Looks good. Be prepared to check for interference with the floor boards, expecially on the driver's side.
BUILD THREAD Rustier then I thought!!!
- Thread starter RabbitHoleSS
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Somehow I’ve missed all of the updates this month until now - I blame ….umm.. me.
I’ve cut a hole in the front crossmembers of all of our cars to fit a wrench in there with the nut siliconed into the wrench for the front motor mount bolts. I know that sounds pretty ghetto, but the hole is barely big enough to fit the wrench in there ( been 9 sec and 140 and it hasn’t broken in half yet hehe.) I felt your pain reading about your battle and I’ve been there and done that, hence the hole.
Onto the trans crossmember - NICE WORK!! You have overkilled it some, but nothing wrong with some overkill on structural parts.
I wish you would’ve gone with an aftermarket ECU setup because it’s damn easier than using a factory one, but more expensive. I definitely understand budget constraints.
I’ve cut a hole in the front crossmembers of all of our cars to fit a wrench in there with the nut siliconed into the wrench for the front motor mount bolts. I know that sounds pretty ghetto, but the hole is barely big enough to fit the wrench in there ( been 9 sec and 140 and it hasn’t broken in half yet hehe.) I felt your pain reading about your battle and I’ve been there and done that, hence the hole.
Onto the trans crossmember - NICE WORK!! You have overkilled it some, but nothing wrong with some overkill on structural parts.
I wish you would’ve gone with an aftermarket ECU setup because it’s damn easier than using a factory one, but more expensive. I definitely understand budget constraints.
How are you going to set driveline angle when you weld the mount tab on? There are two different height transmission mounts in case if you need the short one like I did. You might be interested in my experience. Post 307, then restarting at 403...
Post in thread 'Space City 1982 GP Build' https://gbodyforum.com/threads/space-city-1982-gp-build.55501/post-611653
Post in thread 'Space City 1982 GP Build' https://gbodyforum.com/threads/space-city-1982-gp-build.55501/post-611653
Thanks Hopefully I got lucky. I put the shorter of the 2 c channels on the driver side. Looking at pics of the g force, the humps look shorter. I think I'll weld the mounting tabs on higher to provide a little extra clearance. We should find out in a month or so.
Thanks. I was just worried about the transmission bouncing around under the floor. It's still lighter then my jegs crossmember though. I read about people cutting holes in the front to get the motor mount bolts
, but I didn't know where to cut. I was pretty close to dropping the lca but the spring loaded missiles up front scare me lol. I wanted to use the Terminator x max but at 15-1700 I couldn't justify it (yet) if I ever run FI I'll start by buying it. The only thing I'm worried about is tuning. I wanted to learn and do it myself but I'll probably take it to a pro instead of buying hp tuners. Still undecided on that.
I didn't know the difference in mounts. I'm glad you mentioned it. I'll go buy a mount to make sure it's right before welding on the mount. I was gonna set the transmission at 0°. I'll be honest I'm a little confused. I thought the transmission/ pinion had to be opposite of each other. Like say +2°on the transmission and -2° on the pinion. But do I really want my transmission facing up? Thanks for the help.
Trans should be slightly up and diff slightly down. Not 100 % sure but I believe that's what keeps U joints spinning properly and evenly. Honestly with the loose tolerances of these cars it's going to be a crap shoot. Get trans mounted best as you can and hopefully you have adjustable rear upper arms to help with orientation
You know that feeling right, when you realize it... So if I'm gonna show my success, I probably should show my idiocy.
You know which axle goes to which side? Me neither
I put a zip tie on 1 axle. Either I forgot to put 2 on the diff. Or it got ripped off(highly unlikely)
Guess I'm buying axles, I'm pretty sure if I put them in opposite of what they were bad stuff happens. Hopefully the junkyard will provide.
I'd say it's good enough. First pic looks pretty good, second pic looks like you could remove some shims from under the pinion. That'll move your pattern up the face a bit and a bit towards the toe. And then you'll have double check your backlash. But overall I'd say it's fine. Also, you're better off to look at the drive side of the gears for checking the pattern, not the coast side.
For your trans mount and pinion angle, you want your pinion pointing down 0.5 degrees (+/- 0.5 degrees) according to GM. Though I've seen guys run as high as 2 degrees.
View attachment 195247
You know that feeling right, when you realize it... So if I'm gonna show my success, I probably should show my idiocy.
You know which axle goes to which side? Me neither
I put a zip tie on 1 axle. Either I forgot to put 2 on the diff. Or it got ripped off(highly unlikely)
Guess I'm buying axles, I'm pretty sure if I put them in opposite of what they were bad stuff happens. Hopefully the junkyard will provide.
Put it in, if you can't get the c-clip on, it's the wrong one 🙂
I guess ignorance is bliss. When we put the Camaro together, the rear end we bought for it with the correct 3.42 rear ratio and three series carrier (it was from a Z28) had a bent axle. I just stuffed a used axle in, in its place. The used axle came from a rear end in Massachusetts that came out of a WS6 second gen Firebird. We bought it on eBay but just had the guy ship all the stuff for the rear discs along with the axles. I had no way of knowing which side was which and frankly, wasn't concerned. I just did a visual inspection and in it went. It's got around 7500 miles on it and so far so good.View attachment 195247
You know that feeling right, when you realize it... So if I'm gonna show my success, I probably should show my idiocy.
You know which axle goes to which side? Me neither
I put a zip tie on 1 axle. Either I forgot to put 2 on the diff. Or it got ripped off(highly unlikely)
Guess I'm buying axles, I'm pretty sure if I put them in opposite of what they were bad stuff happens. Hopefully the junkyard will provide.
Thanks. I think I'll do that then.
Tbh, I have no first Hand knowledge of damage being done by switching the axles side to side, but I've been told a few times to make sure I put them back in the same sides because of some force I can't remember the name of (torsional?). I appreciate the help fellas, I think I'll run them, they don't look very old and I'm pretty sure I put the zip tie on the first axle I pulled(driver) anyway.
That's good to know, I'll probably do more harm then good opening it up. I had an old timer look at the pattern for me, he told me basically the same thing. Said not to really worry about heel/toe and that it's set too close to the flank, but that it's better then to close to the face. He said if it was his he'd run it. He's also the guy told me not to mix up axles.
I'm finishing up the crossmember now. I'll update the thread tonight. I had an accident at work tuesday, so I was made to stay home the rest of the week.
I really appreciate all the feedback and advice. I can't begin to count the dollars and hours members here have saved me.
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