auxilary Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 First of all, the unthinkable happened: True story. The engine made its way INTO the car! Engine mounts were loosened up and fit nicely, had to remove the headers to pop the motor in, but putting them on wouldn't be too difficult. However, had a small problem with JCI t56 mount - it wasn't lining up correctly. Before installing the JCI transmission crossmember, tranny is supported by a jack, and relatively centered: Apply mount and bracket: And it's hitting the trans tunnel edges. The Z is a '73 240, baddog frame rails (not interfering), and the mount is for a 240z. Mount is not touching the rails in any way Shifter is moved to the side from raising the transmission crossmember and trans up, and the boot winds up cutting into the shifter hole edge: Unless I did something pretty obviously stupid, the instructions didn't call for massaging the tunnel to install the bracket, and my other alternative is to drill or slot the mount holes... But my question is, am I just missing something really simple? Do I just have the mount backwards? hehe Thanks all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Did you try it in mounted the other way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Just hammer the tunnel wall you big weenie. Get out your tin snips and trim the shifter hole. You want me to come over there and hold your hand while you do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 Hey Dan, how're your frame rails? Don't they resemble your butt...with cracks? I tried the the other way, no real go, but I ran out of daylight to continue futzing with it. Since the motor's back out, I need to get some help shoving it back in to test out the fitment again. I want tos ee if I messed up before continuing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 When you get the engine back in, take a look at your driveline angles. That would kind of dictate where your shifter will end up. That transmission mount does look a bit off, like it wasn't bent enough, with the curves ending up too wide against the rails and the mount protruding too low. -Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 I hammered my tunnel to install! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strotter Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Yeah, my '72 required some fairly significant coercion. Use something to distribute the force of the blows, it'll be virtually invisible both inside the cockpit and under the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 to make the dent for the reverse light/lockout switch, we used a scissor jack with a flat base against the opposing wall. Worked like a charm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeZ Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 We had issues with this mount also. It was terribly fab'ed & much worse than in these pictures. We ended up cutting and welding to make it come close to fitting. We'll make our own next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted January 20, 2010 Author Share Posted January 20, 2010 I had to grind down one of the spacers in order for my mount to fit. Not a big deal, so body mods aren't major either. Just wanted to check before I pound stuff out. Been raining like crazy for last week or so, can't do a whole lot since I have to roll the car half way out to do the install (small garage). Guess I just wait until the sun comes out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted January 20, 2010 Share Posted January 20, 2010 Told you, weenie. Now get out there and lay in the water and beat on that thang! FYI, now my frame rails look like YOUR butt, smooth and covered in primer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NESS89 Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Been raining like crazy for last week or so, can't do a whole lot since I have to roll the car half way out to do the install (small garage). Guess I just wait until the sun comes out Not that much rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 Told you, weenie. Now get out there and lay in the water and beat on that thang! FYI, now my frame rails look like YOUR butt, smooth and covered in primer. In other news, Dan Juday has been checking out my ass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 So, I haven't gotten a chance to work much on the Z, but yesterday tried to iron out the transmission issue... something is very weird. The motor is set on the JCI mounts, I pounded out the floor walls to make the crossmember fit. I had to grind some of the trans crossmember side down, but it's still not enough. I don't want to make too many unnecessary cuts if I'm missing something stupid simple. Anyway, the transmission is slightly skewed to the driver's side. You can see the crossmember hitting the baddog rail, even though about 3/4" have been ground off the edge. This is not an issue on the other side, in fact, there's a bit of clearance. The driveshaft angle is a few degrees off from optimum. Also, height seems to be off, as it looks like I have to use spacers for the trans crossmember, or a shorter mount? The engine is set on the front mounts, with the adjustable mount maxed out at its pivot point, so I can't angle it anymore from that perspective. Any insight? Am I just missing something? Anyone else run into this issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palosfv3 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 (edited) The first pic shows the slight modification we made to the trans bracket. We modified the angle of the bracket to parallel the outer edges of the tunnel. Takes about an hour or so but worth the effort. This will allow you to get the exhaust pipes to fit nicer in the space . Dont beat the floor in . You will make the job of bending the front pipes more difficult. Edited February 22, 2010 by palosfv3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 The first pic shows the slight modification we made to the trans bracket. We modified the angle of the bracket to parallel the outer edges of the tunnel. Takes about an hour or so but worth the effort. This will allow you to get the exhaust pipes to fit nicer in the space . Dont beat the floor in . You will make the job of bending the front pipes more difficult. Hm... Well, the problem I have is that the mount won't properly clear the rails, and it's sitting offset. It looks like the transmission needs to sit lower than the stock position (height can be adjusted easily, that's not the major issue), but the sideways alignment is the problem. Right now the transmission's tail is tilted to the driver's side, and in order to make it straighter, I have to chop more off of transmission mount's end because it hits the Baddog frame rail. As a result, the adjustable pass side motormount cannot go any further either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palosfv3 Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 (edited) Place the jack back holding the trans in place and remove the JCI trans bracket to allow the rear of the trans to center back to the original position shown in your second pic. Check your driveshaft angles to make sure they are within acceptable tolerance. You may have to move the trans around till you get the driveshaft angles in the correct alignment. Once the angles are confirmed. Check the fit of the bracket. We found ours needed quite a bit of adjusting to fit into place. It been awhile since we did the conversion so my memory is a little foggy as to how much we cut and welded . You will need to make modifications to this bracket in order for it to work correctly . Dont be afraid to slot the holes in the bracket for the trans mount. Most trans tail mount holes are slotted . Are the front motor mounts and brackets tight ? I would suggest to finger tighten all mounting bolts until you are sure you have the motor and trans lined up correctly. Edited February 23, 2010 by palosfv3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 (edited) Yeah, we had to widen the holes just to be able to put the bolts through to the rubber mount. There's not a lot of space left to slot it, but that's what I'll wind up doing Usually I'm paranoid about damaging stuff I spent money on, hence, I ask Are you also suggesting slotting the motor mount holes further? I might have to do that as well because the front mounts may not allow me to rotate the tranny further even if I slot the crossmember holes Edited February 23, 2010 by auxilary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palosfv3 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 You want to minimize any lateral tension on the mounts . If the front engine mounts are slightly off they will side load the trans mount. Sometimes a slight shift of 1/8" in the front mount can multiply into more than a 1/2" at the end of the trans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Well, that's my current issue... I need to apply more shift in the front to fix the trans lateral issue...I think. I will try your idea this weekeend and see if it works out. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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