V8MiataMike

I should also say that you really need to get it fitted up with the trans on and trans cross member on to determine final mounting position. I shimmed up the rear trans mount to get it where I wanted it and that in turn has an effect on the engine mount shimming. Have the headers sort of bolted on too so you can see the outlet locations relative to the frame and brake lines, etc. You can also get an idea of engine alignment with how the oil pan in the front sits inside the K member (almost touching one side and more room on the other? How close to the forward edge of the K member? etc.).

MX-Brad

Wow, glad I'm not alone with that issue. It does seem that the engine needs to move to the right about a half inch. So I wonder if the rubber mounts are supposed to go a certain way. I have the drivers side one with the corner cut facing the rear and the passenger side facing the front. Maybe if I flip them around it would move things over. I also have the block mounts with the slots towards the rear. I presume this has to be correct.
I may have to give Martin another call. I feel bad for him having to deal with all my (and I'm sure others) stupid questions, but he always seems happy to hear from me anyways.

V8MiataMike

I "fiddled" with all the mounting hardware, swapping sides, swapping ends, a little shaving, etc. to get the engine/trans where it needed to be. And a lot of that fiddling was with the engine/trans in the car (which can be a bear - "floating the engine in the air" while swapping/adjusting stuff). You want to be sure it is where it needs to be prior to fab'ing exhaust. Otherwise you may be tweaking exhaust down the road too.

Martin is a great guy and super helpful. Passionate about the car and the conversion for sure.

MX-Brad

Apparently just a little more friendly use of the BFH is required.
Hammering on the tunnel? - MX-5 Miata Forum

I shall don my surgical gloves tonight.

MRM331

Did you space the K frame down at all? I've shimmed all mine at least 1/8, the last I did 3/8. Spacing it down gives you more clearance in the tunnel without bringing the pan closer to the steering rack (it's attached to the K-frame) and also buys you some hood clearance as well. The only down side of doing this is you'll need a set of '93 LE outer tie rod ends to alleviate some of the bump steer you may get from changing the steering geometry.

I was able to bash the corner of the tunnel in where that bolt is giving you trouble. It may be that the extra bit of "low" I got from lowering the K frame moved the point of issue below the internal bracing.

Good Luck,

-Jason

MRM331

That thread was a blast from the past. That's from back when us Ford people could post at M.net without every other answer being "You shoulda just used a LSX".

Don't be shy with the BFH in that area.

-Jason

Gator Bait

Well...ya shoulda...

V8MiataMike

I shimmed my K member down 3/16.

Mike

MX-Brad

I did make a cardboard template so I could make shims later, but I really want to try to avoid using any if possible.
Also, for future reference, having both rubber mounts with the angle facing the front will place the engine as far that's possible to the passenger side- only by a small fraction of an inch, less than 1/4"
Tonight I yanked the engine again, measured the different configuations of the mounts, clearanced the mount for the steering shaft boot, bashed the tunnel and firewall, dropped engine back in.....crap. Still not enough space for that bolt. At least I know I can keep bashing and that corner WILL move some. Getting closer. I have an hr in the morning that I can spare to do some more "fitting".

MX-Brad

Well that worked, I think. I was able to bash enough with the engine in and got the bell to fit. It's snug though, so when I pull the engine for the final time I'll force a little more clearance . I bashed so hard and long that the car on jackstands actually skated across my smooth concrete floor a few inches. I still need more clearance for the slave. Boy that's gonna be tight to bleed.
Tonight I should be able to fit the tranny and xmember, set some relative angles and test fit my hood to determine if I need to shim anywhere.

charchri4

MX-Brad

Tonight i did a little more bashing on the tunnel, bolted on the bell, and bolted the tranny on. Looks like I maybe tapped the holes for my slave bracket a little too outboard of the desired location on the bell. Will maybe have to slot the holes on the bracket a bit. Also looks like I short changed my shifter hole cut.
Laid the tranny xmember on but didn't time to install.

V8MiataMike

You'll have it running in no time now!

MRM331

Be sure to brace the slave cylinder with some bracing back to the lugs on the T5 and install a backup plate inside the bell where the bolts for the little piece of angle iron come through. The aluminum of the bell where the slave bracket bolts is not strong enough to support the slave without flexing (which will reduce it's throw).

