Just wanted to show you some of the progress I've made over the last couple of weekends on my hooptie. My goal was to make up some motor mounts that didn't need to be welded in and since I'm too cheap to buy the bolt in mounts, I did the next best thing. Since I have never done an engine swap on my own, I was a little nervous, but the show must go on. First I needed some elbow room to work. Then, I spent what felt like an eternity mocking up the engine just right in the frame. I never realized how many measurements needed to be taken. This is where being too much of a perfectionist bites me in the arse. This took forever! I went to the local NAPA and picked up some mid-90's Bronco motor mounts that seemed to fit the bill of what I wanted. At $9 a pop, how could I go wrong! I removed the engine from the frame, installed the new mounts, and then began figuring how to get point A to meet point B. Since these needed to be removable, I would use rectangular tubing and flat plate. So, I started to make some plates to attach to the crossmember. I found some 3/8 thick steel I had lying around and cut out some plates, drilled mounting holes, and installed with grade 8 bolts. I started using some old cereal boxes to make up some templates between the rubber mount on the engine and the steel plate on the crossmember. More to come. Josh
There wasn't much of a distance to span, so I figured I would use some 2X3 tubing (3/16 thick) I had left over from a previous project to fit in there. I transferred the templates I made onto the side of the tubing and cut off the lower portion of the tubing, essentially making a U-shaped channel piece. Since the engine needed to be about 1/2 inch toward the passenger side, the driver side mount was made out of 3X3 square tubing.Here is a pic of the passenger side. Once I drilled a hole for the mounting bolt for the rubber mount to go through I welded the tubing to the plates. Not the prettiest mounts, but they are effective. Once I'm finished, I'll probably try to pretty up these mounts a little. Almost done! Lastly, I mounted the engine, checked for any suprises, then cracked open a cold one. For a rookie, I'd say it turned out OK. Now, time to mount this pig. Since the PO removed the stock tranny crossmember, I'm gonna try to make one myself...any suggestions would be appreciated. Josh
looks pretty good but have you tried to take the filter off yet? Put a NAPA 1068 or Wix 51068 on it and you will have plenty of room, thats what is on my 51 with the 302 in it.
Yeah, that's one of the things that I was scratching my head about during mock-up. I didn't want to mount the engine too high, though. I did find a shorter filter that works like a charm. Josh
Ford also has a Filter adapter that turns the filter 90 Degrees so you can use a full size filter. I find them on some Vans and 4X4's. They are cheep at wrecking yards. The Wizzard
The Jalopy Journal
