Let it Begin! 87 frame off, vortec, H55...

[M1A1cruiser]

beat me to it...

and prob better advice anyway.

 

[orangefj45]

Your "yaw issue" is mostlikely due to the fact that the two transmission mount bolt holes in the x-member are oversized and there's quite a bit of give in the mount.

Loosen up the nuts on the bottom oz the trans mount, put a floorjack under the trans and get the engine in there. It'll all end up right where you want it.

Georg

 

[M1A1cruiser]

I don't know whether I am approaching Georg status (hahahahaha) or just a lucky fool (almost certainly) but I am learning; I had a look under there and noticed that is where the issue is - I can even see the misalignment of the mount on the x-member.

I'll be doing what he --^ said. But I alway appreciate the guidance. Learning by discovery is one thing. being taught and gaining experience is another.

Thanks Georg.

 

[orangefj45]

Righton, glad I could help. Personally, I'd rather learn from others' mistakes.

Georg

 

[scrapdaddy]

Georg, Travis ain't the only one learning.

 

[Mikesta]

Wow, great read. Just found this tonight. Love the no fear attitude about ripping into this and building it up.

And the TCASE! WOW. What did you do to it to get it this shiny? And question for you. On all the Tcases I've seen they have cracks in them. It could be casting. Did you have these before you rubbed this one out?

 

[orangefj45]

they're casting flaws, not crack.

 

[M1A1cruiser]

As far as getting it shiny, I used a media blaster; there's one at work so I don't have to buy yet another thing and I don't have to worry about ruining it. Used a very fine (almost flour) sand and was patient.

We'll see how the no-fear attitude works out for me when I try to turn the key for the first time! Thanks, tho

 

[Mikesta]

they're casting flaws, not crack.

As far as getting it shiny, I used a media blaster; there's one at work so I don't have to buy yet another thing and I don't have to worry about ruining it. Used a very fine (almost flour) sand and was patient.

We'll see how the no-fear attitude works out for me when I try to turn the key for the first time! Thanks, tho

Whew, thought I was prone to defective t-cases. Thanks and looking forward to the progress!

 

[M1A1cruiser]

FINALLY seeing some progress

So I am pretty stoked that it at least APPEARS that there will be a V8 in here some day.

Of course it'll all have to come back out tomorrow for scab plates. Then back in for motor mount placement etc...but I wanted to get a rough in before I weld at all.

Here's some assumptions that I am working with before I ask the questions:

-The entire driveline is hooked up (H55 w/stock crossmember, split case, drive shafts, bell housing, Mark's adapter).
-Given the above, shouldn't engine placement be pretty damn close to where I need it - left/right/forward/back? Things look pretty good, but the little bit that I am off here and there I can't envision how to correct for.

It seems that I'm tilted up on PS by 2* (would should be easy enough to fix by welding one mount up just a bit)

Question 1 . The mounts don't have all the contact that I think they should. I could flip them, but is it bad to have one mount like a 'U' and the other like a table? I wasn't sure which was would work best so I did one of each - maybe I just picked the wrong way on each side????:whoops:.

DRIVER'S SIDE

PASS

And it's the passenger side that needs to go up


Question 2 . I've see that 4-degrees up (at front) is optimal. HOW the .... do I achieve this? Is it just the twist of the motor mounts that will pitch the engine forward a bit?

Again, given that I have a stock transmission crossmember I don't see that I can raise the rear of the engine somehow, and achieve ~4*, without causing binding between eng and transmission...

Last question. It feels to me like Chevy wants something additional bolted to these holes at the bottom of their oil pan (they call it a structural pan or something...).

But there's nothing on the Mark's that lines up. All the attachment between engine and Adaptor/Bellhousing is above the starter/midline. Is this ok???

Thanks to anyone who has put up with this 'War and Peace' post - doubly if you can offer me some advice!!

Best regards,
Travis.-

 

[M1A1cruiser]

Oh yeah, stand by for me to NOT post pictures of my poorly welded scab plates and motor mounts.

 

[djawahir]

I think the bolt holes on the adapter are there because the Mark's was made to fit a few different engine blocks. Mine is the same way. I've got a few holes to nowhere...It's not a clean union between the block and the Mark's adapter. It makes me wonder about water and dirt etc. getting through the nooks and crannies...

I also couldn't see how to change the angle of the engine too much. With the tranny on the crossmember bolted up, you've already limited a lot of the mounting options. Maybe someone else can chime in here.

Everything else looks good. Keep up the good work!

 

[scrapdaddy]

Travis,

What's wrong with adjusting the rear crossmember, alittle, to correct to angle.

Hurry up and figure this out, because I'm three steps behind!

 

[M1A1cruiser]

Ron,
I may do that for angle (transmission crossmember=rear crossmember?, just want to make sure I'm not mixing terms and/or missing a part) - it just doesn't seem like I should NEED to. However putting an entire new power plant in something and mating it to a different transmission takes adaptation I guess right!

I'm gonna pick up a floor jack today (can you believe I've gotten this far without one? it's been ugly at times) and try to lift at the adaptor/rear of block and see how that does me for angle. I've still gotta measure placement under the hood so it's not done.

Any thoughts on aligning the mounts to the frame rails better. Again, I just don't understand HOW they're not symmetrical - maybe need some alignment, but they should be ABOUT the same...

More to follow.

TDC.-

 

[M1A1cruiser]

Tempting

Can I tell ya' how badly I want to just zap these mounts right to the frame and be done with this

Instead I'll take the entire thing back out, scab plates, fit again, weld mounts, take out again, dip and coat frame, work body, etc, etc, etc.

But that's the fun of it isn't it....oh, yeah, there's the part

Putting a fender, rad support and hood on helped mightily on positioning. My mounts will be 'upside down' - I've seen some guys either way - but I guess getting a good fit is the only answer.

Looks like the rad & fan will be fine - I'll build a new shroud.

An imaginary line from front diff to rear doesn't go directly through the output flanges of the t-case. OPINIONS??? Aren't the u-joints for that?

I think I've cracked it and am pretty excited. The L/R is good, angles are good, shift levers don't hang up, exhaust will clear everything, only about 1" under the hood...

Those with experience please send comments or corrections if you see stuff I have missed.

I'm almost to the point where I might be able to answer a question for others on this board instead of just bumbling blindly.

Best,
Trav.-

 

[dbleon]

Looking good brother!!!!

Question: how does your rad sit so low??

 

[dbleon]

Oh, with u-joints, you want to worry about TOTAL difference between flanges. On a standard u-joint shaft you should be less than or equal to ~2 degrees for proper cancellation. so you can have lateral offset (ie. t-case flanges dont "line up") but that adds in angle to the equation.

I good way around that is DC drive shaft...

This can be tricky stuff for sure..take your time with it.

cheers

 

[scrapdaddy]

Hey man, you're not bumbling, anything. It's called thinking it through! Good Job. Just keep going, one step at a time.

Remember, have fun

 

[M1A1cruiser]

Rad

Miracle of modern science

That and my hurried work.

I didn't put it on the brackets (they're off for painting), I just placed it to make sure I had room to the front of the fan clutch.

Now that it is on the supports I can see that the bottom hose will be interfered with by the fan. I'll have to see if I can get a sharp turn out of the rad and then snake back around to the water inlet.

Thanks for the question as it caught something I'd missed sooner rather than later.

TDC.-

 

[scrapdaddy]

Hey Travis,

Question for you, what Corvette manifolds, did you buy. I see the 3 bolt flange, being used, also.

Thanks, Ron