Quote: Originally Posted by ghettocruiser The problem some of us are having is after the motor is in... No clearance between the k-member and the pan. Doesnt matter what order you put the motor and trans in. The problem comes from pre-made motor mounts. Guys that build their own stand offs, can place the motor where ever they want (front to back). oh...and installing the motor and trans from below isnt just how they "do it on tv". Its how a lot of us do it...its the only way Ill ever do it. Not saying the conventional way is wrong... I wish I would have notched my k-member last time my car was apart. Or...I wish I would have made my own stand offs. haha. Oh well. Its fun pulling the k-member...right?? J. The reason I say this is because I used spohn mounts. They dont include inst. where to mount. Leaving several poss. positions. I just didn't think there is that much variation in k members . That's my .02 worth. But it does seem there isn't a "standard" as far as aftermarket frame stands so mabye thats a problem. As far as seen on tv I meant coming from the top down as a unit engine/trans.

Gotcha. THought you meant dropping body on the motor and trans.

My spohn mounts would only fit on one way though...thats weird that yours had multiple positions. I think I had to drill an extra hole for each mount...or one of the mounts. Cant remember.

I wish tubular k-members were proven reliable on the street...accepted stock parts, and were cheaper. haha. That would solve a lot of issues with the stock k-member.

J.

My Spohn mounts came with instructions, but no pictures. Here's my thread on mounts: http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/lt...ounts-ls1.html (Moving on to the engine mounts. . . (LS1 swap saga continued)) I only had to drill one hole, on the passenger side (not counting brake line clamps).

(Funny where this thread has gone, eh?)

The mounts are far enough back that you had to move the brake line to the back of the k-member. Where I first thought they should be was not the case or the 2nd or 3rd either. If I put in from the bottom as a unit 4 times till it fit I would have burned it by now. I would drop motor in from the top till you get the correct position . You will know it when you see it. Then install from the bottm as a unit. The back of the bllock is in the same spot as your orig. engine. If thats not the case trans mount or driveshaft will not be correct. I will look at mine tonight. Poss. some pics if I can. My problem now is no spark from 6010 msd. Now that I got the box I read you have to say grace and have all the planets in alignment to get these to work LOL. Just kidding I hope it's not that bad or I might drag it out to pasture & shoot it. About the k members I think there like alot of aftermarket parts not every manufacturer tests them and the durability test starts when "we" put the parts on our cars.

Wonder why Spohn didnt take the Stock K-member to LS1 pan clearence into consideration in their desgn. or wonder what they did in their test car ?

I am gona call Spohn and ask about this and what they suggest.

They do fit it just takes a little time. Like most "bolt-ons" they don't truly bolt right in place of another piece. I think "bolt-on" means they just use bolts to attach nothing more. Once you figure it out they do make nice stuff. But from what I've read they don't always include instructions in the box as mine did not.
The mounts are far enough back that you had to move the brake line to the back of the k-member. Where I first thought they should be was not the case or the 2nd or 3rd either. If I put in from the bottom as a unit 4 times till it fit I would have burned it by now. I would drop motor in from the top till you get the correct position . You will know it when you see it. Then install from the bottm as a unit. The back of the bllock is in the same spot as your orig. engine. If thats not the case trans mount or driveshaft will not be correct. I will look at mine tonight. Poss. some pics if I can. My problem now is no spark from 6010 msd. Now that I got the box I read you have to say grace and have all the planets in alignment to get these to work LOL. Just kidding I hope it's not that bad or I might drag it out to pasture & shoot it. About the k members I think there like alot of aftermarket parts not every manufacturer tests them and the durability test starts when "we" put the parts on our cars.

When I installed my spohn mounts way back when...there was only one way they would truely fit. Yes they would pysically bolt in in a couple different positions, but none were right. Mine right now are installed in the only way possible. My head to firewall clearance is how it should be...about the same as on the stock motor. HOwever..thats not what determines were the oil pan sits.

We're talking about a cast oil pan vs. a stamped steel, traditional pan. The sharp, squared off sump is what is causing issues.

