Took carriage I built for transporting car to and from paint shop and turned it into a engine/trans carriage. Waiting on paint to dry on trans housing then hooking up to engine and then going to lower car onto assembly and bolt in.
I am basically running the same set-up (with the UMI solid mounts) and just a heads up, I would make sure you leave your k-member and engine mount brackets loose until you get your transmission aligned where you want it. Specifically, the shifter location. What trans crossmember are you running? I would strongly recommend the Holley unit as this was the only cross member I could find that finally got my entire drivetrain in alignment with the car. I fought this for the longest time and spent way too much money on trans cross members.
I am basically running the same set-up (with the UMI solid mounts) and just a heads up, I would make sure you leave your k-member and engine mount brackets loose until you get your transmission aligned where you want it. Specifically, the shifter location. What trans crossmember are you running? I would strongly recommend the Holley unit as this was the only cross member I could find that finally got my entire drivetrain in alignment with the car. I fought this for the longest time and spent way too much money on trans cross members.
I have the Hawks crossmember without any mounting for the torque arm. Using a UMI weld in dipped torque mounting because I’m running the 2” Hawks Stainless Works header/exhaust system. So the Hawks crossmember was the one suggested I use. Going to call UMI today and see what they say. So what issues did you have specifically and with which crossmembers? Thanks for the heads up.
Update: Just talked to Hawks and they say what I have is the exact setup they used on a 87 Formula currently in their shop and all fits well. We will see.
No factory assembled cars are perfect, and all vary quite a bit. So some parts may fit better on some cars compared to others.
Certainly there is variability and it only compounds itself with aftermarket parts (which are often developed and fixtured off OEM locations using a small sample of parts, thus exacerbating the effect of variation). That being said, be prepared to have nothing just align perfect. Some of my observed issues was with oil pan clearance, but with the holley unit I was able to more accurately locate the trans which helped rotate my engine in the mounts. It seemed far more precise than the hawks and BMR units. I wouldn't be surprised if Holley had GM drawings/math data, whereas most aftermarket company's reverse engineer their fixtures (which is not a bad thing per say), just might make things more frustrating come assembly time.
Talked to Hawks today. Had a issue with crossmember not fitting correctly. Turns out driver side frame rail has a bulge/curve built into it from the factory. So instead of doing some massaging on my freshly painted underbody, I’m going to plasma cut one ear off the crossmember and that should solve problem. Bruce at Hawks was very helpful and like Shifty said, some things just don’t always fit perfect.
I used to have one of those. Really hard to live with on the street. Smacked everything on the road, and sometimes smacked the road itself. Ended up cutting it out after a year and cannibalized it to build a custom torque arm.
You can see how low it is in the picture linked below (post #519). Can't express how bad it was to live with. It would be only a matter of time until serious damage occurs to the car when the bar finally runs up against an immovable object. Couldn't drive onto the alignment rack at the tire shop. Couldn't drive onto my own trailer.
I used to have one of those. Really hard to live with on the street. Smacked everything on the road, and sometimes smacked the road itself. Ended up cutting it out after a year and cannibalized it to build a custom torque arm.
You can see how low it is in the picture linked below (post #519). Can't express how bad it was to live with. It would be only a matter of time until serious damage occurs to the car when the bar finally runs up against an immovable object. Couldn't drive onto the alignment rack at the tire shop. Couldn't drive onto my own trailer.
Fitting and bending/flaring new brake lines to rear diff. Went with PowerMaster starter as it fit under Stainless Works headers. Still waiting for my crossmember from powder coat. Then car will have to sit for a few weeks. Having cataract surgery on both eyes back to back. No lifting, straining, etc. till I recover. Good thing is I won’t have to wear glasses again except for possibly reading. More delays. But that’s how life goes. Stay tuned.
OK. All eye surgery done. A few more days and then I can start getting work done on my car. Hope all are well, this China Virus(not a racist term), has got the world in a frenzy. Hope all of my fellow ThirdGen peeps are staying well, and don't get sick. Stay tuned.
