Blooze Own: An F355 Six Speed N* Build Thread (Page 70/126) Bloozberry MAY 23, 10:10 PM Thanks for your comments everybody... they keep me encouraged! I don't have a lot to report this time except that I cut and tacked the tubular braces to the aft engine mount after measuring everything six times, re-aligning the engine and cradle a dozen times (because I suffer from OCD), and finally committed them to the welder. Here's the aft engine mount (I'm very happy with the way it turned out): And here's the aft transmission mount. I added a small gusset to give it additional side to side strength: And here's what both look like on the cradle: For the front mount (not shown), I also needed to drill access holes in the bottom of the front crossmember so that I could slip a socket wrench up inside to reach the nuts that hold the bottom half of the rubber mount to it. No biggie, just thought I'd mention it. Next up is to bolt all the mounts and brackets to the engine and lower it back onto the cradle, then, hope that all my laser levelling and squaring up will pay off. bubbajoexxx MAY 24, 09:06 PM with all the work on the brackets I hope you will be powder coating them BlackEmrald MAY 25, 01:30 AM One thing I noticed on your welds is that you stop on the corners. I know its too late now, but you should really try to weld around the corners. It will make it much much stronger. When I weld a long bead I usually stop every inch and a half or so anyway, so welding around the corners is even more critical for me. Also, what kind of corrosion protection are you planning on all the fabricated parts? You should be thinking about internal and external protection. They may great stuff for the collision repair industry that is designed to replace the factory no-co, which is top notch. I'm not sure on brands, but I think 3M is one. Sage MAY 25, 09:01 AM Both good points made above^. That's one of the things that's great about this forum...through input from many sources (mind-pooling ) a project that was ok, can be made good, one that is good can be made great and one that was great to start with (like this one) can be made absolutly, mind blowing, jaw droping fantastic! Mounts look good to me but both suggestions above would make them even better IMHO. Again, awesome progress. HAGO! Bloozberry MAY 25, 10:58 AM Thanks for your interest Bubbajoe... to be honest, I haven't quite decided which way I'm going to go with refinishing the mounts and the cradle. Yarmouth Fiero suggested I get them galvanized, but I don't think it's really necessary for what's going to be a fair weather car. Powder coating seems like a better alternative, but then I live in the country and the nearest powder coater is about 1.5 hours away in Halifax... that'd be 3 hours return to drop it off and another 3 hours return trip once done. More likely, I'll talk to my local automotive "paint-shop-extraordinaire" and see what choices are available a little closer to home. As for the welding BlackEmrald, I appreciate the tip. It's something that anyone who knows how to weld, knows to do, but in the heat of the moment (pun intended) sometimes overlooks. For Sage, I couldn't agree more... I would not have ever dreamt about installing a Northstar in a Fiero if it weren't for those who did it before me on this forum. I gathered many ideas from reading other member's build threads, taking all the best from them and adding my own mix to what I believe is a continuing improvement of the Fiero's potential. It'll be exciting to see how future build threads will make this one seem prehistoric! For today's update, I assembled the three mounts to the engine and transmission, then set up the hoist to lower the whole assembly onto the cradle with the mounts taking all the weight for the first time. I was really happy with my estimate on how much the rubber mounts would compress since the engine sits perfectly level, and within 2 mm's of the total height I was hoping to achieve. The bottom of the oil pan ends up about 8 mm higher than the lowest part of the cradle, and I was aiming for 10 mm's. It's better this way since I can always shim the mounts higher much easier than I could have shaved the mounts if it had been the other way! Here it is with the wheels mocked up for fun: Yarmouth Fiero MAY 25, 04:17 PM Looks great Blooz. I can't tell on my phone but I assume the wheels are in the right direction. However, if your were truely OCD like me, the engine would be orientated correctly in relation to the car body which is out of view in this shot. ha-ha-ha Seriously, great job on the cradle Bloozberry MAY 25, 04:27 PM My tires aren't uni-directional, and nobody else except you knows where my car is in relation to this photo, so Yarmouth Fiero MAY 25, 05:12 PM Thorough answer as always Blooz. northeastfiero JUN 06, 02:11 PM Hi, would you mind if I used your hard work on the suspension setup on my build. I think it could work quite well with the extra space I have here is a photo of where I am at the moment. Thanks Carl Bloozberry JUN 06, 06:07 PM I remember reading your thread a while back, though I must admit I haven't visited it lately. It looks like a great, unique, build. If you can make use of my design in your chassis, feel free. For it to work properly, you'll have to try to match the locations of the various suspension pivot points, relative to each other, as closely as you can to my drawings. If you need some more details, just PM me.