Hello All,

I am tossing around the idea of welding the steel mid-mount plate into the firewall. My thought was to cut out the firewall to follow the shape of the plate and then weld it to make it a structural member. Tie it into the frame and cage for fore and aft movement wherever possible. I will have a removable trans tunnel and even though the trans will still have to come out from under it will have enough room to slide back since I have removed the factory trans crossmember and fabbed a new tubular one. I Have a 68 Dart w/a 512/400 block so other than obviously limiting the engines to big block Mopar is there other downsides? I have centered the centerline of the crank and trans output as well as the pinion. I would like to get the engine as far back as possible while not actually having it in the drivers compartment. Also, with the Magnum Force front suspension and the BCR main girdle, I could lower the engine a bit to gain some hood clearance. Thoughts or suggestions please and if others have done this, pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks, Paul