1980 242 t6

That lower brace hangs down really low. And that strut brace is far from a good design, I do really like the progress and project!

propav8r said:

Any 850 flywheel is going to be single-mass, and yeah, that's the right part number. I know of a couple out here...I could source one for you if you're looking.

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Thanks for the input. If you wouldn't mind checking into a flywheel, I would be very interested.
A new flywheel is $389 plus shipping.

propav8r said:

Nice job mounting the engine down low...how low is the sump hanging now?.

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The bottom of the Oil Pan is about 1.5" below the crossmember. I will either be building a skid plate or possibly cutting down the oil pan and pickup to be a little shorter than the crossmember.

propav8r said:

Another member on here is selling a T3350 I'm very tempted to pick up for behind my 5 cyl project.

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If you decide to pickup the TR3550, I can should be able to get you all of the dimensions for the adapter plate. (It cost me about $300 to get one made locally - over $100 of that is just the aluminum plate.)

2fast242gt said:

That lower brace hangs down really low. And that strut brace is far from a good design, I do really like the progress and project!

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I haven't tried bolting it up yet, but my oil pan hangs about 1.5" below the crossmember, so maybe the brace would help protect the pan.

I agree with you on the upper brace, it looked better in the pics. I am thinking of cutting the strut tower brackets off and flipping the bar to the rear. Then adding some braces to the firewall. I also want to use the upper engine mount to help stabilize the engine, so I am thinking of tying that into the upper brace also.
My engine mounts are very strong but are so low on the engine, I am concerned the engine may rock back and forth excessively.

Thanks for the input.

Update 01-20-2014


I decided I didn't like my passenger side engine mount , it was ugly and more importantly in the way. It is hard enough to R&R the engine and trans as a unit without the mount standing up in the way. I think for the final assembly I will remove the engine bay cross member just to keep from scratching everything up.


Here the cross member is out and I am redesigning everything to make more room.


Cleaning up the cross member for cutting and welding.


I welded in the two side supports and then added a piece of 1.5" tubing to span the gap. All of this was added before any cutting took place, so as not to warp or twist the cross member out of shape. when done, there won't be any open areas to catch road trash and water.
My thinking was to gain some room for the oil pan to clear the cross member during installation and removal. Everything clears just fine if doing just the engine, but with the trans attached there isn't quite enough room.


I then added two plates that can be removed and using my original side mount, I welded it to the upper plate. Then to brace that up (which is probably overkill) I added a piece of 1" DOM to the lower plate and up under the joint at the bushing sleeve.


Different view of the Passenger side mount.


Here is the underside, as you can see only one corner of the oil pan is showing. I think either a skid plate or a modification to the pan may be required.

I have also acquired a 2000 Mustang hydroboost unit and 1 1/16" bore master cylinder. I plan to switch over to this unit instead of my GM truck one I got last summer. The new unit is a little smaller and needs less modification to fit. The truck unit was going to need a couple of machined adapters and both the input and output actuator rods modified. I think the mustang unit will only need a bushing where the rod attaches to the pedal.

Update 1-21-2014

I made it over to the machine shop today and we cut my old rear rotors down to fit in the S60R rotors. I don't remember who's thread I first read about this trick on, but it sure works great!!





With the rotor cut from the hat the S60R rotor fits very nicely


Brake hat, Rotor and adapter all installed. As an interesting side note, prior to changing to this brake setup, I needed to cut down all of the studs or the wheels would not sit flat against the adapter. Now, it appears that everything is going to clear nicely.


Plenty of room inside the wheel.

Careful not to over tighten those tail lights or they'll spit out their lenses.

mavawreck said:

Careful not to over tighten those tail lights or they'll spit out their lenses.

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high quality stuff - huh?

Nice, your doing the porshe brakes aswell?

remote start is so nice on cold mornings. sooooooo nice. people give me funny looks when they find out i have remote start on a 240. people will give you funny looks when they find out you have remote start... and a t6

2fast242gt said:

Nice, your doing the porshe brakes aswell?

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No, I am actually using some 4 piston Bembo calipers. They were used on one of the Dodge Chargers during the Fast 6 movie.

swedishK said:

remote start is so nice on cold mornings. sooooooo nice. people give me funny looks when they find out i have remote start on a 240. people will give you funny looks when they find out you have remote start... and a t6

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I am looking forward to a few luxuries. I got most of the interior out today, so hopefully I can get the wiring harness out on Thursday and then start rebuilding/building a new harness.

