Guest Darthmentos Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Today we got to breakout the welder and get the mounts in. Surprisingly easy work. For a while we thought that we had to be doing something wrong for it to be this easy. And we were right. One of the stock mounts that we were using as a starting point for the new mounts has been hit in the past. It resulted in the plane of the driver's mount being wrong and making the mount "stand" on the lower end with an air gap in it. We got that resolved and then began worrying about the lower SBC stock mounts. they were sitting right on the safety catch. We went through all possibilities. Was the plane of our mounting plates wrong, causing them to hit the stops? Was the sub frame messed up so bad that nothing was going to sit right? We kinda doubted that. Everything was welded since we didnt have any other ideas than to grind the safety nubs off of the mounts later. Exept when we got to "later" SteveR noticed i had installed the mounts upside down! D'oh! when we flip 'em over they are just right..... Someone on this board uses a tag that says something like: If you're gonna be stupid you gotta be tough. God , do I ever believe that now. Now if Steve can just make his camera post the pics. We've been having trouble with it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveR Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Finally got the pics off my camera. Had to revive my old computer from the dead, because I don't know where the install CD for the camera's software is... ugh. Anyways, here's a few pics: http://livethenow.com/tempdir/zcar/05welding.jpg http://livethenow.com/tempdir/zcar/06welding.jpg Cardboard cut-outs for the mounts: http://livethenow.com/tempdir/zcar/01mounts.jpg Ready to cut em out: http://livethenow.com/tempdir/zcar/02mounts.jpg We ended up doing the mounts a bit different than planned, and if we had it to do again, would have done it quite a bit different. It all worked out in the end, however. The first plate is in: http://livethenow.com/tempdir/zcar/03mounts.jpg Engine lined up and the actual "motor mounts" tacked in place. You can see how it's boxed on the end as well: http://livethenow.com/tempdir/zcar/04mounts.jpg I had a cool pic with the engine in and carb sitting on top, but the camera didn't take. Hood clearence is a non-existant. The carb itself is above the hood line, then add 2 or 3 inches for the air cleaner. I guess the plan for the hood will be GT40 style extraction above the radiator, to a nice big cowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Even with the 'minor' setbacks, you guys are making some great progress! Looking good so far Recording what you do each step will always help the newbie along. Too bad about the hood clearance, though. Just where is the oilpan in relation to the ground? Was the engine as low as you could put it? The V8 sits nicely in an S30, so I'm wondering if you had major clearance issues with the steering rack, crossmember, etc? Nice work though--up & runnin' by summer??? Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveR Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 We thought the steering column would be an issue. But we saw an S30 V8 the other day, hah, his was rubbing. I believe the Z31 has more room in that regard. The engine is almost as low as it can go. The bottom of the oilpan is about even with the bottom of everything else. Just so happens the lowest point it can go puts the SBC motor mounts at almost the same plane as the stock mount horns. The distributer has JUST enough room. Also the tranny bellhousing is just touching the firewall. The only real clearance problems are the hood and the clutch fork. Going to have to cut a small piece of the floor out to make room for it. I've seen fuel injected SBCs in Z31s before and it all fits under the stock hood. And an automatic would eliminate the clutch fork problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Sounds like you guys really did your homework on this one. But really, the V8 was rubbing in the S30?!? Scarab or what? Mine (S30) WON'T rub, I can tell you that--to be done this spring/summer Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Yeah, there is no hood clearance on those cars. When we were lining up the engine in my dads, the trans tunnel required some 10 lb clearancing for the bellhousing and trans dipstick tube, and the distributor is less than an inch from the firewall. We had the engine sitting on a 2x4 on the cross member while we were measuring and making the mounts. The top of carb is even with the top of the fenders, so looks like a hood scoop is comming. I am telling him cowl hood, he wants a pro stock style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveR Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 Sounds like you guys really did your homework on this one. But really' date=' the V8 was rubbing in the S30?!? Scarab or what? Mine (S30) WON'T rub, I can tell you that--to be done this spring/summer Davy[/quote'] I don't know if something was different about his, or what, it was JTR though. The steering column was rubbing on the headers. I was surprised to see the column sticking that far into the engine bay. He's on this board: silver car, 400sbc, automatic. Wish I could remember the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Darthmentos Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 I suspect that his wasn't stock.The pieces appeared to be aluminum or stainless or that one. God it was a swwweeeet one though, even with the steering sector shaft doing the rub-a-dub. Steve's right , the ditributor is gonna be close. And wacking the floorpan will be required at the clutch fork. Now to the question. Has anyone had problems with a T-5 tranny not wanting to slide in the last 2" to full seat? This is the only thing that is keeping us from dropping the engine in for the last time, we placed the engine mounts using the bellhousing on to make sure we were happy with trans tunnel fitment. Once the trans is placed we'll drop it in for the last time, and build a revised transmission mount.then the list: trans mount driveshaft clutch hoses distributor cap/rotor/plugs/wires/misc electric..... headers exaust radiator/hose location hood modifications bodywork interior paint Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Darth, just noticed your sig. Big belly laughs! True, so true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greimann Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 .... Has anyone had problems with a T-5 tranny not wanting to slide in the last 2" to full seat?........ Any suggestions? Did you use an alignment tool to set the location of the clutch disk when torquing the pressure plate? It should slide right in when the splines align. Put a dab of grease on the splines to assist this. As for any other suggestions Darth' date=' Click Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveR Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Did you use an alignment tool to set the location of the clutch disk when torquing the pressure plate? It should slide right in when the splines align. Put a dab of grease on the splines to assist this. Yeah, we did that. The input shaft doesn't seem to want to go all the way in. It's definently lined up with the clutch disk though. Since our whole setup here is a frankenstein, I'm thinking that the pilot bearing we're using is just slightly too tall. I'll take some measurements next chance I get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaparral2f Posted May 3, 2003 Share Posted May 3, 2003 Great pics! Keep them coming, they're answering a lot of questions for me. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheZeeMan Posted November 2, 2005 Share Posted November 2, 2005 I know this thing is probably old but can i see the pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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