Project: LS1 Chevette

[jwscab]

yep, solid motor mounts are used in tons of race cars daily. yes, they are also harsher to the driver, but apparently tolerable. Given the tight confines, solid seems like a good idea overall.

looks good, nice fab work and re-purposing the leaf spring kit. I think I would have used 3/16" plate on the motor side of that mount, but given the motor output and vehicle weight, its likely perfectly fine. thinking about it, roll cages are mounted to 1/8" plates to sheet metal so yeah, no problem.

[DennisM]

Better make sure You have a well sprung seat then
The propulsion shaft is going to shut down at least one of Your kidneys

[romulus22]

I would have liked to used 3/16" but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to free material so I just used the 1/8". I could always gusset the mount with my trimmings to sturdy it up. May not be needed but why not. Can't hurt.

As for the prop shaft/ drive shaft. Depending on cost I will either be shortening and balancing the Camaro alum shaft or purchasing a whole new alum unit. There should be no vibrations there.

As for overall vibrations of the engine. I can't pretend that it won't be noticeable. But I'm not exactly shooting for a comfortable cruiser. The drivers seat will definitely be a Kirkey alum seat and probably some foam cut to fit with one of the gas station Mexican blankets as the cover.

[RC10th]

I had solid mounts in a 71 Chevelle with about 400 horses and I loved it. You got lots of feedback from the engine which was quite mild actually. It would be no worse then being in a poorly running car. You don't get any torque loss through the rubber mounts. Instead of the engine torquing over in the engine compartment the whole car torques over a bit.

I'd also think being a modern powertrain it would run quite smoothly as it is so comfort wouldn't change much anyways.

[biff85ta]

Northern

No one building cool stuff is ever close enough for me to come help. I would love a good weekend of swinging wrenches with a fellow gear head.

[romulus22]

I'm really only ever in the garage but a few hours at a time. Either that's about how much time I have or that's about how long it takes for me to realize I need something else before I can continue. Right now I need some heavy duty wire to hang the tail of the trans from the tunnel to keep it in place so I can jack the car up and see what I'm going to do for a trans crossmember. I got a good feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of floor work before the trans brace is even an option though.

Got the pass side mount made up today.

[romulus22]

Finally made the time to elevate the car so I can do the floor work and trans mount. This looks safe right ? This is now the first time the full weight of the engine and trans has been on the suspension. While its still missing some stuff from the engine bay, I can confidently say the stock suspension will suffice. The front end is currently riding higher than the rear.

[alien3t]

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/wood-cribbing-block-diy-for-raising-the-car-in-addition-to-jack-stands/

some peeps using 2x4's and added wheel stops built in.

looking good so far.

[romulus22]

Waiting on material for the floors so I thought I'd kill some time on what I could. What a pain this exhaust is going to be.... I'm starting here cause the 1.75" pipe are still on back order. And I kinda need to know where I'm going before I start. So here is the start of the 3" that the headers will exit into. I'm going big because this engine will get an overhaul someday.



Its going to be a tight squeeze.




Here is my crude photobucket drawing to explain what's going on. Ill start on the drivers side.
Blue is the header, red is the crossover pipe to the passenger side. 1.75" primaries exit into 2.5" header, 2.5" crossover pipe.



Crossover will go under the crank pulley and tie into the 3" pipe I made tonight.



The passenger side is a little harder to show what's going on. Especially in my junky drawing. The header will exit down right behind the rear of the engine mount into a flange I will be putting into the top of the 3" piece.




I would have liked to gone traditional headers or cast manifolds. But there is no chance that's happening on this car. Once its all finished up ill Paint them, maybe wrap them, and wrap the starter to keep the heat in check. Unfortunately I'm now on hold again until I get the rest of my order.

[jwscab]

What cha gonna do on that top bolt? Weld in a stud?

[romulus22]

There is a nut welded on the back side of the flange.

[romulus22]

Last nights progress, I ran out of wire halfway around the exit flange.

Before I started putting the flange on the exit.




Looking down on the passenger side. The pass header will bolt to the flange with the studs. The drivers header/crossover will come around and bolt to the flange on the right.




Off the car shot. Definitely isn't a showpiece but it'll serve its purpose.

[klavy69]

Cool project so far. The only piece of crude advice is that I would buy a new starter/solenoid and install before putting the final exhaust bolts in. Just looks like once you get it all together you pry won't be wanting to pull it apart...

Todd

[romulus22]

You're probably right I should just change it before I'm all done. Would save a small headache later. I do try and look into future problems though. Making room for a starter change has already been factored in. Might be a right squeeze but I think I can get it out without removing any thing else. It'd be cheating to do it right now I don't have the little bell housing flex plate covers on.

[LTO_Dave]

Cool project!

FWIW, I had Prothane urethane motor and tranny mounts on my AWD Eagle Talon and it was terrible as a daily driver. Removing the balance shafts didn't help, but you feel every vibration the drivetrain makes.