Guest Anonymous Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 Dan and SCCA: From what I gather from previous posts you have your engine positioned as follows: -upper intake 1/8" from hood latch -stock hood clears efi by 1/8" -front of oil sump 1/8" from front crossmember -center of front crank even with the top of the front frame rails -front of the stock harmonic balancer even with the front of the steering rack with the inertia ring of the harmonic balancer above the rack by either 5/16" (SCCA) or 1/2" (Dan, who used a 3/16 spacer between frame and front crossmember) -oil pan and bellhousing hang 1/2" below frame and front crossmember in this position. -engine centered -engine mounted 2.5 degrees nose up Is this about right? Amazing that the engine fits in there so precisely and with so little room for error - did Datsun have this swap in mind at the outset? I have a question - how do you measure the 2.5 degree nose-up angle of the engine? Does the car have to be sitting on the wheels on the ground to do this accurately? where and how do you measure this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 Dr. Graham, I put the car on stands and leveled it as best I could. I measured the engine angle by using a magnetic based angle finder(Sears $10.95). I place the angle finder on the bottom of the starter housing, and raised the tail of the transmission to get the desired angle. I then constructed the tranny crossmember to maintain that position. Dan McGrath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 Just to chime in here, These parameters of installation are nearly identical to mine, even though they were done independently. The only difference was my angle was less than 1 degree (nearly horizontal) for the engine axis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 i didnt really focus on the engine angle - i mostly checked drive shaft angle. - i cant remember what it is i think 1.5 degree all that really matters is the driveshaft ISNT straight totally a small amount of angle is better for less vibrations. i used a digital angle finder for the engine and the driveshaft. i was more concerned with where the shifter fit in the original hole and i put the engine as high and tranny as high as possible without interference. i am pretty sure the hood clears by a lot more than 1/8" as the hood bows up quite a bit (but so does the FI intake) i put the tranny quite high. i had to cut out the complete original flanges from the datsun mount the whole way up and down the side of the tunnel. but maybe this is a 280Z thing as opposed to 240. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 I wanted to match the angle of the engine to the angle of the differential. I settled on 2.5 degrees because any more nose up on the enginecaused the upper intake to hit the latch support. Thd differential angle was almost 5 degrees. To make up the difference, I removed the rubber washer/spacer from above the moustache bar and cut the tube that protrudes through the bushing. The moustache bar is mounted flush against the body, and the differential angle is 2.5 degrees. The tailshaft of the transmission is almost at the same height as the pinion flange, and is 1.5 inches off center to the driver's side(the pinion flange is off center in the chassis, and the output shaft of the tranny is exactly centered in the chassis). There is a side benefit to removing the spacer above the moustache bar and raising the back of the differential: The factory retention strap across the front of the differential is drawn tight. I have only the factory rubber pinion mount, and have no trouble with it tearing. With the differential at the stock angle, there is slop between the retention strap and the differential, and the rubber tears with even the six cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted November 28, 2001 Share Posted November 28, 2001 i never thought of checking the diff angle but for the diff strap i installed a urethane donut on top of the diff and bolted the diff back into place so there is no slop there and i hope the mount will last a little while.....it was a new nissan one then.... i didnt measure the tranny offsets but it is closer to one side than the other. i tried to center the driveshaft in the tunnel so that the angles front to back and side to side were within a reasonable amount. my cars in the air now -- i should grab the guage and measure the angles of the driveshaft in relation to the intake and diff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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