Well, I'll tell ya.... I worked from home all last week, I've got a window office now, wore sweatpants every day, got 4x more work done than normal, ate nothing but fantastic scratch cooked meals, and lost 5 pounds. I've even considered exercising (still just under consideration though). Two more months of this and I'll be on the cover of Health magazine.
Well, I'll tell ya.... I worked from home all last week, I've got a window office now, wore sweatpants every day, got 4x more work done than normal, ate nothing but fantastic scratch cooked meals, and lost 5 pounds. I've even considered exercising (still just under consideration though). Two more months of this and I'll be on the cover of Health magazine.
Finally back working on car. Rebuilding A/C -heater air box. Blasted “doors” with soda blaster to remove old foam materials and replaced with 3/16” closed cell foam. Replaced heater core.
Works great. Tested all vacuum valves with vacuum pump, all holding. Just need to button up an that’s done.
Yeah now is definitely the time to change the heater core weather it needs it or not. Save you the hassle of crawling under the dash and cursing hose clamps...
is the foam you're using sticky back or are you glueing it down?
Yeah now is definitely the time to change the heater core weather it needs it or not. Save you the hassle of crawling under the dash and cursing hose clamps...
is the foam you're using sticky back or are you glueing it down?
Glued it using spray aerosol adhesive. All door foam is new.
Ok cool. I need to replace some of mine. I melted a little during welding cage bars. I was thinking of just that. Spray adhesive. Ill probably give it a go too. Thanks
Finished installing new fuel lines from rear to front. Stainless lines are a PITA. Had to reroute due to LSX swap and different type of crossmember. On and off several times to get it right. Next going to install engine/trans assy. Wish me luck.
Which valve covers are those? I am hoping to run the tall holley ones to clear my YT rockers but I dont think its going to clear the stock AC HVAC fan assembly.
Had to do some more modifications to the crossmember. PITA. Also have to make a spacer between it and the rear trans mount. Engine and trans sit a bit higher with the UMI K-member and mounts.
Well I hit a snag. Can’t get enough front to rear movement on the engine due to the front of the oil pan hitting the k-member. Currently have the F-Body LS-1 pan on engine. Looks like I’ll need the Holley retro one. The pan I have is supposed to have plenty clearance for the UMI K-member. NOT! Back to square one.
Well I hit a snag. Can’t get enough front to rear movement on the engine due to the front of the oil pan hitting the k-member. Currently have the F-Body LS-1 pan on engine. Looks like I’ll need the Holley retro one. The pan I have is supposed to have plenty clearance for the UMI K-member. NOT! Back to square one.
I had this exact issue until I bought the holley trans xmember. Problem solved. However, if you dont have a ton of coin sunk into pan baffles and crank scraper, than yes, go with the holley pan.
Well I hit a snag. Can’t get enough front to rear movement on the engine due to the front of the oil pan hitting the k-member. Currently have the F-Body LS-1 pan on engine. Looks like I’ll need the Holley retro one. The pan I have is supposed to have plenty clearance for the UMI K-member. NOT! Back to square one.
What movement do you need? We run the road race k member from UMI and don't have any fitment issues with the FBody pan.
Need to move engine forward but getting stopped by oil pan hitting K-member. Or is there some wiggle room on the K-member itself? I squared it up with the guide pins and bolted it in.
Oh, the joys of aftermarket parts. I ended up making my own trans crossmember and torque arm because of stuff like this. Well, I didn't do it, I paid somebody.
On the bright side, you're having fun tinkering in the garage in beautiful Spring weather.
Do you actually want the engine to move in the engine bay, or are you just trying to line up the trans mount to the newly painted crossmember?
I fought and fought and fought with my BMR k-member trying to get the Hawks trans mount to line up. Finally reversed things and took a die grinder to the trans mount and the bolt slipped right thru. I'm famous for 5 minute fixes that take me a month to figure out.