Spohn probably test fit his mounts on their shop car, and it probably fit and worked great...or atleast with enough clearence. Problem is, and I keep saying this...no two cars are exactly the same. So if you build 1/4" of clearance into your test car, by the time you make all the parts and account for manufacturing tolerances, you might have zero clearance on 50% of the cars out there. Some might have more than 1/4" of room.

The problem isnt the plate that bolts to the k-member..its the straps. If they were moved only a hair rearwards, it wouldnt be a problem. But...then you'd loose head clearance by the firewall. Its give/take...and right now Im willing to give my k-member a notch than loose head clearance. And there is no way in heck my brake line would move around to the back of the k-member. It originally ran over the top of it...it now runs along the FRONT behind the steering linkage. If you were able to put your brake line between your oil pan and your k-member, either spohn changed his mounts, or you got a good set. haha.

Also...I had zero issues with driveshaft fit, or trans mount location. If I installed the mounts in any other position, 1) the motor wouldnt have even bolted in, and 2) everything else would have been screwy.

Maybe the mounts changed some since I bought mine? I got those suckers quite a while back.

Some illustrations. This is from my first swap. You can see from the bolt pattern that they are pretty side specific.



Here is a shot from the side. See how the strap is offset to the rear? Any other position would pull the motor so that the pan was in the k-member. You can see from the picture, that there is already hardly any clearance by the pan.



J.

Yes your mounts are diff. Mine are at the very rear edge and have quite a tilt to them. My first shot is approx. where yours are and the rear of the motor pointed at ws wipers so I guess we're back to the "bolt in" situation. Mine ended up being at the rear edge and would have sat on top of the brake line. That being said isn't something how these cars are built in jigs & to such tolerances yet no 2 are hardly ever the same.

HDon22s do you have a shot of your mounts by chance? Im curious to see what they look like. They are def Spohn pieces??

5.7... sorry for the tangent I have nothing to do to my car right now, and nothing to add to my thread, so I have to live vicariously through other peoples threads

J.

P.S... Straight from Spohn's website.

I can't get pics till weekend. Motor is in but I'll see what I can get. Yes parts are direct from sphoon I try to keep buisness as local as I can.

what is wrong with tubular k members?
racecraft has one that i am seriously considering and has lots of extra bracing.
i mean, where would they not be durable?
my only concern would be jacking up the front of the car from one.


sorry to get off topic again

This may seem like a funny question, but has anyone checked to see if there is an aftermarket pan that works? Next question is do the advance adapter brackets that let us still use the clamshells have clearance issues with the pan? I know they won't clear factory a/c..

Check out page 92 of street and performance, seems that their modded pan might work.. also it lists dimensions.. http://www.hotrodlane.cc/08%20catalo...talogMAIN.html like all things not cheap though.. truck pan anyone?

As promised, I set the relocation brackets and Sanden compressor back in place to see what it looked like. I just used one bracket, as it does a good enough job putting the compressor where it would be if the whole system was installed.

Looks like I panicked without reason.

From the front, with the hose inlet/outlet up:



From underneath, with the hose inlet/outlet down:



And, from the top, with hose inlet/outlet down:



Now I have to decide which system I want to use. Each has its advantages.

Sorry no pics motor is in to stay. The next time it comes out is for a stroker crank. Hopefully not for a major malfunction lol.

Not sure exactly what you're talking about there. The Trans Dapt plates that bolt to the block and allow you to bolt 3rd gen mounts (or any Gen I mounts, for that matter) fit fine as long as you aren't using the factory AC compressor position.

sorry, got my wires crossed, I mean trans dapt.. I was wondering if they have the same problem with the k-member oil pan clearance as the spohn conversion mounts..

Apparently they put the engine in the same spot as the Spohn mounts. V8Rumble is using the Trans Dapt plates, and he's had to notch his K-member.

Got it thanks, your thread has been very helpful for gathering knowledge, hope I didn't hijack too much.

Well... Saying that I "had to" notch it might be a bit incorrect, since I didn't even do a test fit before notching... I just read what quite a few others posted on here, & thought "better safe than sorry"...

