Getting the Engine/Gearbox Centred

[tonycharger72]

Wondering if anyone can help me with centering my engine & gearbox properly,

 

Im in the process of installing a 2jzge into my zed and im having a bugger of a time figuring out whether or not the engine/gearbox are centred,

 

The Chassis rails are 638mm when they narrow at the front and ive got a piece of wood in front of the engine, marked centre, which tells me that ive got the centre point at the front of the engine,

But,

How do i do the rear?

Ive got under the car and tried to do the same with a piece of wood at the back of the gearbox, but the chassis rails have these bits of crud of them which makes it really difficult to get the 638mm piece of wood in place and centred correctly,

Then - even when i manage this, it is really difficult to measure whether the exit point of the gearbox (where the tailshaft goes in) is in the centre of my piece of wood, as the gearbox is higher than my piece of wood by about 10cm's, doing it by eyesight just seems kinda dodgy,

 

Anyone know any tricks or processes to make sure im getting the right alignment with my engine/box???

[rp975]

Hi Tonycharger72,

 

When I was doing that stage, before I removed the L6, I put a rod from the centre of the crank pulley at 90 degrees with a couple of welders magnetic squares and when this is brought forward it comes to the front center lower bolt hole for the grill. I then used a small laser with a packing piece under it to line this up with the crank, and with the engine out it lines up with the center of the diff. So you can measure how far back the back of the gearbox is and then using the laser and a tape measure, take some measurements from certain reference points.

I hope that this makes sense.

 

Rob

[rp975]

I have just posted some pictures in the gallery and also in my gallery if this is of some help.

 

Rob

[tonycharger72]

Thanks for that RP95, i'd already removed my L6 and put the 2jzge into the zed, but i've got it sorted so all is well

Tell you what though, was not the funnest way in the world to spend a few days of my life,

 

Ive got the engine mounts made, now just got to do the gearbox crossmember,

 

Also, that engine is a cool swap mate, looks really awesome, thats the later nissan V6 isnt it? the one that is a 90deg V6 which makes its narrower and easier to fit into the zed, unlike the VG30DET,

[rp975]

Hey Tonycharger72,

 

yes it is a 99 model VQ30det from a Nissan Cedric from japan, it is narrower but taller with an alloy block and a timing chain instead of a belt. Supposed to be 206kw and I have the engine and trans crossmembers done.

I too am looking into what to do with regards to 5 stud hubs and brakes.

 

Rob

[tonycharger72]

Do you have any pics of your gearbox crossmember mate?

 

If you are looking at getting custom ones made from scratch, EFI Hardware in Melbourne will whip you up some Billet Steel ones for about $600/Pair

[rp975]

Hi Tonycharger,

 

Here is a photo of the trans x member.

 

 

And there is a thread over at Classic Zcar with a bunch of photos.

 

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16550&page=1&pp=15&highlight=vq

 

otherwise I have a lot more photos of the x member that I can send you if you want.

The x member is a lot further back than the original and the original mounting for the xmember in the tunnel had to be removed to allow clearance for the larger trans.

Then I had to reinforce the tunnel inside the car as well with 2mm thick steel plate.

Are you going to make your own?

 

And is the trans mount close to the original x member?

[tonycharger72]

Yeah im in the process of making my own but just trying to decide which is the best way to go, seeing as you did such a good job with your mounts, i figured you would have done just as good a job with your gearbox X member,

 

i was thinking of doing something like a V or U shape and attach it to either side of the trans tunnell, the drivers side was sweet, the passenger side is beginning to really piss me off though - just no real flat bits on that side (this the driver side for the yanks), so im trying to work around it, i think i had it figured but i need to bend my steel to all sorts of funny angles, which is damm hard to do with monkey grips and a vice

 

My Gearbox sits heaps further back than the original mounts, like somewhere between 5-10", and the gearbox slightly rubs on them, so i will have to remove or atleast give them a shave

 

Send me all the pics you can champ, engine mounts, gearbox xemember, tailshaft, everything you got, love to see em,

tl24@bigpond.net.au