Getting started

To get started i decided to strip down the engine and see how big it was without the niff naff on it.
After i got it striped down i had to find out what the size of mounts i would have to make. So i made a device out of wood so that i could find out what the size of the width was between the two mount plates. This wood design was just one main beam of wood with a ruler on it and two sliding pieces of wood at 90 degrees to the ruler, just like a giant caliper.

With the width of the mounts known i redesigned the cross member to match the width and angle of the mounts on the engine. I spot welded it all up and sat the engine on them and found that the engine would be around 10cm into the bulk head and i had no room for the steering rack. So i move the mounts forwards by a touch to get over these problems which left me with this.This design helped alot with loads of problems i would of had. The bracket is very strong and the gusset will give it that extra strength.Although this moved the engine forward it still was not perfect so i had to cut away some of the bulk head to compensate for vibrations and cables so on..

Change of Plans

I have gone back through my measurements recently and i have worked out where everything is going to sit. To be honest it scares the life out of me. I need to move the bulk head back by around 20cm to make enough room for the engine mounts to sit in the middle of the crossmember. If i go forward by this amount i mill first make the crossmember unstable and second effect teh handling by alot and due to the amount of time it has taken me to do this amount of work i have done i have decided to take a new direction. I am still going to make a hot rod but use an engine that i have researched from a mercedes c200. This engine is a 4 pot 2ltr engine with lots of tunning options.The engine has lots of bonus features it is alot smaller than the v6 and is a canted over engine. This will still be a project and maybe when i have more time i will fit the v6 engine in, i might even be able by the time i finish to be able to pick and choose which engine i have in it.

Transmission Tunnel Part3

With the new tunnel cut out and ready to fit and the old tunnel out of the way i could make a start. First i made sure i had the right size gap for the tunnel and that nothing major would be in the way such as fuel lines. I tacked the tunnel in place and welded the tunnel in. I mad sure i did not touch the bulkhead where the break pedals and steering sit.Now all i have left to do is make the rest of the tunnel and decide on a new hand brake system which should not take too long. The reason the hand brake needs to be changed is because the handbrake would normaly go through a hole which sits level with the tunnel this means the tunnel has to change shape smaller back to larger. If you use an escort HB its a simple arm design.