It's entirely possible that the Trans-Dapt plates will require that you notch the K-member, but I won't be able to say for sure until I have the engine level (hopefully later this week). Once I have definitive info I will certainly post it here, along with appropriate pictures.

this thread has good info on motor mounts for sure exspecially with everyone sharing info.

57kid, glad the ac comp worked out for you. it looks great!!

but didnt u notch the stock k-member for the ls1 comprossor ??

I did notch the K-member. If you look carefully under the "Feb" in the first photo you can see the factory AC mount bolt.

Like I said, now I need to decide which one to use. I'm going to call a local AC shop to see which they'd prefer to work with. Need to have AC lines fab'd, might as well make it easier for them.

looks like u have will have a very cold compartment with 2 comprossors

But seriously the the upper one with the new comprossor looks good.

Advantages of the relocated Sanden:
New compressor
Easier access
Single belt with tensioner on the slack side
Disadvantages of the relocated Sanden:
Move weight up
In the way of the front of the engine (spark plug access, for instance)
Rewiring required

Advantages of the stock compressor:
Tucked in nicely
Has its own belt
No rewiring required
Keeps weight low
Disadvantages of the stock compressor:
More difficult access
Connector broken (arrived that way - apparently a fork lift "incident" in transit)
Need a special outlet manifold (or some really weird routing to reuse the 4th gen manifold/tubes for what will be custom plumbing, anyway)
Serpentine belt tensioner is on the tension side (not sure why the factory did that)
Don't know if the thing even works

Check the price of the compressors.. I know that with my vette accessories on the lt1 I would of gone with something different if I had known ahead of time that a vette a/c compressor is 400$ reman. That could be your tipping point for the decision.

A reman 2000 Camaro compressor is $60 more than a new Sanden.

I may have screwed up again. I got a loose set of LS1 rear disks, figuring they were PBR and the calipers mounted to the rear of the axle. Turns out LS1 rear disk calipers mount to the front of the axle.

This may get ugly. . .

I know this was a month ago but I'll put in my anyway.
When I dropped my crossmember I made up a couple "T" shaped rods with a threaded end on the bottom. They fit up thru the LCA's and into a slot in the crossmember. Turn them 90 degrees and the crossmember has a depression for them to sit in. Put a plate across the LCA with a hole for the rod and put a nut on it. It holds the spring compressed and everything together while you pull it out and work on it.

Oh geez, sorry to hear that man. I thought that I was the only one that stuff like that happened to...

I think I could switch them side to side if I could figure out how to make the e-brakes work.

Got some pictures of the rods or some pics of them in action? You've sparked my interest...

I didn't think I still had them but then I never throw anything away either so I should have known.



I just made them out of scrap. Looks like some old trunk lid torsion bars about 5/16" and a bolt welded on. The top of the "T" is about 1-1/4 inches across. I don't have pics of them in use but it was pretty simple. Just slid them up thru the LCA's and into the slot in the top of the crossmember, and turned them 90 degrees. Put the plate on and tightened the nut. The length on this was for a stock height car but even if it's lowered the spring will just extend a little and take up the slack.

Well, the melodrama may not be as interesting after all. I did another fit check of the original '83 rear disks, the right side mounts to the front. My first fit check was before I had installed the system, and I knew at least the park brake weight would have to go. With the weight out of the way, there's plenty of room (I'll just have to drop the LCA in order to get the bottom caliper bolt in). I'll need a heftier release spring in there to take the place of the weight.

Shouldn't have to worry about wheel fitment this way, either. And, I'll have plenty of brakes for what I'm going to do with the car.

The only reason the LS1 rear disks didn't work is because of my "alternative" rear suspension system. Many people have mounted them on their 3rd gens.

So, if anyone is interested in a set of used LS1 rear disks, they are available. Rotors, calipers, mount plates, caliper mounts, parking cables, park brake handle & bracket, hard line & hoses. I'd suggest new pads. Looks like the car they came off of had an axle seal leak.