How critical is engine/trans angle?

I'm putting the glide in the car later today and am planning on sticking the output shaft at the same height/location as it was with the C4. I'm then planning on nailing down the motor/midplate mounts wherever the headers clear the floor, steering linkage, etc...

Question is will this be OK or will I need to raise/lower the trans to get some kind of optimum driveline angle? Am I overthinking this? Car is still up on stands and levelled if that helps in taking some kind of angle measurements. Is this dependent on pinion height as well?

I'm trying to get the plate mounts fabbed and welded in the car next week or the week after. I plan to make the best use of my time off of work...

just remember the less angle you put on the u-joints the longer they will last and not bust as easy if you have the rearend already in it put jack stands under the rearend and put the wieght on it instead of letting it hang and will help get it lined up easier I can't remember the pinion angle but the leveler you get the drive shaft the better

Got ya. I'll have to get the wheels back on it and jack up the rear housing to the ride height and see what it looks like. I don't have the d-shaft yet, but I can improvise something.

For a "drag only" 4-link/ladder bar car pointing the crankshaft/tailshaft C/L directly at the pinion (viewed from the side with the car at rest on the ground & sitting at full ride height) so there is little or no centerline differences between the slip yoke/driveshaft/pinion U-joint's operating angles (say + - 0.00* between the slip yoke/driveshaft centerlines, and say -1.00* to -1.50* between the driveshaft/pinion centerlines) is usually ideal. This ideally will get you real close to a true 0.00* U-joint operating angle (and in phase) at both ends of the driveshaft while under load. And give you the least amount of frictional drag & binding at the U-joints while under load.

But doing this on a street/highway driven car can be a mistake because a street car doesn't spend most of it's time under launch loading. It spends most of it's time at part throttle driving down the road at a given speed under very little load. In this situation a U-joint needs some amount of operating angle misalignment so that the needle bearings aren't hammering constantly on the same spot of the U-joint's bearing cup & shaft for miles & miles. So on a street/highway driven car your wanting to have the front & rear U-joint operating angles a lot closer to a true "in phase" (equal but apposing) angle setting while at rest (such as +2.0* at the front & -2.0* at the rear, or say +1.5* & -1.5* or etc, etc, etc.).

Setting up a car that sees both "street & strip" use can be a headache because choosing one way or the other isn't ideal, & neither is compromising & fudging somewhere in the middle.

Thanks Dave!

I just want to get this right, or close to it, the first time.