68 BB Camaro Steering Question

[Drew1485]

Hey guys...brand new to the site and its a great one so far! Hopefully you guys can give me an answer or solution to my problem. Ive got a 68 camaro that has a bb motor in it. It had a big block in it before but I purchased a new one and put it in. I swithced over to BB frame and motor mounts since my old ones were small block ones and nothing fit right. Everything fits great now except my oil pan. I have changed pans as well. My problem is that when I turn right, my tie rod end and centerlink hit the pan. I have changed and adjusted my tie rod ends and idler arm and I have the correct pitman arm. My centerlink looks fine (no damage). This was never a problem before because I had the small block mounts which moved the motor back rather than foward. Has anyone else ran into this problem? If so what is the answer? The strange thing is, other guys that I have talked to have ran the same pans as me in their 68's and it fit! If I have to I will switch to rack and pinion steering to fix this problem. I have also posted on the Team Camaro website so sorry if some of you are reading this twice.

[1BADRS]

If I recall correctly
my big block was installed with the stock small block frame mounts as well when I switched from the 327 to the 454/468. Power Steering, Power brakes.
Only issue was the headers. We had to indent the header on the driver side to clear the steering box. Other than that, everything fit.
Stock pitman arms, control arms, idler, ect.
Lot of people say small block frame mounts wont work, but I beg to differ.
They will work. If memory serves me, the trick is to use the stock
"frame mounts" but use the Big Block engine/pad mounts (the part that is mated to the engine)
In your situation, if you still have the small block frame mounts mounted to the frame, use your big block engine mounts and you should be good to go. Hope this helps.

[Vegas69]

There were different center links used which may be causing your problems. It is possible to run small block mounts and frame stands on your big block. You will need headers from Lemons to do it though.

[neki67]

Lot of people say small block frame mounts wont work, but I beg to differ.
They will work. If memory serves me, the trick is to use the stock
"frame mounts" but use the Big Block engine/pad mounts (the part that is mated to the engine)

Correct I also run SB frame mounts and BB engine mounts. I even have enough clearance for the HEI ignition that way. Only issue could be that there's to much weight shifted to the left that way but I haven't checked that yet. As I recall the BB frame mounts also shift the engine to the right.

[Drew1485]

So I should switch back to the small block frame mounts but leave the motor mounts as is? Because I just switched over to the BB frame mounts cause everyone said that needed to be done for header clearance.

[Drew1485]

Vegas69, you said that there were different centerlinks? Are you talking about the two that are just different sizes. I believe .950 and 1.125"? Or is there a completely different type of centerlink all together?

[neki67]

So I should switch back to the small block frame mounts but leave the motor mounts as is? Because I just switched over to the BB frame mounts cause everyone said that needed to be done for header clearance.

Well, you could at least give it a try . . .

[Vegas69]

I am not sure about the differences but I know they exist. The guys over on camaros.net will be better at answering that question. Try Pozzis site. It helped me out with my mounts. Think it's pozziracing.com