Thanks for the response Gene!

That makes sense on the year thing except my ‘54 230 flatty mounted with the opposite triangle than modern motors- one in the front two beside the bell.

Like you said the shallow front section of my rear sump pan will have to be maybe 1/2” (or less?!) above the motor crossmember and even then I might lose the under dash guts for my fresh air door to make room for an air cleaner. Cyls 7&8 are basically under my dash. I think the C-series would look terrible with a scoop or molested hood. With the motor sitting up and crooked right now it looks like it will have to come down just to make room for a naked carb with no air cleaner! Side to side is of course also a deal where there is only one place it can go- straight and perpendicular to the pinion.

I am definitely looking at using parts of the stock female flanges off the dakota frame. Being able to drop the motor into the slots and retain it with the washers locked under the top flanges is a huge advantage over trying to line up three holes exactly and I suspect this mill will be in and out a few times before it gets plumbed and fired.

I also agree on the driveshaft/trans mount getting done first. Lining up the tail perpendicular with the pinion will be easier from the back and the single point mounting will allow a tiny bit of fine tuning up front before finalizing the triangulation with front mounts.

I want to cut off the tops and bottoms of the female mounts and re-connect them with 3/16” plate so that the mounts would still be a bolt-in deal on the xmember. I might burn them in anyway but at least that way they could be located in a way where after I tack them up I can just pull them to finish welding instead of pulling the motor to access them. I’ll find out when I make them- sometimes the cardboard and metal have their own ideas. In any case they will be super strong I’m going overboard on strength on everything for this big block.

Rdr