1/23/2014

Transmission crossmember. I had to make the trans mount with a 5 deg. slope, to match the transmission. When I built the Engine to trans adapter, I needed the 5 deg., so that two bolts WOULDN'T line up with each other. If I had mounted the engine at an angle like it was stock, this would not have been a problem.






I think when I pull everything back apart to paint and powder coat, I will fill in the sides of the opening that provides access to the mounting bolt. For now though, everything mounts up nicely.

1/24/2014






Mock-up bracket for my rear calipers. Took about 45 minutes to make the first one, then I decided to make it in the digital world so I can cut them out on a CNC Plasma. That took me over two hours - guess I should stick to a grinder and welder. I plan to cut out a few of these from 1/4" plate and use 1", 1/4" wall DOM tubing for the spacers. If anyone is interested in a pair of brackets, let me know.

Nice

01/29/2014 -

Short struts without cutting, welding and HOPING the tube is still straight.

I'd planned on shortening my own struts, so I recently picked up a pair of strut tubes at the Pick-n-Pull. Also, in preparation for this, I ordered a 48mm x 1.0 pitch tap and it arrived today. After power washing (they still aren't real clean) I took one of the strut tubes and after about two hours I had it disassembled, retreaded and the threads chased clean.
I think the second tube will take about 30 minutes total, now that I know what tools are needed and have already made the chase.



Shot of my new investment, ready to go to work.


I marked the tap at about 3.25" so that I would know when I was deep enough to allow me to cut off at least 2 inches of the tube. It takes about 5/8" to screw the cab in place so anything over 2 5/8" would work. I am just not sure how much I want to cut off yet, and this gives me an extra 5/8" or so to play with.





After all the threads were cut, I had some clean up to do.


I then made this handy little chase out of an extra strut cap and a nut and bolt. Yes I know the weld looks like crap. I didn't spend much time (read none) cleaning the cap or the nut and bolt. I just dug up the nut and bolt from my spare bolts bin and turned the heat up on the welder.



I can use the chase to clean up the threads and then screw it in upside down (so the bolt is not in the way) and use it to clean the threads again after I cut the tube off. Just run it all the way down and cut above it. The bolt head is accessible from the bottom of the strut and the nut can be reached from the top.

When I am all done, I am planning on offering up the tap and chase to anyone who wants to do the same trick. I have seen some other loaner/rental tools going around and I think I would have to get about $15 dollars per user, so that I could eventually offset the cost of the tap. Anyone interested?

isnt it easier to cut the the threaded part off, then cut to desired length and weld the threaded part back on?

MadDog_945 said:

isnt it easier to cut the the threaded part off, then cut to desired length and weld the threaded part back on?

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Probably cheaper, but I can't imagine it is any easier. You have to build some kind of jig (even if it is only a couple of pieces of angle iron) to insure you get everything lined up straight. Then you need a welder and at least a basic amount of skill.

My way required a tap, a ratchet and a socket, thread the tap into the existing threads, ensuring you are straight in the tube, spray some cutting lube in the hole and start cutting threads. When you have the depth you want use a cutoff wheel or a hack saw and cut the tube to the desired length. No warpage from heat, no need for a welder and takes less than an hour.

In my opinion, the only down side is the high cost of the tap. Hence the reason I plan to offer it up for rent. Maybe I recoupe some of the cost, maybe not. Either way I have found yet another solution to the problem and I get to own another tool. (The reason I tend to do most jobs that could have been done differently.)

You should start posting bigger photos. I can't see ****.

AllisonCustoms said:

Probably cheaper, but I can't imagine it is any easier. You have to build some kind of jig (even if it is only a couple of pieces of angle iron) to insure you get everything lined up straight. Then you need a welder and at least a basic amount of skill.

My way required a tap, a ratchet and a socket, thread the tap into the existing threads, ensuring you are straight in the tube, spray some cutting lube in the hole and start cutting threads. When you have the depth you want use a cutoff wheel or a hack saw and cut the tube to the desired length. No warpage from heat, no need for a welder and takes less than an hour.

In my opinion, the only down side is the high cost of the tap. Hence the reason I plan to offer it up for rent. Maybe I recoupe some of the cost, maybe not. Either way I have found yet another solution to the problem and I get to own another tool. (The reason I tend to do most jobs that could have been done differently.)

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yeah.. ok.. you won

Neat 242 build...that Chevy is pretty cool as well.

As for the strut... a "normal" person would go out and buy a lathe just so they could single point cut the threads...more tools man!