Drivetrain Installed

[karlos]

.

Completed a significant milestone with the installation of the drivetrain last week. Almost looks like a car now, plus I've reclaimed the garage space where the engine's been sitting for the last year.

A couple comments and observations...


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55093&d=1466047096

Transmission goes above the 4” crossmember. Repeat as necessary until it sinks in. Even though I knew this to be the case, the angle at which the combined engine/transmission enters the engine compartment makes the transmission seem like it should go under the crossmember. Gotta pull that thing up and over before the engine gets too far back…

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55086&d=1466045750


Also knew I would have to futz around with the motor mounts to get the pins to fall into the holes and that was certainly the case. I had the motor mounts loosely installed to the engine block, but wound up having to loosen them even more to get them to drop in. All-in-all a pretty easy installation, though.

All in and cinched down.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55092&d=1466046915


I was also aware that the engine/transmission is shifted over to the passenger side by an inch-and-a-half or so by design, but it’s still kinda disconcerting when you look into the transmission tunnel and see things appreciably off center. The stubby driveshaft makes the misalignment pretty apparent. Anybody know the real reason for the offset? I’ve read various explanations, none of which seem to completely make sense. I know Ford designed the donor cars this way, and that FFR simply followed suit, but why did Ford do what they did? I’ve been told it was to: provide a bit more room on the driver’s side of the passenger compartment, to offset the weight of the driver, to line up the drivetrain with the pinion on the live axle, and to purposely induce an offset in the driveshaft u-joints as a way to prevent flat-spotting the needle bearings. Not sure if I'm buying any of those explanations...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55094&d=1466047640


I decided early on to go with a mid-shift conversion on my TKO-600. Replacement shifter is a McCleod unit (somewhat uncommon, I believe). Was concerned about whether the shifter would contact the side of the diagonal square tube in the MK4 transmission tunnel, and it doesn’t, but there is a problem that didn’t even occur to me: it contacts the bottom of the tube. At least it contacts it if you attempt to raise the back of the transmission to adjust the pinion angle. I’m limited to a shim thickness of about 1/2”; anything more than that gets the shifter and the frame too close to one another.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55088&d=1466045969


So my final pinion angle measurements show about 1-1/2 degrees down on the transmission and about 1 degree up on the pinion flange. I’m running the old-style IRS, so there’s no adjustment to be had at the pinion end. Though not ideal, I believe this is OK for an IRS setup that maintains a fixed position between the transmission and the rearend. Somebody please let me know if not the case.

Lots of conflicting info out there on how to measure the pinion angle, BTW. I don't believe the angle of the driveshaft itself is relevant, but a lot of folks do. Equal but opposite angles measured at the pinion flange and the crankshaft damper was my goal. I found that I got the same reading whether my angle finder was on the crank damper or on the top of the transmission. The transmission is a lot easier and the magnet in the angle finder sticks right to it.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55084&d=1466045464


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55085&d=1466045465



Continued in the next post, as I've reached the limit on photos in this one.

[karlos]

.

I also found I could stick the angle finder to the pinion flange even with the driveshaft installed.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55082&d=1466045463


Hard to see due to the parallax, but about 1 degree here.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55083&d=1466045464


Nearly equal and opposite angles, so I'm calling it good. Only other thing I could do would be to remove and offset the interfering crossmember. Too much work for half a degree.


Engine is a 351W-based small block 427 with the Ford Racing Z-heads (high port). Header clearance to the driver’s side footbox is tight. You can see from the photo that the plug wires are right up against the footbox sheetmetal.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55087&d=1466045886


Here's a shot with the headers installed. Hard to see in the photo, but about 3/8" clearance to the footbox sheetmetal. Note to self: add DynaMat to wishlist.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55089&d=1466046323


Even though it's fairly tight, was able to get a torque wrench on all the bolts. Used every combination of 1/4" and 3/8" drive sockets, extensions, adapters, widgets, and wrenches known to man, but got 'em all in. Can't say enough about the GP headers, by the way. Beautifully made, and fit was absolutely perfect. Highly recommended.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55090&d=1466046506


Finally, you can see the engine wears a Canton oil pan. This is not the pan that came with the engine, but one I swapped over out of concern for ground clearance. The Canton pan has a 7.5” deep sump, and sure enough it sits pretty much flush with the bottom of the chassis frame tubes. The pan I took off had a sump depth of 9.1”. Definitely the right decision to change out the pan, as the original one would have been way too low. Used a Canton 15-690 along with a matching Canton pick-up tube, both from Breeze. Seems like there have been some recent issues with Canton oil pans, but no problems here. Fit and finish both very good.


Cooling system is up next...

[6t8dart]

Pretty damn nice! :cool:

[DaleG]

Pretty damn nice! :cool:

I'll say!

[WIS89]

Karlos-

Great work! Everything looks terrific with great attention to detail.

Thanks for the pictures and inspiration.

Regards,

Steve

[cgundermann]

Nice work Karlos - looking good!

[2FAST4U]

Fantastic job!

[Vladik41]

I think this is all photo shopped, No one has a garage that clean!!!!! Good Job.

[chopthebass]

very neat work!

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations From The Dark Side!