OK....Got some real honest work done on the cat today...
Rigged up the engine on the air hoist and cranked that bad boy skyward.
Sat the beast on the side rail and did a test fitting of the new engine mount.
I had given thought to modifying the new mount and using the original Camaro motor mounts.
An hour of fiddling with the mounts and looking at things and it became obvious that the new Trans Dapt mount was pretty good right out of the box....
Bolted that unit on the engine and then got busy getting the engine into the tub for the first time.
OMG.....SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET.
Plenty of room all the way around to get to things like spark plugs, wires, starter (Will need an access hole in the tub....make the one there bigger.
Got the engine sitting on blocks to allow it to be as low as possible without hitting the floor of the tub.
The engine mounts are very close to the original mounts that held the big Ford 391.
Got things spot on front to back and side to side...
Tomorrow I need to get the S10 2 piece drive shaft in the tub and see if the length is going to work right.
I have hopes that the shaft can fit in it's "stock" length.
That would save $$$$ and extra work.
If the shaft length is good to go then I will check the angles on the shaft to see if we are even close.
If need be the engine/trans can go fore/aft a bit to make things fit....
Once these items are in order the next thing will be to transfer the front engine mount holes with a transfer punch and then drill them.
I want to install a 1/4" shim between the end of the mount (4 bolt flange) and the tub.
The original mount holes are right around the new holes and the old holes can be drilled through the shim plates (Help add stability)
The old Packer has more damned holes in it than you can shake a stick at.....
Not sure what I want to do with all the extra holes.
Some are just going to get bolts put back in....others might get welded up ??????
Starting to actually look like something good is happening...
One thing that is starting to become obvious....by the time the engine is actually located and the van is mounted high enough to clear the engine and other gear....this bad boy is gonna be a tall beast.
I got a call today regarding another track.
We shall see wassssup with that.
Going to leave the old girl in the big 57" shoes for now.
Just way too much $$$$$$ and work at this juncture.
I can revisit the tracks later and worry about a narrower set.
The big FAT BUTT look gonna be cool.....
Just a side note.
Thinking about painting the inside of the tub a light gray (Silver) to make it easier to see in there to work on stuff.
Paint the outside of the tub and the frame FLAT BLACK.
With this color scheme any van color will look great......
Maybe paint the wheels all silver.....