The car is actually surprisingly heavy, although I think that the other guys weren't really lifting their share of the weight. It's very exciting to see it on the floor and it's now a lot easier to get my clothes out of the chests of drawers too :)
Anyway, after I shooed everyone out of the garage, I set about getting everything ready for engine installation.
First up, the gearbox (MT75):
- New pivot fitted
- Male spade connectors fitted to the reverse light switch
- Dextron III fluid added - finding info on this was tricky, but the box takes 1.2 litres of fluid and you put it into the hole marked by 'A' on this pic Once the fluid is in, it's good for the life of the box, hence there's no info in Hayne's or nearly anywhere else. The easy way fill to the correct level is to pour oil into the filling hole until it comes back out when the box is in its normal fitted position (i.e. horizontal!)
- Mounting bracket fitted - the bolts supplied with the bracket were much too short, so I bought some longer ones which would fit through the bracket and the lock nuts. Too short:
Working on my own was hard! But, advice from Simon @GBS was to fit the gearbox first followed by the engine.
I found it easiest to use a length of rope between the chassis members at the rear of the engine bay to support the front end of the gearbox whilst the rear end rested on the chassis mounting point.
Next was some minor engine prep:
- Spigot bearing fitted. I did this without removing the clutch by carefully feeding the bearing through the centre of the clutch on the end of a small socket and then hitting it as hard as I could with a large hammer. Actually, a few gentle taps was all it needed, but it doesn't sound as manly.
- Locating dowels fitted to the engine block. There are 2 and the go into the block in the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock position. I used a threaded rod and nut to pull them in straight.
There's a detent in the block to stop them in the correct location:
Because I don't have an engine hoist, I made a wooden bridge and used a chain hoist to raise the engine. I positioned the car under the engine and lowered away:
The pic above shows the rope supporting the front of the gearbox and masking tape on the mounting plates in the chassis.
Several things need to be done before the mounting holes are drilled:
- Prop shaft connected to gearbox flange
- Engine connected to gearbox
- Engine aligned with centre of chassis
Further advice from Simon was to ensure that no undue force is used to pull the engine to the gearbox. This was the single most awkward part without any assistance. But it is possible... ...just!
It is important that the chassis does not bear any engine weight when the mounting holes are drilled. I opted for the 8mm drill from the outset, drilling straight through the engine mount and the mounting plate. After each hole was drilled, I inserted a bolt to stop the mount from moving and ensure that all of the bolts would fit!
Fitting nuts under the mounting plates is also tricky, but I found the best way was to remove the relevant bolt, slide the nut under the hole using a finger and then screw the bolt into the nut. A spanner just fits under the plate to hold the nut as the bolts are torqued.
And that is the engine in place. Next job was to torque:
- The engine-to-gearbox bolts, I fitted locking washers to each of these
- The gearbox mount-to-chassis mount bolt (into a captive lock nut)
- The prop shaft-to-gearbox flange bolts, I fitted locking washers and used locking compound on advice of several other builders
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