Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[J. Robinson]

I left off with the front motor mounts done; next comes the transmission mount crossmember. I like for the transmission crossmember to be removable so that the transmission can be removed/replaced without pulling the engine out of the car. I have made a number of these, over the past 30 years, in the method I am describing here. It is simple and easy to do.

I am using the stock Chevy S-10 rubber trans mount. First, I have the tailshaft of the transmission propped up at the desired height and centered between the framerails (actually, this was done prior to building the front mounts) and the rubber mount bolted in place on the trans. I begin fabricating the crossmember by making a plate to fit under the rubber mount. In this instance, it is a piece of 1/4" x 3" flat stock cut 3" long, two of its four corners rounded off, and drilled in the center. I bolted this plate, finger tight, to the rubber mount. Next, I cut a piece of 1" OD tubing so that it would fit between the framerails and put a slight bend in the center. How much of a bend, if any, depends on your application and it is a matter of trial & error. I bent this one so it would fit under the back (straight) edge of the mount plate. Once satisfied with the general shape of the tube, I removed the plate from the rubber mount and welded it to the tube. It is positioned so it is centered from side to side and the rounded corners stick out from the tube.

After the crossmember cooled off from being welded, I bolted the whole thing to the trans mount so I see where to put the frame mount brackets. At this point I discovered that the bend was a little too deep and I needed to bend the ends back down slightly. With the mount plate welded in place, it wouldn't fit back in my bender, so I notched each end on the chop saw, bent them down, and welded them in position.

The frame mount brackets are made from a piece of 1 1/4" OD tubing cut 3" long and split down the center so that the 1" OD crossmember will fit into it. (I have also made these brackets from angle iron on some previous jobs, including the ones on my coupe.) Now, with the crossmember bolted to the rubber mount once again, I vise-gripped the brackets in position and tack-welded them to the frame. I lucked out here because the brackets are positioned so that they weld to the lower frame rail and to the back side of the rear radius rod bracket. This makes the crossmember brackets "self-gusseting", so no additional gussets or braces aer necessary.

After tack-welding the brackets, I removed the crossmember again and welded the brackets solidly in place (More welding will be done on the bottom when I disassemble the car for finishing.).