:22 PM.
I think there should be lifeguards in the genepool.
I race Dirt Pure Stocks, currently racing a 79 Firebird with a Chevy 350. The tech's are harassing me about the placement of the engine and are saying that my engine sits too far back. I am using factory Pontiac motor mounts. I've been told when using a Chevy engine in a Pontiac, the engine will be lowered 1" as well as moved back 1", which will replicate the engine position of a Camaro. Is this true?
Normally the rules say that the #1 spark plug cannot be past the upper ball joint. This track, the rules are very vague. The tech is going by the location of the fuel pump and says the fuel pump should be one and a quarter inch ahead from where its sitting now. The same tech also said he supposedly went out to his barn to look at his 71 Camaro to specifically look at the location of the fuel pump and that his 71 Camaro's engine sits further ahead. Im sure the difference in years between his Camaro and my Firebird alone are enough to void that judgement.
I'm hoping some of you can get me some pictures of your fuel pump in relation to the upper control arm area. My fuel pump is almost touching my control arm. I am also looking for some concrete proof to take with me to the track that my engine is sitting in stock location. It's going to be a huge inconvenience if we have to move this engine. We will probably have complications with the driveshaft and transmission mount (it lines up perfectly the way it sits in the car now). Not to mention we will need to adjust our clutch, throttle, and shift linkages.
We are running cast exhaust manifolds compared to the other cars with headers. We have a stock intake manifold, they have aluminum intakes. We are running legit mufflers, they are not. We are using legit street tires, they are softening their tires. Whatever advantage I may have on the other cars as far as engine placement goes, it's not going to matter. The car count for this class is also very low. The first week I went, there were 7 cars. Last week, there were 4 cars. I really don't understand why they are picking on us when there are only 4 cars. This week, I am taking my American Racers and if they have a problem with it, I will race with the Street Stocks that consist of well over 20 cars while the Pure Stocks will only have 3 if I do switch.
if rear cross member is in same location as camero you should be right
Lol.
We ended up finishing up the backup car (old Pontiac Leman's) and running that the last couple of weeks. It actually handles a lot better. We are trying to convince the tech to let us run it so we can get both cars on the track every week. I still want to provide him some concrete proof that the engine is in stock location. We even told him we would bolt 25lbs of weigh to the front of the car to make up for any advantage we may or may not have.
We returned to the track with the Firebird. In the heat race a couple weeks back when driving the Lemans, we got smashed in the left rear as a car drove in over his head entering turn 3. A lap later, my axle and wheel came off the car. So, that is down and the Firebird came back.
Long story short, now that the car was running well and we completely more than 2 laps without losing a tire, we went out and spanked them. I won the heat race by almost a half a lap. In the feature, I led all but the final two laps. The car started running hot (250* by the end of the race, yikes) and we began losing power. The second place guy was able to run me down and grab the win.
After the race, the first 5 pulled into the tech area. All year long, the tech had stated that he wouldn't DQ us unless another driver bitched about my engine being "too far back". Well, as soon as I climbed out of the car Friday night, the tech asked me if I moved the engine back. I said no, and he said "OK, well, you are DQ'ed then." We pleaded our case of course but it didn't matter.
Then next morning, I ran over to a junkyard who's owner is involved in dirt racing AND just happens to be friends with the tech. I told him (his name is Van) what had happened last night. He was just as disgusted as I was about the whole thing. He walked me to a 79 Camaro, a 79 Firebird, and a Monte Carlo that sat in his junk yard. All of which contained a 350 engine and were fully bolted into the cars.
I took tons of pictures. Here is one, I am not sure how to upload multiple pics so bare with me. The pic attached is of a 79 camaro at the junkyard.
Junior Member
Engine Location
Originally Posted by fourgsixthree33a
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