Chevy El Camino Big Block Engine, Transmission & Custom Driveshaft Fitment Check - Stuffed

With the combo in, we discovered it was pointing a couple inches off center. This meant our headers for the passenger side were going to hit hitting the frame and would need to be clearanced. To straighten the drivetrain, we loosened the motormount bolts on the frame to unbind the mess. Once Jaime straightened the setup, we fastened the engine mounts down for final.

Fab-tech decided the best method of holding the transmission would be to ditch the stock crossmember and build a completely new one since the stock one would not mount to our longer Turbo 400.

To begin, we fastened our PST transmission mount (hardware included) to find a starting point. We also removed the stock crossmember and held the combination up with another stand.

Lucky for us, Fab-tech stocks universal transmission brackets. We grabbed their shelved piece which Junior Shostle modified to fit our TH400 application. Shostle installed the modified transmission bracket to the PST mount to assure a solid fit. Best part is, the new fabbed mount is flat-out perfect and will allow easy removal if need be.

While Junior was welding, owner Jaime Voorhees began work on fabbing up the frame mounts. Using angle iron stock, Jaime cut and used a 2x2x3/16-inch mild steel piece. Next, he measured the existing holes on the frame and made new holes in the brackets on the mill. Jaime then located the ideal center and radiused off the excess metal to round off the bracket.

Using some 7/16-inch bolts and nuts, we mounted up the new brackets to the existing frame mounts on both sides.

From there, Junior finished up the transmission mount by attaching it to the bottom of the transmission using the supplied PST hardware.

With a keen eye, Jaime took note of the location of the transmission mount to either sides of the frame. He mocked up piece of 11/4x0.120-inch wall mild steel tubing and got to work on the bender. This piece would serve as a template to follow with on the final bar, which would extend to both sides of the frame.

Jamie grabbed a fresh piece of tubing and made sure it was long enough to fit between the framerails. Using the template bends from the mock up piece, he fabricated the new bar. All that was left was to weld the bar to the frame brackets and then to the transmission mount.

Junior started welding and created a solid one-piece transmission crossmember, at the same time he tacked in the bar to the frame brackets. Once set, we removed the new Fab-tech crossmember and Junior continued his machine-like welds to the remainder of the bars' joints. It's one solid piece now!

Moving on to the headers, we knew the space available was going to be limited. If it wasn't for the raised exhaust ports (often seen on aftermarket cylinder heads), our headers would have been a cinch to install. Because of the 0.500-inch raised exhaust port, it put our larger 2-inch headers in a bind against the framerails and our steering shaft. We should mention that we ordered up our Doug's headers in raw form to address the fitment issues, hence some surface rust. Once situated, we're planning to send them out to get coated.

Fab-tech was on target and we massaged any of the header tubes that were interfering with the frame. Using a torch, they heated the affected areas and flattened them with a ball-peen hammer. The passenger side was clearanced for the frame, while the driver's side tubes were clearanced for the steering shaft and frame. The good news is that any clearancing was minimal and thanks to the skills of Fab-tech, everything looks like it came right out of the factory.

It's taken a couple of years to get our Elco to this point, but the drivetrain is within the confines of our El Camino and the 2-inch headers from Doug's Headers look great. All we need now is the proper measurements for our Denny's driveshaft. You'll appreciate how easy it can be with the correct diagrams and easy-to-follow instructions that Denny's offers. Stay tuned as we'll have a complete Step-By-Step on how to measure for a driveshaft and how to install one into your A-body.