[Damo]

I'm making a set of engine mounts to drop the engine about 50mm (so my 16v will fit under stock bonnet and I won't have to do a body lift). I was thinking about the gearbox mount, should I drop that by the same amount?

The two factors that worry me are angle of the jackshaft unis and clearance under the gearbox. AFAIK the input and output unis should really be parallel, so dropping the gearbox would be good. And on the clearance side I think the gearbox is close enough to the front wheels for that to be not a huge issue.

I think i'm going to go ahead and make a drop mount, I just was interested in what others have to say.

[royce]

can you drop it without the crossmember getting in the way?
I think it would all be ok, gearshift might need some work to clear the body though?

[Damo]

royce wrote:

can you drop it without the crossmember getting in the way?

The crossmember might get in the way of the driveshaft on full droop. I'll just have to see how that goes. I think 1 litre driveshafts are really skinny, maybe that would work?

royce wrote:

I think it would all be ok, gearshift might need some work to clear the body though?

Yeah would be similar to doing a 2" body lift so it might need a little adjustment. A short shift kit would raise it up a bit though, maybe I should do that

[Damo]

Hang on a sec, I don't think the crossmember is going to be a problem. The crossmember is BEHIND the box so shouldn't be able to interfere.

The driveshaft thing is a wash too, because i'm changing the height of the gearbox, not the transfer case man did I have a brain explosion on that day or what?

Anyway, it's all good coz that's one less thing I have to think about

[Pubic]

will the angle form your box to transfer case be any sort of issue?

if your dropping the box by 50mm will that increase the jack shaft angle too much?

[Damo]

Pubic wrote:

will the angle form your box to transfer case be any sort of issue?

if your dropping the box by 50mm will that increase the jack shaft angle too much?

I will increase it for sure, but I don't think it will be beyond the normal working range of the uni joints.

I could be totally wrong mind you, we'll find out soon enough!!!

[royce]

I kinda remember when I lifted my transfer that things actually got better cause the jackshaft doesnt run flat

[Damo]

royce wrote:

I kinda remember when I lifted my transfer that things actually got better cause the jackshaft doesnt run flat

That's handy to know. How much did you lift it? I have eyeballed it and it doesnt seem you could go too far without interfering with the body.

[Pubic]

as you know though, it may only be 50mm but if your jack shaft is only 300mm long you will be looking at approx 10-15 deg change from horizontal.

just cut a big hole in the bonnet!!! then all of your dramas will be gone. perhaps a custom walkinshaw style bonnet would look mickey mouse

but then again dropping the engine will also benefit you with your COG.

just another option i suppose.

[royce]

I went up about 50mm, enough to get it flush with the bottom of the chassis, I had a bodylift so heaps of room

have a look around there has to be a pic here with a sierra with driveline in but no body and I am sure the jackshaft points down to the transfer

[Damo]

Pubic wrote:

as you know though, it may only be 50mm but if your jack shaft is only 300mm long you will be looking at approx 10-15 deg change from horizontal.

If it worked for Royce it'll work for me

Pubic wrote:

just cut a big hole in the bonnet!!! then all of your dramas will be gone. perhaps a custom walkinshaw style bonnet would look mickey mouse

I must refer you to Monster Garage rule number 1: "When completed the monster must appear to be stock".



Nah seriously, I suck at bodywork worse than anything else, it is easier for me to drop the drivetrain than it is to make a bonnet scoop look good. And it ties in with my low C of G theme real well too.

[Pubic]

cool cool.

i saw a sierra with a big dragster style bonnet scoop looked pretty rude actually.

but your right.. if royce has done it before it cant be too hard!!!

just jokes royce.

im sure royce will only be happy to help you out.

[royce]

will you shave your head too?

[Damo]

[quote="royce"]I went up about 50mm, enough to get it flush with the bottom of the chassis, I had a bodylift so heaps of room

Yep ok, you would have no worries. I'm sticking with no bodylift so would prolly run into problems. Mind you, I think DROPPING the transmission and LIFTING the xfer would be pushing those angles a little bit too far...

[royce]

you never know it might just go the other way

[Damo]

royce wrote:

you never know it might just go the other way

Well, you never know huh. And it'd not like it would be hard to reverse. And having a flat belly is good! I might give it a bash

The 2 pics show a comparo of the stock bracket vs. the one I fabbed up. Now you have to remember that the fabbed bracket isn't complete, there is another part to it which bolts to the chassis which has 2 tabs. The tube on the bracket holds zook spring bushes and the bolt goes through the chassis mount and through the bushes. It will be pretty clear when I finish off the chassis side of the bracket and post pics of that...