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| How do you line up the engine when doing a custom swap? (Page 1/1) |
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chriswf
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MAY 24, 12:57 PM
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Assuming the engine your putting into ANY car, does not have the same motor mounts.
How do you line it up? How centered does it have to be? Is there a slight room for error?
Does the engine need to be tilted (in a FWD platform)? Or completely level?
What about in a RWD platform?
I have similar questions for custom mounted suspension. How do you know where to mount the strut tower and such?[This message has been edited by chriswf (edited 05-24-2019).]
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Egor
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MAY 24, 05:39 PM
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I had similar questions when I was doing a 4.3 Chevy swap into an '88 GT. I kept the same 3 speed auto because it was to be kept a daily driver.
Once the engine and trans were together, I installed new trans mounts and put the whole thing on the cradle. Since this is not a V8, I couldn't use Archie's measurements to align the engine/trans. The though hit me that it wasn't as important to have the engine straight as it is to have the trans and axles square and straight, so I used a straight edge to the cradle mounts to align the axle holes with the cradle. The center of the crankshaft is the same measured height above the bottom of the cradle as the 2.8 was and this should hold true for any other engine if you are using a stock Fiero trans. I tacked the engine mount to the cradle, measured everything again, then welded the mount permanently.
Here is a picture of the engine/trans on the cradle with the straight edge.
Hope this helps.
Egor------------------
____________________________________________
"Of all the things I have lost during my lifetime, I miss
my mind the most."
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Frenchrafe
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MAY 28, 10:45 AM
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Similar thing with my engine swap:
Got the gearbox nicely lined up, driveshafts etc...
Then "fitted" the engine mounts and customised those mostly on the engine side to fit the cradle.
Regards,
Rafe------------------
'87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!
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chriswf
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JUN 06, 01:52 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by Frenchrafe:
Similar thing with my engine swap:
Got the gearbox nicely lined up, driveshafts etc...
Then "fitted" the engine mounts and customised those mostly on the engine side to fit the cradle.
Regards,
Rafe
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Hmm, measure off the driveshafts huh. That makes total sense.
Is there a height difference you compensate for, for when the car sits at resting point? If so, how do you get the car to rest without the engine weight? Or do you just compensate for like 2 degree angle or something (like with transmission/drive shaft/differential angles)?
This is very good information, I've been reading everywhere on the internet, but FWD/Mid engine swaps seem to be the hardest to find information on. RWD is pretty easy.
I guess the people who know how to do it, just already know? So they never ask on the internet? And everyone else is too nervous to attempt it... ?
Anyway,
Thanks again!
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fieroguru
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JUN 06, 02:10 PM
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Within the fiero engine bay using a normal transverse engine/transmission it is hard to get a bad cv angle as you run out of room before getting anywhere close to 10 degrees (and CVs will run at higher angles).
The more important thing to check is for axle binding at full droop and full compression.
For longitudinal swaps having the differential 3-5" off from the wheel center isn't uncommon.
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