can someone please confirm that when fitting a crossflow into a book chassis, I need to position it about 3/4" to the near side so that the steering clears the oil pump, otherwise ive done something badly wrong

thanks all

I was about to say "wrong!", then I remembered that I put my X-flow in according to the position in a Westfield manual I've got (due to the - ahem - remarkable similarities between the 2 chassis ).

They put the centre of the front crank pulley 19mm to the offside of the centre-line (i.e. your 3/4" ) and 120mm above the bottom of the chassis.

So you're not far wrong, mate! As an added bonus, it gives your propshaft just the right amount of offset as well.

rgds,

David

Dave, what do you mean about the prop shaft, I'm putting mine in the middle of the tunnel

The propshaft must not be dead straight - if it is the UJ's suffer a form of bearing damage called 'brinelling' where the rollers chatter in the races. About 3 degrees at each joint is ideal, so long as the back and front end up in parallel. NB 3 degrees isn't exact - not straight and not too steep is what's required.

If you offset the front of the engine by 3/4" as you suggest, and keep the engine parallel to the centre-line (i.e. the WHOLE engine is offset 3/4" ) then that starts to give you a reasonable angle on the propshaft. If you're using a solid Ford rear axle, then that gives you a bit more offset on the diff.

Hope that helps,

David