Motor is in

Tom Howland · #1 (**permalink**) 03-06-2009, 01:26 PM

Well the motor is in.
Almost!

I made a plywood mockup of the motor and trans to check fitment.
Changing from Chevy to Ford makes everything different.

My biggest concern was the frame cross member at the pan location.
After cutting the plywood pan to accept the height of the webers under the hood it was apparent this would not work. I’ll take the cross member out.

The trans mount will need to be lowered and moved back.
I’ll also need a shorter height shifter located at the roll of blue tape. This weekend I’ll get the new motor mounts fabricated and welded in. It feels good to finally get into it.

The new 427W with webers.

TButtrick · #2 (**permalink**) 03-06-2009, 02:31 PM

Nice work. It seems that shift lever should be much further back if the engine is mounted as far back to the firewall as possible. What trans? 3550?

Got the Bug · #3 (**permalink**) 03-06-2009, 02:36 PM

Looking good Tom. I'll have to stop by and check it out some time.

Be careful, termites are the primary point of failure in that type of engine.

Tom Howland · #4 (**permalink**) 03-06-2009, 10:21 PM

TButtrick, Thanks. I'm using the center shift location because I don't like the forward bent shifter look. The center location lines up with the plane of the steering wheel which feels good. The motor is a couple of inches forward of the old motor. I had the car corner weighted with the old motor and there was too much weight on the rear. The trans. is a TKO 600.

Doug, Come on by. Yea, I was thinking I'd fumigate before starting it up. The plywood motor only weights 30lbs. I had it in and out 15 times today checking things and making adjustments. It's really made this part of the process easy.

Monster · #5 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 12:03 PM

Hey Tom,

I just put a couple of pic's in my gallery showing my crossmember mod and transmount mod.

When I put my motor in after the rebuild, I had added a canton pan which is bigger than a std. pan. I had to notch the crossmember for clearance as you can see. (note that the drain plug is about 1" below the crossmember, but the picture looks like it is behind the section)

When I went from Toploader to TKO I had to mod my transmount. It was pretty straight forward, however I did find that I needed to clearance the tailhousing on the transmission ( there is a rib on the bottom of the trans that I notched to keep the trans in plane)

Let me know if you would like any pics or measurements, my car is up in the air on my rack as I wait for my suspension upgrade parts.

Take care,
Mike

Dangerous Doug · #6 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 12:59 PM

Tom,
Don't know if you remember me, but we met at the Scotts Valley Nostalgia Nights several years back. I now have an ERA 289 FIA that I just got the SB-100 on in January. I'm doing some work on it now, but I'll be out terrorizing Hwy 17 in about a month. Heard from Got-the-Bug-Doug that you were doing some major work on your Cobra. Looks nice.
This Spring, I was going to see if Got-the-bug and any other coastal-Cobra guys want to start gathering at Seascape Resort for breakfast. (I mean, seriously, where would you rather be driving on Saturday morning, Hwy 101 in Silicon Valley or Hwy 1 near Aptos? Nice view from Sanderlings, as well). Interested?

Dangerous Doug

Tom Howland · #7 (**permalink**) 03-09-2009, 09:04 PM

Mike, thanks for the pictures. I needed to loose the cross member because the pan went clear through it.

The new front suspension is made of 2x2 and I have a removable cross member at the top of the shock towers to beef up the front.

The trans mount will move easy because it’s angle.

My problem today is the motor mounts are too big and too close to the frame. It's hard see but the stud is 1/4 inch above the top of the frame. I’ll search out a different size tomorrow. Thanks for the picture offer. I dropped the motor in today and it fits well. The bell housing hits the frame at the starter motor so I’ll cut away the bell housing.

Doug, Yes, I remember you. I miss Nostalia Nights, good cars. Every Sat. morning at 7:30 at Starbucks at the new Safeway parking lot at the top of 41st Ave has a bunch of cars, 40 or more. Yes, I’ve been watching your build. You’re going to have great car. Yes, I’d like to stay on this side of the hill. When I get rolling again lets go.