Guest bluex_v1 Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 Ok, Since I am probably just going to get myself a complete '89-'93 donor mustang for my swap, I think Alsil's mounts with the stang power assist steering rack is the route for me. From the pics, it seems like you could get sufficient exhaust clearance for block huggers using that setup with a u-joint at the firewall and one u-joint just forward of the the brake proportioner, pulling the shaft toward the outside, and of course with a pair of heim supports. The only concern I have with this is it seems the rails could easily start sagging and rotate in toward the engine, lowering it and screwing up the balancer, driveshaft angle, etc. over time. So, how about this... (If this image doesn't load, my dsl is probably down again...check again later or just read and hopefully I've been descriptive enough) Basically it is just Alsil's mount with reinforcement that ties into the strut tower and stiffening bar. Sorry this pic sucks, if you guys think it'd work ok, I'll draw it up more clearly with some dimesions..but its pretty simple anyway. The pic on the left is driver's side, being looked at if standing next to the passenger side fender. Basically, I have probably a 1"x2" peice of square tubing bent to run down the strut tower. It would be flush with the surface of the tower and welded to the sheet metal so I guess it probably couldn't be thicker than 1/8th wall? At the bottom of this square tube, there would be probably 1/8th angle iron laid on top of the frame rail to reinforce it and spread the mount load. There would be gussets between the angle iron and the square tube to help prevent the angle iron rotating in toward the engine. The outer edge of this angle iron would be tacked to the sheet metal of the inner fender as well as to the frame rail. The Alsil mount would just be welded to the inner face of the angle iron. Then directly inline with the motor mount, there would be a plate of 1/8th welded to the inner fender sheet metal and a couple more gussets between that part of the angle iron and that vertical plate. I could even then tie the front of the angle iron into the stock crossmember for additional support..but I think that is probably overkill. Also to the right, the other drawing would be looking at the driver's side mount again except from the firewall perspective looking toward the front of the car... To help justify the extra weight of this reinforcement, I might as well make it stiffen the chassis right? The green part would be a bracket bolted to the top of the tower and bolted through the sides of the vertical square tubing. The purple would be a stiffening bar going across to the opposite strut tower. So, does this make sense, and would it be worth the effort? Should I go with it, improve it, or scratch it? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsil Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 That's my old mount, and yea, it twisted a little. I replaced that about 6 months ago with this mount: http://zcar.netdojo.com/newpics.htm This takes care of all the twisting problem (the only stress is against the top of the frame rail) and so far I have had NO problems with this. The only issue with the power steering swap AND the 5.0 swap is that block huggers won't work. The one on the passenger side will work, but the driver's side doesn't clear. I had to use the stock header on the driver's side and have a 2.5" inch collector added to it, so it wouldn't be a bitch to dissasemble. Check this info out and see what you think. Yours will work too, but I don't know about having 2 seperate mounts, it might still be a problem. Also, SCCA Mike has some mounts too, I don't think he's had a problem with his. Thanks Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 Well geez, that's what I get for not hitting the "news" link. D'oh! That crossmember looks great. Do you have any measurements? Is your motor centered exactly? could you move the motor over to the passenger side enough to gain the clearance needed for a driver's side block hugger without causing the same issue on the passenger side? That crossmember snugs up between the two sumps in the pan right? And...I know I've read this somewhere before, but for the love of god, I can't stomach another search right now...what headers does Mike have that are shown here? http://www.fonebooth.com/images/5LheaderLH.jpg I can't remember if these were ones he modified or what. If you don't know off the top of your head, I'll look later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsil Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 Thanks about the crossmember, that's the 10th design I had, and the one I think works the best. It's easy enough to duplicate it, the dims are the same as the old 2 piece ones, except that there is a brace between them. Mine is perfectly centered, but you could offset it like the JTR setup, but I think that the passenger side header will not fit. It's already really close to the frame rail. I'll do a measurement if you want and it may work. If it does I might rethink mine, although it would require some other mods to make it happen. I don't like how tight stuff is on the driver's side. I don't know exactly which headers mike is using, you could email him and ask....he's always very helpful. Thanks Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 yes, if you could measure the clearance you have on the pass side and tell me what header you have on that side, I'd really appreciate it. I think what I want to do is still use the bracing like I've drawn out tied into a strut bar (just because I might get stupid crazy and want to blow the engine a few years down the road), and then have a crossmember like yours to actually mount the engine, but maybe in a little lighter guage though (1/8th maybe). I'll have the rail bracing already built before I even pull the L6, and depending on what measurements I get, have the crossmember built and installed to the motor mounts on the block already when I postion the engine, then weld the crossmember to the angle iron at the position and nose up angle that it fits in nicely. I'll let you know how it goes...like next summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluex_v1 Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 Just a bit of a better illustration laid over a pic of SCCA Mike's yellow convertible... frame rail reinforcements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 Blue, you are a clever young pup. Place a couple strut tower braces forming a triangle going back to the firewall and you will have an intergrated motor mount and strut tower design that should minmize all sorts of twisting. Your thread is also taking the mystery out of all these lost in the archives Ford motor mount designs.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scca Posted September 6, 2002 Share Posted September 6, 2002 my headers are out of the box flowtech ceramic coat headers. i have a jig here for alsils x-member and havent had a chance to mount the thing to see if it works in my setup or not. my engine setback is exactly like Dans (the original 5.0 AFAIK) at least with Efi in a Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 Cool! Great thread! I have a question though? Is that mounting system available to be bought pre-made? Or do you have to take the measurements to a welder and have it done? Sorry, just beginning the research to do this myself, and want to do it right! Power steering is not a real big concern of mine, I've had plenty of vehicles with out it. But if it can be had easily enough, why not? ,,,,SZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 These guys designed and made there own mounts. If you ask real nice they may send you measurements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 Cool, I'll beg later I guess:D Don't even have the car yet ,,,98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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