For my coupe build I decided on a SBF 363 with a T56 Magnum and last week I got the T56 mated to the engine so, a buddy and I attempted the engine install. We got the motor in, and I took a look at the trans mount an sure enough, it didn’t fit. The mounting location on the trans is about an inch and a half farther back than the gen 3 coupe allows for. I guess I should start off with what my engine and trans combo is, so folks know how it relates to them and have a better idea of what I am talking about.

Engine: Ford 302 stroked to 363. Dart SHP block.
Engine mounts: Levy racing supplied solid engine lowering mounts.
Bell Housing: Quicktime RM-8030
Transmission: Tremec T56 magnum TUET-11010

I didn’t think this was a rare engine and trans combo for the coupe, but it turns out that it is. I called FFR and they said that it was a very rare combo and that I would need to make a new trans mount. I also called Gordon and he was super helpful but, he also concluded that I would need to make a new trans mount. Another measurement I looked at was driveshaft length. Apparently, with a Coyote and T56 the driveshaft length is 9.75inches. My transmission tailshaft to pinion flange measures just over 8.5inches. So this seems inline with the fact that the 302 places the engine about an inch back in the coupe frame. The T56 also seems too tall and wide for the trans tunnel with the 302. I am working on a path forward with making a new trans mount. See picture below for more detail.

Here is a pic of the Levy racing provided engine mounts.



The next two pictures are of the transmission mount plate in the factory location(with it reversed). You can see that the mount is roughly and inch and a half off.





This picture is a wide angle view of the factory trans mount location. You can see that the T56 hangs below the trans mount and spacers would be needed even if the holes lined up. The next picture shows that the top of the trans(Without the shifter installed) is right up on the trans tunnel cross bar. That bar needs to be notched or the trans lowered to make it fit.





The next few pictures show a tentative mounting location of the transmission mount. I basically turned the mount around and laid it on top of the cross member just aft of the trans mount. This seems to fit fairly well but, as I mentioned above, I would need to notch the crossbar in the trans tunnel to get the shifter to fit. With how it sits with the tentative mounting location, the transmission and pinion flange are 0.8 degrees off from parallel and the drive shaft would have an angle of 5 degrees. I could move the transmission lower to decrease the driveshaft angle but this would increase how out of parallel the trans and pinion flange are.





The main reason for this post was so that others that are planning their build know what they are getting into if they want to do a T56/302 build. Also, I wanted to see if there is anyone out there that has done this combo before and done it successfully. Is there anything that I am missing or have not thought of that would lead to the trans mount being so far off? Thanks for reading and please send your thoughts and suggestions my way.

V/R

Shakey