Transmission Mounts, Part 2

 Basically I tossed my Transmission mount ideas away from the previous post. After looking at them awhile i decided I hated how the frame would have to be modified. Feel a little bad about the wasted time going down that path but my wife is undeterred. She encourages that we are just on version 2.0.

This time I made a bracket that mounts to the transmission then allows the mounts to be in the middle vertical. Much like most transmissions. This way the frame modification is not all that much. Implemented that solution and while I'd like to move to version 2.1, remaking the brackets for better fit and visual appeal, it works. The engine and transmission are holding the engine in the car.

I used the drive shaft laid in the middle of the frame to help align the trans in the car. Not a lot of wiggle room for the driveshaft. In the process of aligning it I realized how asymmetrical the trans really is. There is a lot more of it on the RH side then the LH side. Unconsciously I had been biasing it to have even gaps on each side and the tail shaft was maybe a half inch to the Left. A little more trimming of things and it all seems good now.

With that done the next goal is to make the motor run in the car. I lightly reattached the intake, fuel rails, high pressure fuel pump and coolant system. Since this is a FWD engine a lot of these things ends up at the back of the engine. Particularly above where the steering shaft enters the body (LH drive). After checking my parts car to see that nothing needed that space, a little more cutting of the body and the engine is in with those attached.

Things that don't fit:
-The coolant outlet is pointing straight at the steering shaft and is close enough that just adding a 90 degree bend to the hose isn't probably going to work. I will likely add a customized cooling tube to move the outlet.
-There isn't room to put the alternator where it was. At least not the factory one.
-The oil filter isn't even close to fitting. An oil filter relocation will need to be done. Sadly oil filter relocation isn't common for this engine.

Transmission Mounts, Part 1

 Next up on the to do list is the transmission mounts. Trying to finalize the transmission location it was a good time to pull out a drive shaft (or piece of a drive shaft) and use that to help locate the trans. Of course I spent too much time fiddling trying to get it to the "perfect" location. Which often turns out to not be the perfect location so I wonder why I spend so much time on it :-) Long story short.

Did a bit more clearancing for the transmission
Adjusted the LH motor mount so the intake (where it hits the hood) is level
Created some plates to weld into the frame for the transmission mounts.

The transmission mounts on this trans sit much lower than the triumph. So I have to move the frame mounting around. The mounts are also not symmetrical. Something I had noticed years ago on this style trans. Not a big deal when bolting parts together but fabricating the mounting surface at strange angles requires some care. I made the mounting plates then welded some scrap between them to keep them at the right angles. Then realized I couldn't get that into the frame. So made them bolt together. Will remove that once they are solidly located.

More to do on this.