Pop N Wood Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 The wife came into the garage to tell me something. This is the first time she has been in the garage since I started the swap. I had just finished setting the engine in place for a trial fit. When she saw the engine in the car, she stopped mid sentence and said "That is SCARY! It looks like it will go too fast." I think it is starting to look pretty good. Got the cross member tack welded together. Needs more fitting and bracing, but good enough to help set the engine position. Hooked the tranny to the engine for the first time. Fit is looking good. Engine probably needs to come up a little bit, and just a bit farther forward. Amazingly the TKO fits the tranny tunnel with the stock Datsun trans mount ears still in place. I can get my hand all the way around the trans. The TKO mounting holes are a few inches back from the stock ears, but I might still be able to make a cross piece that bolts to the stock location. Shifter is too far forward, but I think I can get an offset shift handle from a Mustang place that will work without modifying the tunnel opening. Worst case I lose my ashtray. The laser alignment tools I made make aligning the driveline an absolute snap. Just hold up a sheet of notebook paper and count the number of lines between the dots. The light comes right through the paper. Just move the paper from the front to the back and when the dots are the same distance apart (up-down, left-right), then all is good. Gave me good clearance between the firewall and bellhousing when I realized how much engine tilt is needed to match the stock diff. I am a little worried about ground clearance. I have the bottom of my cross member level with the bottom of the oil pan and about a half inch lower than the stock cross member. That part is good, but with all the engine tilt I think the trans/bellhousing is the low part. Car is still in the air with the front end higher than the back, but what do you guys think from this side view? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boodlefoof Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 "It looks like it will go too fast." No such thing. Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 that is a lot of angle on the engine tranny... but it does make it easier to fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 I really like your crossmember mount. Here is an idea to further strengthen/support your mount. Please exscuse the poor drawing but I'm sure you will get the idea. The black lines are you mount, plus "crooked" L braces underneath. This "sandwhiches" the stock Datsun farmerails (blue)and braces the bottom of your mount to the framerails. The bolts are represented in green. It's just an idea. Good luck on your Z. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 I'll try to post the image again............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lason Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 That looks REALLY good. I like the look of those LS2 water pumps so much more than my LS1 . Ill prolly end up with a Meziere pump anyway though, lol. Good luck with it! Oh and I also really like that mount setup, you should consider making a couple extra to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Pop - one of the things done with my T56 was to take the stock Dasun shift lever and weld a tab on the front of it that moved it back and also leaned it back. I don't know if that will work with your TKO but I've had no trouble with mine. It sits in what I call the perfect position so that, even with the new HUrst shift kit, 5th gear does not require me to lean forward at all to hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Pop, yep I noticed the 2 side pieces are too thin and looks like you gave it a lot of room to swing from side to side. I used the same 1X3 tubing on my mount for the side pieces. Here is a picture of my mount. Also why did you have to drop the crossmember so far down and then have to build the 2 metal cups on it? Was there something rubbing from the bottom? Vinh Edit: Nevermind yeah I see you used the thin biscuit mounts that's why you had to build the 2 cups. BTW this is not the final piece. I will rebuild this piece later on and I will make the 2 top pieces that sit on the frame rails much stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 5, 2006 Author Share Posted September 5, 2006 Yeah, the cross member needs some bracing. The drop pieces were made from 3/16 plate that I had lying around, but some gussets between the motor mount pedastals and the side plates are probably needed. I got the idea to do what jbk240z is suggesting on the drive to work this morning. I will permanently mount an angle piece on the underside of the frame rails and bolt the sides of the engine xmember to that. That is after I wrap the frame rails with another layer of sheet metal probably 5 or 6 inches on either side of the crossmember. Not sure if I will tie the engine cross member into the stock member in any way. Starting to have visions of speedbumps, so the back of the engine needs to come up. Which of course means building a new rear diff mount to change the pinion angle. Need to improve on the stock one anyway so no big deal. The engine may look farther back then most guys because the corvette accesories places the belt 3/4 inch closer to the block. I noticed on a stang site the shifter tabs Phantom was talking about. May just get a piece of stainless and forge my own shifter. Why do anything the easy way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoeightnine Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 That was a nice compliment!! The laser alignment tools I made make aligning the driveline an absolute snap. Just hold up a sheet of notebook paper and count the number of lines between the dots. The light comes right through the paper. Just move the paper from the front to the back and when the dots are the same distance apart (up-down, left-right), then all is good. Gave me good clearance between the firewall and bellhousing when I realized how much engine tilt is needed to match the stock diff. Could you expand on your tool a little. Sounds interesting. I have read the threads on several laser tools but, the dots/lines thing has me intriged. If you have covered this elsewhere, my bad. Toss up a link kind sir. I would like to recheck mine with a laser method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 "You can never go fast enough." -James Taylor as The Driver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 Could you expand on your tool a little. Sounds interesting. I have read the threads on several laser tools but' date=' the dots/lines thing has me intriged. If you have covered this elsewhere, my bad. Toss up a link kind sir I would like to recheck mine with a laser method. [/quote'] http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=109413 Basic idea is to get the centerlines of the trans and diff parallel. Two lines are parallel if they stay the same distance apart as you go along the line. Simply stuck one of these laser tools on the back of the flywheel (later trans output shaft) and one on the mount flange of the diff. Held up a sheet of notebook paper that I had numbered the lines on. Held the paper at front laser and measured the distance between the two beams (up-down and left-right). Did the same at the back. Tilted the engine till I measured same number of lines front and back. I have had harder times in the bathroom than I did aligning the driveline. Don’t even have to center the tools on the shafts. Just get them flat and not at an angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twoeightnine Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Yes Yes. I get it. I had forgotten that both ends have their own lasers! Yes that would easy. The "dots" would move away/towards each other if not parallel as you moved the paper forward or back. And we dont want to agitate the "dots"! Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Pop, I almost forgot. I did had the GM alternator mounted on my motor at one point. Here is a picture of it. I found that it was sitting too close to the frame rail and the strut tower so I moved it down low to the passenger side. The GM alt is too big to fit there and that's how I came up with the Honda alt. If you move your motor any lower you will not be able to fit even the Honda alt there because of your stock crossmeber. It's not that difficult to fab up the mounts for the Honda alt. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 What year/make of Honda? The GM unit can go back if need be. Wiring is simply not an issue. Only thing I want is a good belt route that turns both the alternator and stock water pump. I won't even need 50 amps with this set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 The alt is from a 91-93 Honda Accord. If you run the mechanical water pump and putting the alt on the lower passenger side you will run into another problem with the belt routing. I used the electric water pump and it simplified my belt routing a lot. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.