Tornado Engine/Trans Lowering

[Andy Green]

Hi all,
I'm in the process of converting my Tornado chassis from Rover to Ford 302 engine. Having cut out the original engine mounts, the limiting factor on how far the engine can be lowered into the chassis is the two cross-members under the gearbox.

I'm considering cutting them out and then welding back a piece of 1"x2" tube below the tubes I've cut out to retain the stiffness. This would allow the gearbox to sit a further 1.5" lower, whilst retaining a reasonable angle on the CV joints

Has anyone done this mod before and more importantly, have I forgotten anything that I should be considering??

I've attached a currrent photo to try and explain this gibberish

Regards
Andy

[Miles]

Frank Catt of Wealden Engineering Wealden Engineering Development has done a similar modification to the GTD chassis. Due to the similarity in the chasiss designs why not see if you could splice one of Frank's rear sections onto the Tornado chassis to take advantage of all his refinements?

You will see in the attached photos that Frank, in his modifications, notches the rear horseshoe to allow the engine to sit lower.

[Paul40N]

Hi Andy,

I have had the engine and gearbox mounts lowered on my Tornado chassis, primarily to lower the centre of gravity and maximise the clearance for IDA Webers. I have managed to drop 2 inches but this also involved some surgery to the bell housing. I am using a 302 block with a Chris Cole bell housing and a UN1 gearbox. The surprising thing is that before the job, there appeared to be quite a lot of clearance around the gearbox, but when it is dropped the clearances get rather tight. You would also have to consider what sump pan you will fit as a standard height sump would require Tornado standard mounting heights. I shall try to find and mail you some photos. If you want to call me by all means, I am on the GT40EC club membership list or send me a PM.

Cheers, Paul

[Andy Green]

Thanks for the feeback guys, very much appreciated

Paul, I've sent you a pm

Regards
Andy