Suspension questions

[bsprowl]

I’m starting to build motor mounts for my Maverick.  I have several questions as I’ve is my first time for this. 
I checked the position the original builder used, and I’m not convinced he got it completely right.  His engine was a big block Chevie mounted almost exactly on the Maverick’s center line.  The Maverick has Ford nine inch rear axle and the pinion is one inch to the right of the vehicle center line (C/L).  I plan to mount my engine one inch to the right of the center line to match the pinion location.
 
The Maverick has a coil rear suspension with 33x12-15 inch Goodyear rear wrinkle wall tires and the front suspension is stiff leaf springs with 15 inch narrow Hoosier drag tires.  The leaf spring shackles are vertical.  There is 3 inches of clearance between the axle and four inch high frame.  The Maverick’s frame (with the rear tires at 25 pounds to make them round) is now almost perfectly level (0.62 degrees up) with no engine, transmission, radiator, etc.
 
I put a 360 pound mockup engine and bell housing in it using temporary mounts and the frame dropped to 2-7/8 of an inch above the axle.  I’m guessing the total weight of the engine transmission, small radiator, etc. will be less than 1000 pounds, so the total drop will be less than a ½ inch. 
Two things about this, first, the front leaf springs seem to be too stiff.  They are about 32 inches long, have six 1-1/2 inch-wide leafs, and the shackle which is towards the center of the car is only 1-1/2 inch long.  I could put in longer shackles or I could take out a leaf or two if that is needed.  But I’ve never had a front spring car so I’m not sure how to evaluate this or what to try.  YouTube and Google searches did not lead to anything about drag strip setup for front leaf springs.
 
 Second, I’m have no idea at what angle I should mount the engine.  The normal FE angle is 5 degrees up in the front but when the car leaves the line the car should squat in the rear so the engine will be higher.  At first, I thought the front end would rise, but with the stiff front leaf springs and the shackles vertical, it won’t come up much unless the wheels come off the ground.  By my calculations, a five-degree angle is right at 2 inches front to rear on our 24-inch-long engine and I’m my mockup is using that.  I checked the pinion angle, and it is down about 3 degrees.  There is a pinion snubber and ladder bars.  The snubber has about a half inch of clearance.  Five degrees will drop the rear of the transmission over four inches lower than the front of the crankshaft, just about the even with the pinion.
 
Another issue, I was going to use a Moroso T Type front sump oil pan but it forced the engine too high (nose of the crank was 25-1/2 inches off the floor) so I’ll be using a 4 wheel drive rear sump truck pan with a Cannon windage tray.  I will extend the pickup and add an extra quart like Ford suggested for the CJ engine.

Suggestions anyone?

[mike7570]

Ladder bar cars should extend leaving the line not squat. I had ladder bars and coil overs on my super-gas mach1. It hooked up real well with 14.5x32 slicks at 6 1/2 pounds of air pressure. It had Koni shocks with coil over springs on the front and had only couple of inches of upward travel. I would start with the bottom bar parallel to the ground and the middle shock setting and then test from there.
Sounds like a fun project.

[GerryP]

This one seems a little odd.  Ford is the only manufacturer to mount their engines centered in the engine bay and use an asymmetrical axle assembly.

In a Chevy (or others), the engine is offset to the passenger side to align the drivetrain to the symmetrical axles.

If I put an angle gauge on the FE in my Fairlane, it shows the engine to be level.

I'm probably not understanding any of this.

[e philpott]

a lot of people take one or two leaf springs out up front depending how light the front end is. FE is really not that heavy

[Tommy-T]

My Comet has similar suspension to your Maverick with the except that I have a 4 link on the rear instead of ladder bars.
I have Posies Super Slide leaf springs with 9 2" wide leaf springs on the front. They are quite heavy and I thought they would be much too stiff. After putting a couple hundred miles on the car it turned out they ride quite nice just as the salesman from Posies said they would. I tried to pull the bottom 3 springs off the pack and they were much too soft. You are fortunate that your front springs are long as that makes them ride nicer. Mine are 35" long and go from the chassis kick-up at the firewall to the front of the chassis. Try what you have with a running, driving car before you try to adjust them. There is a place on your end of the country that makes composite (plastic) mono springs. I may try that sometime soon.
Try to make your tie rod and your drag link parallel to each other and as long as possible. A bunch of positive caster helps too, I have 11* in mine.
The 1" off center of your pinion is probably negligible, but if you're building motor mounts anyway you can certainly square things up. Room for headers is more important.

[MeanGene]

Bob. You are way over-thinking this. The car was built by a very knowledgable and experienced serious Top Fuel racer/ builder, around a blown alcohol Keith Black engine with slipper clutch. First you wanted buy a welder to "build" a roll cage- it has a pro-built complete tube frame chassis, and was NHRA certified to 8.50. It was run at Sears Point and went dead straight. The rear engine plate was purposely left in the car to make it easy to install a different engine- use that plate as a template to establish centerline on an FE plate, drill to match the chassis mounts- pretty easy. The entire chassis was built for an engine setup that is far beyond what will go in it (the Keith Black came from the builder's Nostagia Top Fuel car), and is very stout. It has some old-school tricks built into it, like different wheelbase on each side for extra rollout in the lights etc.- you haven't noticed that yet. The engine and accessories were pulled for use in another car (Fuel Altered style) leaving a roller. I have kept my mouth shut as you have gone thru all the things you wanted to change or alter on the car, none of which would make it safer or "better". The complete professional fire control system was left in the car, which you didn't recognize. You complained about creature comfort, but I am 6'2" and 265, with a couple bad discs and I could get in and sit in it with no problem- it ain't a Bentley, it's a race car. Please don't take this badly, as it's not meant that way- you are seriously over your head putting it together, and please get some local help with it, as you seem to want to change almost everything in a pro-built car. I am not meaning to insult you in any way, I'd just not like to see you go on your head in the car. That's all I will say on it, just concerned for your safety and wish you well in the project, but you are wanting to "fix" a lot of stuff that doesn't need fixing. Please get some local help with it, and I wish you well

[bsprowl]

Thanks for the input Gene.

The welder was for another car not this one. 

Other than that you are no doubt right.  I found the pinion to be dead on the center line when I was working on it yesterday.  My major problem is getting my pan to clear the steering, etc., while allowing for the tall tunnel ram and rear carb to clear the bottom of the windsheild.

Thank you again. 

[bsprowl]

Using the original block plate that was left in the Maverick would be nice, however, if I do the Lakewood bell housing be moved back and will not line up with the clutch and the transmission input shaft might not reach the crankshaft pilot bearing. 

I’m building a plate to bolt up against the transmission side of the bellhousing using the bellhousing to block bolt holes.  This is more work that I expected as the clearance around the bolt heads is minimal on the Lakewood.  Hogging out the inside edge is a lot of hand work.
 
I’m also using a 3 degree block angle so the bracket for the block plate will be tilted to match when I weld it to the frame.