[Flathead Fever]

It is exactly the same place as it was with the original '32 V8. The blocks are exactly the same length. The original '32 motor mounts will bolt right to the front your '59A block. The '32 motor mount holes are already there if your using the original front crossmember. Most people are not going to use those original motor mounts but they should really consider, epsecially them if they have a really nice original, perfect uncut rust free original '32 frame. A really nice frame can sell for up to $7000.00. They are rarer than unicorns. If your piecing together a '32 frame or saving a cutup frame then you probably better off to use the 59A water pump mounts and bolting/welding them to the sides of the frame.

That is where a lot of people make a mistake. They stick the motor mount brackets flush with the top of the frame rail. What this does is lift the front of the motor up which causes the back of the intake to hit the firewall. Then they end up cutting up their firewall to clear the intake. Never once thinking that the frame left the factory with a flathead V8 fitting in there.

When I very first discovered flatheads I bought a chopped '32 3-window basket-case project. The flathead engine mounts were already welded flush with the top of the frame rails. The 59A engine was sitting in there. The firewall had sharpie scribbles all over where they had planned to cut it because it was hitting the intake. I called the shop that had did the work and I asked, why did you weld the mounts flush? Thinking there must be some top secret hot rod reason I didn't know about? Maybe to level out the carbs with a dropped axle. These guys must know what they are doing. I didn't know anything about this stuff back then but I knew enough to know something didn't seem right? The "professional hot rod shop" owner said, "we've never put a flathead in a '32 before." There is a red flag! Then the guy said, " we looked at photos in magazines and it looked like the mounts were welded flush with the top of the frame". He had boxed that frame too, welded in front and rear Model A crosssmembers. He welded on it so much he warped it pretty bad. I bought another unmolested '32 frame. Bolted the 59A motor in using original '32 mounts and it cleared the firewall. Before I cut the motor mount arms I wasn't going to need from those 59A water pumps I bolted the rubber motor mounts onto them just to see where they do end up in a '32 frame? The top of the mounting would be down around 3/4" or 1" from the top of the frame rail. Not the rubber mount and its washers but the mounting bracket they sit on top of.

I've never used one but if you going with a C4 automatic or a S10 5 speed then you do not have a K-member to locate the engine correctly. All I can tell you is to bolt the firewall on the frame. Bolt the water pumps on the block with the motor mounts and their brackets on the water pumps. Bolt an intake on there. Slide the engine back until the intake is close to the firewall.. Make sure those motor mount brackets are below the top of frame rails and should be really close. Its raining here and my garage is detached or I would go out and take picture of the intake to firewall clearance.

Figure some way to hold that motor where you think it should go but do not weld in the mounts or bolt them in. If you are going with a different trans other than an Early Ford just wait to see what happens when you bolt it all together Make sure your trans mount, steering box, headers, driveshaft angle, radiator clearance...….. all fit. It could just be sliding that engine a 1/4-inch forward or backward might solve a problem you have not even thought about yet.