Center link hitting oil pan
 

Looking for some help, getting my 66 finished up I’ve been taking it on some short shake down rides and noticed my center link is hitting the oil pan wasn’t like that before driving assuming everything is settling. Only thing not stock on the front is 1 inch drop UMI springs CCP disk brake spindles stock no drop. 73 455 .
What’s going on here?
Thanks

What kind of work has been done to the car recently? Did you have the engine out, and if so, did you reinstall it using different engine mounts?

Yes took the hole car apart frame off. I was thinking motor mounts but they are stock 66 mounts and everything went together nice. Could I have an oversized centerlink I believe I got it from Ames.

I’m running factory exhaust manifolds the clearances looks right. Glad I didn’t do a 2 inch drop LOL

Is it a aftermarket pan they are stamped a little different than stock?

A bit too late but do some research on CPP. You'll see they have a track record of making spindles with issues. Then you'll know why people call CPP, "Chinese Produced Products"

Not sure on the pan pretty sure it’s stock.
Yup your correct on CPP I used there 4 wheel disc kit nothing but problems they will be upgraded in the future. I’ going to take a look at the tranny mount Maybe a lower one?

Do I have two different height mounts is this normal?

Mounts
 

Mounts

Just noticed this today, had the car on blocks all winter, just got the brakes done today, my center link is a pro-forged one............after seeing your pics, i took a couple shots of mine, man thats close........not sure what the gap is supposed to be. I have aftermarket upper and lower control arms on the car now, supposed to drop it some.

Wonder how much that center link moves up and down.........looks like it should stay put, but who knows.

My car is also a 66

Nothing to do with spindles. Could be previous collision damage not repaired properly.

What I would do. The idler arm & pitman arm location controls that clearance.
I would loosen the P/arm & steering box mounting bolts. There should be some 'slop'. Move both items around to gain as much clearance for the c/link & tighten the bolts. May just give you the clearance you need.

Another fix. Elongate the engine block holes upwards in the engine mounts. Add a dob of weld to the bottom of the holes afterwards. This will raise the engine slightly.

Thanks Geoff,
Gd idea I’ll see what I have for movement first before I go after the motor mounts. It looks like the issue is the motor/motor mounts or the oil pan maybe different on a 73 motor?

Never say never.

CPP made spindles for one of my cars with unsafe and uncorrectable caster angle. After a year and a half of fighting with Jeff at CPP he basically admitted that there was a problem, gave me the "sucks to be you" and told me that he would give me an awesome deal on a new redesigned set.

Til this day CPP refuses to do a recall on those spindles.

I'm not quite sure how/why spindles entered this discussion. Can they affect the positioning of the center link? I thought the center link was positioned solely by the pitman arm (via the placement of the steering box) and the idler arm.

If it were my car, if I couldn't get more clearance by loosening and repositioning the steering box and idler arm, I'd buy the engine mount shims sold though Ames. I wouldn't want to bother with drilling out holes in the frame or relying on a weld to provide spacing. Just get the shims... It's what they designed for, and are an easy install.

Also, my deep suspicion here is not that this is a result of an incorrect oil pan, or collision damage, or spindles, or control arms, but rather it's likely the case that the aftermarket motor mounts are not quite as tall as they need to be.

I’m going to order a set of mounts and spacers from butler and try the mounts but have the spacers if I Need them. Thanks for all the help

While I'll make no claim against the supposed quality of CPP, the spindle by necessity can not have an effect on the drag link clearance to the pan.

Geoff is correct here. The positioning of the drag link is determined by the pitman arm and the idler arm respectively. The stud length of the ball joints at the idler and pitman arm could be an issue here if they are not as long as factory.

A big issue that I've seen on my personal firebird is that when it comes to suspension Chevy = BOP. While it's typically pretty close, there were differences, even if small. It's not cost effective to have production parts that are 98% the same across the GM makes when you could just do one that for the most part works. This is the result of that.

Same thing with repro mounts, oil pans etc.

I think Geoff's solution is probably the easiest and least intrusive. If you've already ordered some new mounts and spacers, might as well go that direction however.

Same issue
 

I had the same issue on my 67. I had link issues and rag joint clearance to header issues. I installed the Ames spacers. No drilling and the problem is solved.

I ordered a coupe of new mounts from Ames $69 apiece, actually got here today and made a couple of spacers out of 1/4 inch plate yesterday but unfortunately tweaked my back this morning jumping down from the bed of my pickup looks like it’s going to be a few days before I know how it’s going to work.

motor mount spacers
 

Oh Man! Been there, done that. That really sucks! Hope you get better soon. It'll all work out.

I would also look at the trans mount, if it's a poly one or other non-OE type, it may be too high.

Might want to check the crossmember too.

If the trans mount is raised, it lowers the front of the engine.


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