-Jason

MX-Brad

Thanks Jason. I may do that. This is all mock up right now, everything will have to come back out for a little more clearancing.
So tonight I fit the xmember on. I loosely attached the tranny mount, slid the xmember into it and loosely attached the 2 nuts to the mount. I measured the 3 1/2" from the seams that is stated in the manual, used a jack to snug the xmember to the frame rails, drilled my holes, tossed in the bolts and remeasured. Yup, 3 1/2" still.
Now I only have paper thin clearance at the firewall/ drivers side head.
As far as making adjustments at the tranny mount, do I just use washers between the xmember and the tranny mount? guess I'll need to take the xmember back off to tighten the transmission mount bolts as I can't get a wrench in there with the xmember in place.
I'll have a few hrs to play with things tomorrow. How many washers is typical?
Any hints or advice is welcome.

MRM331

You're going to need a little more room behind the driver's side head. The movement of the engine during normal driving is going to make contact with the firewall when you let off the gas which is going to lead to an annoying NVH issue. Mark it now and next time you have the engine out smack that area back 1/4 inch with a hammer.

-Jason

MX-Brad

Planning on that for sure. Also don't have the block plate on right now, so that will buy another 1/8th".
The good news is, it looks like I'll be sble to remove the block mount shims. I added 2 washers to each bolt anticipating steering rack problems, but it looks like I have tons of clearance there.
Btw, you still have that driveshaft for sale? How much?

MRM331

It's in a box ready to ship as it has been for the last 6 months. $525 and it's your's. I'll cover shipping just to get it liquidated.

Back story for anyone interested:

I get a good rate on these because my drive line guy can get two short V8 Miata drive shafts out of a piece of tubing he usually only gets one normal Mustang shaft out of. Until recently he was fine with the second half of that tube lying around his shop until my next order, now he's not so I have to order them in two's. I make the least profit on anything I sell on drive shafts due to the fluctuations of the components involved (Ford deciding to build trucks out of aluminum hasn't helped). On one particularly bad sale I made enough profit to buy myself a Big Mac on the way home from picking it up from the builder.
At this point I'm very inclined to get my money out of the one I have and to figure out a better way to sell them in the future (group buys only maybe?).

I can send out an invoice tomorrow if you want it. Just send me an email address.

-Jason

MX-Brad

I'll have to pass on that, not in my budget. Will just grab a cheap 2" steel one for now.
Thanks anyways.
Brad

MX-Brad

Anyone have trouble getting the engine/tranny mounted straight? Front of engine is turning to the front passenger side, rear of tranny points to rear drivers side.
I had it straight before I installed the tranny brace, but when I slip the 2 bolts down from the transmission mount into the holes it ends up being out of whack.

Ford5.0

Try turning the tranny brace around. I think I read about someone else having that issue.

Gabriel

I was going to suggest this. If i remember correctly, the mounting point on the brace is not centered, it is offset slightly, installing it backwards would cause this issue.

MX-Brad

Tranny brace only fits one way. Thanks though.

I spent a few more minutes on it just now, and I think I might have to rethink my idea about placing the rubber engine mounts in their current orientation. If I put the mounts in the way I had them, the engine would slide back over to the drivers side maybe another 1/16 - 1/8" which is likely enough to straighten things out. As it is I am having issues with the drivers side header collector contacting the brake line bracket and the fenderwell. The engine needs to come down and over a bit. Also I put a few washers in the tranny brace to space the tranny up, But it looks like that may not be helping.

V8MiataMike

The frame to frame transmission cross member for me anyway definitely had the holes offset where the trans mount bolted onto it (it may have only actually fit that way as you said). rotating it 180 made a huge difference getting the trans over toward the passenger side. I also slotted the holes in the cross member a bit so that the trans mount would be as far to the passenger side as possible without hitting the exhaust pipe V section. Once you get the frame to frame cross member in I would suggest adding that additional bolt through the floor/tunnel area to stabilize it. Then determine the needed shimming for rear trans height alignment. I could move the trans tail up and down like at least an inch without the additional bolt in it.

MX-Brad

Well I second guessed myself and went home and looked again. I do have it in the same orientation as you do Mike- with the offset holes to the passenger side.
Also, are my eyes playing tricks or does the whole engine/tranny assembly tilt slightly on axis towards the drivers side? My engine actually looks straight, but the tranny does seem a little tilted.