So i'm in the process of putting my engine back in and it doesn't seem like the transmission is properly aligned. The shifter control case is rubbing the right side tunnel opening




Should i be concerned about this? The PPF is not connected at the transmission and i have loosened all the sub-frame bolts (front and rear) as well as the motor mounts. In this state, i can pry the transmission to the left about 0.5-1.0", but it doesn't want to stay there, so i assume if i bolt everything up like this it will be in tension.

Add'l info: the driver side motor mount arm is steel and the mounts are Xcessive. The engine was re-installed with the transmission connected to the engine.

Any recommendations are appreciated.

 

chassis and subframe straight?

 

One of the first things I ever did to my FD was put in a short shifter. Mine was misaligned similar to yours, but not quite as far. I still had to be a little creative to get the bolts off. The car was 100% stock and the car had never been wrecked or taken apart. It only had 34k on it at the time.

Interested to hear if anyone has ever found a solution/reason for this.

 

Yep, no accidents

 

Perhaps when you connect the PPF and tighten up everything it will align better.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the Engine in these cars is actually in at a slight angle, passenger side being slightly forward which makes the shifter slightly off to the right. I haven't seen it this bad though. I'm currently running two steel mounts, oil pan brace, and poly mounts and I'm only about 0.250"-0.500" off center. You should be able the get the shifter bolts on and off with little effort. I would loosen the motor mount to subframe bolts and try shifting it around from there.

 

+1, mine look like that with the PPF off.

 

It actually seems twisted toward the driver side, maybe 1 deg. I do also have an oil pan brace and wonder if that in combination with the Xcessive mounts and steel arm could all be contributing (BTW, I tried measuring if there was any difference between the steel arm and the AL one and it seemed the steel was off about 1/4", but can't remember if the steel was higher or lower). I also have a Banzai tranny brace so I think i'll try to push on the transmission then tighten the brace down to hold it in place whike i tighten the PPF. Think I can get it over a 1/2", but I don't want to push on it too hard if that might somehow bind the driveshaft at the transmission or compress the oil seal.

 

It's hard to make a call unless you have the PPF tightened down. Doing so will pull everything just a little this way and a little that way, and small adjustments can make a big change.

The drivetrain is located by the diff mounts and the engine mounts. If you have bad/saggy/funny diff mounts that could cause alignment problems too.

I have a Garfinkle oil pan brace and stock motor mounts (both steel arms) and my trans is dead center in the tunnel.

Dale

 

Just make sure before you tighten things down that your bellhousing bolts are all tightened to spec. We discovered that a few of mine were loose when my pilot bearing failed, so just a word of caution to double check those bolts as well to ensure that you don't lose your pilot bearing down the road.

 

I agree with Dale.

David

 

Did you get specific mounts from Xcessive to use 2 steel mounts? Their normal setup requires cutting the bump off of the aluminum mount and using that modified mount. To compensate for that the drivers side mount is taller from them. Could cause your lean to the passenger side if you're using the taller mount on the steel arm on the drivers side.

 

From my experience they are all just a bit off since the engine does no sit striat in the engine bay but I think you can get it over a bit more. Make sure to do the right torque sequence per repair manual. Also you have to adjust the tranny heaight with a straight edge and micrometer.

 

Hmmm that may be it. Don't believe they sell a specific mount for a steel arm, but the drivers side mount is definitely taller.

 

^Do this. When I did my engine swap a few months ago, my shifter was off to the right by about 1/2" WITHOUT being bolted to the PPF. When I leveled the drivetrain as above, the shifter lined up just fine.

 

The problem was the motor mounts. The steel arm is different that the aluminum arm and Xcessive provides their mount for the AL arm. I contacted Rich and got a second passenger mount. The difference is nearly 10 mm



AL mount on left

That seemed to do the trick




It sits a little to the right, but not as bad as before, and seems also a little high, probably due to the oil pan brace and a new diff brace i just installed.

Oddly, the transmission pan seems very tilted




But the engine seems straight in the front (no picture of that).

Thanks for everyone's assistance getting this problem sorted.

 

what tranny pan cover is that?

 

Super Now from RHD Japan. I put it in because I ordered some other stuff from them and also because i had the tranny out and torn down for a new 5th gear syncro. I probably wouldn't have put it in if that was the only thing i was doing.

I am curious if it has any affect on transmission fluid temps though, but since i don't have a transmission fluid temp gauge, i guess i'll never know