88IntegraLS

Thanks, I'll look into them.

88IntegraLS

Update: transmission mounts are complete, but I forgot my damn camera again so I'll take pics next time I'm out there. I reused my TII rubber vibration dampers and fabricated a small crosspiece and two mount pads. Since I moved my engine / tranny back a bit compared to the usual FC 302 installation, the transmission mounts were a slight challenge, but I found a way to set up the right geometry with some simple angle irons, cut and welded in a particular way.

next week's job will be finishing the firewall valve cover / bellhousing bolt box.

sudseh

dude, please take pics and if you can give approx/precise dims that would rock

I'm doing the same conversion and don't really want to spend the money on a granny's kit because the engine is placed so far forward in the chassis.

88IntegraLS

I think I can trace out some of the parts and put together a few sketches of what has to be made. the only hard part of this swap looks like the firewall, which needs to be hammered back beyond its elastic limit; in other words some sheet metal fabrication will be needed to make the hole in the firewall for the very back of the engine to sit in.

sudseh

I actually was looking at my empty engine bay this afternoon, and I think a "remote" brake fluid resevoir is in my future.

88IntegraLS

Here are the transmission mount pieces.







Here is the modified firewall. *disclaimer*: I am a redneck and didn't care to make this look nice, and I didn't have much time to screw around with it. Using a wirefeed MIG welder to do sheet metal work is not the best way, a TIG would have been much better.



Here is the half circle shaped pocket in the oil pan, not yet fully ground down and beautified, but welded in:



Check out the fit with the steering rack in place!





This is the final fitment of the engine in the bay.



It looks very likely that the stock fan shroud and even radiator can be reused, but I'm not yet sure what I want to do for the cooling setup. Other than that, all that is left is the driveshaft, wiring, cables, and other goofy stuff.

digitalsolo

iTrader: (2)

<OFF TOPIC>

Is that an Edsel in the background?

</OFF TOPIC>

88IntegraLS

yeah, there are two of them that are here most of the time, and about 50 more out beside the building in the grass. My boss' dad has been collecting them for a while (he's 87 years old).

theantirotor

iTrader: (1)

lookin good. damn at this rate you could put 2 engines in there. one in front of the other.

Brismo7

iTrader: (2)

wow. just wow.



~Steve

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

Nice engine placement! You might want to consider some other method of mounting the trans. The cantilever tranny mount might be sorta hard on the body.

sudseh

I dunno... I think the tranny mount should work fine as it is... (the tranny in my vw vanagon is mounted almost the same way -- mount on the nosecone).

88IntegraLS

The cantilever arms that bolt to the existing tranny mount hardpoints in the trans. tunnel are kind of a guess. We're just getting into fatigue failure theory in school and analyzing the structure down there is a little out of my reach at this point. The hardpoints are anchored to a sheetmetal cup shaped base that is welded to the trans tunnel, so in theory it should be very stiff torsionally, but for how long, and with how much load is the question only an fea simulation could answer.

I'm in a hurry, and a redneck, so I get to take risks, muahahaha! Life sux in your junior year, lol.

Brismo7

iTrader: (2)

just a word of cautionary advice, i've heard of things breaking when mounted with no rubber bushings.

sudseh

:bump: for updates

88IntegraLS

This is my third year in school, probably one of the hardest semesters I'll ever deal with so I have been working 7 days a week on homework, studies, etc. Good news is that I'll have the next six months off, paid, with weekends / evenings free so the car will get finished.

Give me another month..... after spring break I'll be out!

sudseh

No worries dude, I'm in the same boat for my comp-sci degree.

Goodluck.

88IntegraLS

Lol, I just got offered a six month project management internship for a subcontractor for the Boeing 777 dreamliner project, man this is great. Time to put that education to work. I don't even have to relocate to an expensive housing market, and my car project will probably be closer to me than it is now.

I've got a 302 shopping list waiting to be activated!

sudseh

hahahaha, nice

Have you thought of working for BD at all? When I was at GMI, they were always looking for co-ops.

Merc63

Nice location! When I did my Ford swap, my car was already a successful autocrosser, and daily driver. I didn't want to cut up the firewall OR touch the crossmember, so mine ended up sitting a little higher. And yeah, the Ford 5.0 looks almost like a small V6 in the engine compartment...

That could look great. A lot like the one that won at the Grassroots Motorsports $2005 Challenge (which also had a modded firewall and had the engine lower like that).

Good job!

88IntegraLS

Okay, time to get some V8 action again, I'm out of school with nights and weekends off and it seems totally illegal having this much time on my hands.


Punch list for finishing the car:

1. Cooling System

2. Driveshaft

3. Engine ECU

4. Engine build

5. Tuning and benchmark 1/4 mile runs


I'll pull a jimlab and show you what I just bought to bump this pos back to the first page:



Time bank and yank, I want this thing back on the road. I can't take driving my worn out Taurus SHO any longer!

SuperRotorMan

why lol

Nihilanthic

Hey, while youre at it grab the fan from the Taurus for the rad youre putting in the RX7

88IntegraLS

I'm using the stock clutch fan from my FC or from an 89 Mustang. Efans are inferior for cooling, reliability, electrical load, and besides they are just gay like any ricer fad.

88IntegraLS

Okay, radiator installation went pretty well. It was the perfect size; basically I bought the biggest one I thought would fit.





It's bigger than the stock 5.0 Mustang radiator for height and width, and it's twice as thick. Pretty darn cool for only $180 from Jegs.