here is the trany actually bolted to the engine, err, three bolts that is...


the izuzu trany required a little bit of trimming on the upper right side of the bell housing to clear the water pump manifold.


this is the area before trimming (from a different angle). this is the trans before i removed it from the duke.


from what i can see, there will be two centering pins and four total bolts holding this thing together. this bolt on the right side will need to be modified somewhat like the getrag/northstar mod. the other three bolts lined up.


hey will, here is the answer to the clutch arm question. it just won't work were it is! I think i can fab a new arm and set the slave cyl lower to match...


i was concerned that the tripot would not fit. luck was on my side... it fits but it comes very close the the oil pan.


here is the clearance between the tripot and the oil pan. i am not sure that it will work through the range of the suspension.

[This message has been edited by cptsnoopy (edited 05-11-2012).]

its been a while since I actually went out and worked on the car. I removed the dogbone mount from the pass side strut tower and rear cross brace. I am not too happy with the method but the pieces are removed. I used a small pilot drill to drill out the middle of the spot weld and then a 1/2 inch drill to drill out just deep enough in the bracket to remove the weld. sounds good in thought but I am not the craftsman my mind seems to think I am... The good news is that it ought to work ok. Since I want to leave the trany in its stock location I will be trimming back the pass side strut tower as much as I can get away with and then welding a cap over the cut out area. That will happen after I put together the coilover shocks to see how much room there is.

this is the rough finish after removing the dogbone bracket


this is the battery tray area after removing the tray


this is the remains after the butcher job...

[This message has been edited by cptsnoopy (edited 05-11-2012).]

Looks fun. I ground mine off with a 4inch grinder. Little to no finnish work after the brakets came off.
I plan to do the same thing you plan, when I do a N*. I will (plan) to use coil overs and then cut/reshape the strut.
As far as the stock Fiero mounts go I cut off the front mounting pad that whent under the crank pully and I cut out/replaced the entire frony crossmember that had the tranny mount on it but the 0ne Fiero mount for the left rear mount is the stock Fiero mount. I slotted the holes so it is not in the exact Fiiero location but it is close as far as left to right goes. But front to back may or may not be the same? I centerd the engine in the bay. I dont remember where it sat on the first trial fit but I now have two inches on both the trunk side and firewall side.

Have fun

------------------

Rickady88GT QuadCam 3.5 V6

[This message has been edited by Rickady88GT (edited 05-26-2004).]

Luck, Fate and Destiny are words used by those who lack the courage to define their own future

I used a 4 inch grinder on a small motorcycle trailer I put together last year. My wrists were sore for several weeks from the vibrations. kinda like tennis elbow. because of that i elected to go the more crude route of using the drill. I am hoping that it won't be too difficult to cover up the holes when it is time to finish the engine bay. I can't remember at the moment who posted a picture of their cradle with the forward crossmember cut out. but they left about 10 to 12 inches on the drivers side that still had the tranny mount in place. That person then welded their new crossmember all the way across from left to right and butted up to the forward edge of the remaining crossmember. It looked like it would hold up well. I am looking to do something along those lines, i think. Your original thought about not having the doner car is certainly holding true. I am waiting on the guy who sold me the intake manifold to let me know if he can supply the rest of the accessories that I need to fit the engine to the cradle. the big holdup now is needing an A/C compressor to see what clearance I will need for the front crossmember. i must have A/C out here as I am getting to old to survive the 4-55 A/C method any more. (2-55 in this car...) when i test fitted the engine/trans on the cradle and under the car, the cradle had the front motor mount cut out but the forward crossmember was still in place. this offset the engine slightly to the rear and about 1/2 to 3/4 inch toward the drivers side. so i am not too sure what kind of clearance i really have until i can cut and move the forward crossmember. this leads to Will's question. I am not sure exactly how much of the dogbone mount really needed to be removed but the portion that sits on the pass side strut tower was the first part that i ran into. i did not see a way in my mind to use the stock dogbone mount location so i removed the whole thing. once i get the cradle set up i will be able to see how it might work. i still need to pick up a coil pack along with alot of other goodies so i can see how they will fit. again, thanks for the good info. +'s sent

i managed to find an A/C compressor, not the correct one but close enough for checking clearances.
to keep the cradle the same width during the cutting and welding of the front cross member i used a piece of 1/2 inch all-thread stuck through the drag-link holes and double nutted each end. hopefully it'll be close enough. i cut out most of the front cross member and set the engine and trans on the cradle. i bolted the trans to the stock mounts and blocked up the front of the engine as level as i could. this time the engine is very close to where it will be after installing the custom engine mounts. after lowering the car over the engine, it appears that i will have just enough room after notching the pass side strut tower for coilover shocks. the pass side deck-lid mount support will be cut just below the upper bolt and down at about a 45 degree angle towards the firewall. this will leave just enough room for the driver�s side deck-lid support spring if i don't need to adjust it any tighter.

this is the 1/2" all-thread in place to hold the cradle at the correct size


this is the engine/trans sitting on the cradle after the front cross member was cut out. the part holding the trans mount remains


this is the other side of the engine and cradle, lots of room for the axles and exhaust (i hope)

[This message has been edited by cptsnoopy (edited 05-11-2012).]

i cut the pass side strut tower, approx 6" X 6". then the pass side deck lid hinge support at an angle to match the rocker cover.
i want to thank those who posted on removing the deck lid support springs with a tie down strap. it worked like a champ!

the car fit over the engine very well with one more thing to consider. the oil fill cap will either have to be modified so that it does not stick up above the rocker cover or I will have to cut the deck lid spring support out. i don't want to cut the support out because it is helping to support the deck lid hinge. i'll have to see what can be done with the oil fill cap. it would be nice to do what Rickady88GT did with his shortstar covers but I think these would be harder to mod like that. I noticed online that someone has cut in an oil filler cap on the middle of the rear rocker cover. i will try to do that also.

today's pics with the cradle bolts in...

here is the mockup. this is a rough idea of what it should look like after the motor mounts are fabbed and bolted in.


this is the pass side strut tower from a side view.


this is the pass side strut tower from a top view.


this is the pass side strut tower view from inside the wheel well.


this is the oil filler neck and the pass side deck lid spring support.

[This message has been edited by cptsnoopy (edited 05-11-2012).]