Hi all,

I have spent today getting the engine and gearbox into the chassis to position the mounts, however i cant get the engine to sit centrally due to the bellhousing fowling the chassis. I need to move the engine over to the nearside by about 30mm but want to check ive not missed something obvious before i go chopping at things. I also cannot get the nearside mount plate to sit on the chassis rail, it currently sits about 2mm off the rail.

bellhousing fowling

Chassis is a McSorley plan, engine is a 1.8 Zetec on a type 9 box. Engine mounts were purchased off here and use the round rubber bushes.


engine

Couple of things spring to mind, is the bell housing in the correct orientation? are the engine mounts correct, or is the engine too low? does anyone have a reference dimension so i can check the engine height?

Photos are attached.

Thanks in advance,

Luke

Is the engine too far back? The mount plate will most likely be fine once its off the hoist

[Edited on 28/12/12 by pmc_3]

box looks a tad too far back and slightly too low hence the started mounting contacting the chasis, can yo place a paccker under the mounting rubber to raise this slightly

The engine can easily be moved forward, thats no problem.

I can pack underneath the mount, but i think this will put the engine on a slight angle backwards. Is that ok? If i lift the engine and box equally the box will touch the top of the transmission tunnel.

Luke

Right i have just put 20mm box under the mounts and i can now get the engine central however the bellhousing is still close to the rail. Is this too close?


bellhouse 2

Luke

Luke can I ask did you buy or make your chassis

the only reason I ask is the weld in the close up pic, doesnt seem as good as the ones in long shot
is that weld just holding the footwell in place or the chassis tube as well?

Luke I'm running a mcsorely and was pinto now zetec on a type 9, have a look throughout my gallery using the banner below and you should find some pictures that show mine?

Cheers

Rich

Thanks for the replies all,

Gavin, the weld is just for the passenger foot plate. It was one done in an awkward possition and i just need to clean it up and redo it. All the chassis was well welded before the plates were put in.

Rich,

Looking at your photos, the rail misses by miles and i have now discovered my error. The two rails, G1 and G2 on my chassis run parallel but they need to have a 7 degree angle from the centre line to give the clearance at the back. This isnt dimensioned on the assembly diagrams, only by the cut drawings hence i guess why i missed it.

So, on the drivers side i have plenty of clearance so i dont think i need to move that tube. On the passenger side, i have already put in all my suspension mounts, one of which is attached to the G1 rail. I dont want to have to redo all them so could i cut the tube after the suspension mount and angle it to give the clearence? Or will this be too weak?

Thanks everyone

I wouldn't do it mate, I have a feeling you know what the proper thing to do would be

Sorry, better to do it now than wait for it to break and put you into a hedge then have to do it, just my view, it's your car mate do what your happy with.

Cheers

Rich

Just out of curiosity, why couldn't you just use larger (thicker) engine mounts to raise the engine enough that you're happy it wont hit! Would give you more ground clearance, would just need to aware when making the bonnet?

I know you mentioned in a previous post about the box touching the top of the tunnel but with a bit of jiggers pokers moving the engine forward and up I think you should be able to make it work.

I would always try and have the engine level better for the oil circulation, however it should have an angle to the diff, don't make this connection directly level as this can prematurely wear the prop joints.

Cheers

Rich

[Edited on 30/12/12 by RichardK]

In my spitfire I had to remove the offending starter motor lug on the motor and bellhousing. And a fair portion of the starter motor bulge on the bellhousing. Still plenty strong enough......