| 04-01-2012 |
This weekend we worked on getting the engine mounted. The Chassis Engineering kit was designed for a small block Chevy so I had to order mounts that attach an LS motor to a 350 Chevy mount. April helped me get the mounts and engine in place.
And here is what they look like when mounted up
I'm glad April was there because lowering and lining up the engine is really difficult with one person. Here it is almost in place
The transmission was very, very close to not fitting. Another 1/8 inch and it wouldn't have lined up.
The stock truck exhaust manifolds are definitely not going to work. Corvettes and Camaros and Firebirds used the same motor and had exhaust manifolds that tucked in closer to the engine. I'm researching now to see if those type manifolds will fit or if I will need to get shorty headers. From what I've learned so far header technology has come a very long way since back in the 1960s and 1970s and they are pretty reliable these days. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go with true dual exhaust or run a pipe over and run a single exhaust.
We finally got the transmission crossmember lined up. 4L60E transmissions had two different types of mounts. One had a single stud that stuck down through the crossmember and one had two holes for bolts to go up through. This one takes the two bolts that go up through it. When April installed the bolts they wouldn't tighten up. I was under the impression these bolts weren't supposed to have nuts behind them because there doesn't appear to be room for nuts but I don't see any other option at this point. I'm trying to research what other people have done in this situation. You can see in one of the pictures below the bolts coming through the mount and how little room there would be for a nut to fit inside.
And here it is finally in its home. There's a long way to go but it was really nice to finally see the engine mounted and to know all those measurements I'd made in the previous weeks turned out to be good.
Then we moved on to getting the brake mounts and master cylinder mounted.
April worked on that while I went next door and helped the older lady that lives alone unload some mulch she'd bought for her yard. Before too long we had a nice looking brake setup.
I eyeballed the rear end and noticed that the differential was off center even though I had the entire rear end assembly perfectly centered. I measured and found that one axle tube was 17 inches and one was 20 inches. I assumed this had to be OK because if these measurements were true then it had to sit this way under the Ford Explorer it came out of. I had never seen this before so just to be 100% sure I checked with some others and found out that this was perfectly OK and wouldn't cause any problems. As I had hoped, the U-joints will allow for the difference.
We also had another problem. The new engine mounts interfered with the air conditioning compressor mount. The compressor mount is very large and has a tensioner on it. There is no way this mount is going to work. I know that Corvettes and Camaros and Firebirds use the same engine but have a completely different arrangement for the components on the front of the engine, making them more compact. I may have to take everything off the front of this engine and convert it over to one of those setups. I had planned on replacing the alternator and water pump anyway just for good measure. I'm not sure exactly what my options are here but I'm checking around to see what I'm going to be able to do as cheaply as possible.
Finally I moved on to installing the upper and lower control arms. I had some trouble with the spring compressor hitting the control arms and couldn't get the spring installed. I wasn't able to get it installed that night.
Today Dad came over and he and April installed the passenger side upper and lower control arm while I continued to work on the driver side spring. It was much more difficult to get this side bolted up.
After finally getting the spring somewhat installed, which was very difficult with the compressor I had to rent from AutoZone, it took all three of us to get the shock installed. The shock was making contact with the inside of the spring and it wouldn't allow it to line up properly.
Even after we got it installed the shock is still making contact with the inside of the spring. I'm not sure yet exactly how I'm going to remedy this situation.
