I have 2 86 GT's (one is a roller) the other has a good engine that I am putting into the roller). For ease I will refer to the car the engine is going INTO as red, and the car the engine came out of as black. To lift the engine off the black cradle, I used the hook point on the front head, and the top bolt for the engine shock on the backside of the block (directly behind the A/C Compressor). After I had the engine bolted onto the red cradle and attached to the red transmission, I tried to install the engine shock onto the red cradle so that I could proceed to put the cradle into the red car. But for some unknown reason, the shock won't go into the top part of the bracket (the part that mounts to the block). The sleeve that runs through the shock seems to be too wide to fit into the bracket. What am I doing wrong????

Pics would be helpful, but it sounds to me like you've bent the dog bone bracket. If this is the case, it shouldn't be too hard to straighten it back up. You could take a large adjustable wrench, close it over the side of the bracket that's bent and carefully pull it back into place. The trick would be to figure out which side bent, and make sure you only pull it in far enough to still have room for the bone.

I'm not talking about the dog bone, I'm talking about the little tiny shock absorber that is on the firewall side of the engine. It mounts to the top of the cradle and right behind the AC compressor on the back of the block. The spot where it mounts to the block is like 3/4" thick and does not appear to be bent in any way.

I don't have any "great" pictures of it, but perhaps you might try inverting it since it appears as though it may be a different size at either end.

It has a sleeve on both ends, the bottom is small and doesn't come past the rubber in the shock, but the top one has a sleeve that stick a good 3/8-1/2" out either side. The part that is baffling me is that I personally took the shock off of the block yesterday, and then today after getting the engine onto the different cradle, the shock won't go back into its mount on the block. When I went to put it in, the sleeve was at least 1/4" too wide to fit into the slot. I will have to wait until morning to post pictures, as it is too dark and WAY too cold for my creaky joints to be in the driveway messing with anything else tonight

Is the sleeve too wide on both sides, or just one? If it's just one side, you can slide it over until it fits.

Also, check to see if the sleeve is all one piece. Somebody may have stuck two shorter sleeves in there at some point. If that's the case, they may have drifted apart during the engine work, making the sleeve appear to get wider.

quote Originally posted by josh.rucci: It has a sleeve on both ends, the bottom is small and doesn't come past the rubber in the shock, but the top one has a sleeve that stick a good 3/8-1/2" out either side. The part that is baffling me is that I personally took the shock off of the block yesterday, and then today after getting the engine onto the different cradle, the shock won't go back into its mount on the block. When I went to put it in, the sleeve was at least 1/4" too wide to fit into the slot. I will have to wait until morning to post pictures, as it is too dark and WAY too cold for my creaky joints to be in the driveway messing with anything else tonight

grind it, the sleeve if it is really to long and you just don't have them reversed, or just at the wrong angle to fit or the other mount was wider. if we are both talking about the same thing. this shock came off the other block right? if it came off this block then it could just be twisted, the shock tube.

Steve

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[This message has been edited by 84fiero123 (edited 11-29-2013).]