Karl Buchka
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2007
- Location
- Los Angeles
AndrewEG said:How much of a gap you guys got going between the highest portion of the back of the head and the firewall?
I'd say there's about an inch of clearance between the top of cam sensor and the firewall.
AndrewEG said:At the back of the head, I presume you guys replaced the brass hose barb fitting(that led to the heater) with an elbow fitting? Is it a close fit between the sloping firewall and fitting?
No, the stock fitting is still there, it's just got a brass 90 attached with a piece of heater hose. The slope of the firewall makes this possible.
AndrewEG said:Also, have you angled the engine a few degrees rearward help get the transmission in?
No, due to the size of the sump and the horizontal distance between the firewall and crossmember, angling the engine rearward actually makes it impossible to drop in. You have to leave the transmission and bellhousing off the engine and and angle it forwards to wedge it in. You can either leave the engine partially suspended with the hoist while you attach the tranny or you can do what I did and rest the sump on an appropriately sized block of wood.
AndrewEG said:Sorry for all these questions, just planning it so it's a turn key conversion that can be down in a weekend.
This was also my plan, but that turned out to be not the case. The best advice I can give you is to plan for at least two weeks of vehicle downtime to complete the swap. Trying to plan out every little detail before the fact is essentially impossible, especially considering it's your first time doing it.