The hardest parts of this project has been finding a welder that would come out to the house and get the engine mounts in place. After two months of searching, I found the right guy! I had to estimate the location of the engine side to side and vertically. Before I took the old 2H out, I measured to location of the fan. That was a mistake because the 1HZ fan is lower and to the left.
Lesson learned:
Before removing the old engine, measure the center of the
crankshaft. That should always be the same.
I put the 1HZ in and used the transmission mount to position it fore/aft and the back end left/right. The valve cover is not centered and a little to the left and I used it to position the front left/right. I measured to the fender side, which tapers, so some simple math was required.
I had no clue where it should be vertically, so I raised it to where it looked "right" and used a digital angle gauge to make sure it was pointed uphill 2 degrees so any air bubbles in the coolant would float to the top. Once the mounts were in place and I took the weight off the engine lift, the engine settled down about an inch. Something to be aware of and compensate for. In the end, I think it's way lower than it should be, but I can't see much harm except the angle on the rear drive line has increased a bit.
As for the mounts themselves, I could not find new ones from vendors, so I made some cardboard mockups. When I asked two welders to fabricate them I got the confused puppy dog look then ghosted. Since this fabrication was a hurdle, I decided to make them myself. A 12x12" 1/4" plate from Lowes and a cutting wheel on the grinder: simple enough.
This guy was an awesome find! It would have been a lot easier in Colorado where I had a network of friends, but I'm too new here in SC and it's hard to make friends and meet people during this damn beer bug.
He took 1/2 hour to set up and weld my pieces together, we stood around chatting for 1/2 hour while they cooled down, then he welded them in place and I didn't even have to remove the engine (I was expecting to). 1.5 hours total for $120. I was so tickled with his craftsmanship and saving me time, so gave him $150.
In place and once I got the radiator and fan on, it's obviously too low. Oh well. Those mounts aren't going anywhere. He welded all the way around, inside and out. Super solid and a huge PITA to move up. Time will tell if there are any effects. I also painted the frame and new mounts with POR15.