Engine Trial Fitment
Got a fair amount done today. Motor mounts on, engine trussed up, bearings tight, rear brakes bolted up for real, bolts replaced with grade 8 in engine/tranny, and some other things finished up. Big thing was the first trial fitment of the motor. Notice slaves working in background.
The motor didn't fit exactly as I'd planned though. Initial trials indicate that the rear pan/panel will have to be modified to fit the 016 into the frame. The 016 "hangs low" and will need a fairly large cutout in the rear panel. Another thing that is faily clear is that the 016 itself will have to be pruned down. The webbing underneth the gear box is going to foul on the bottom of the rear horseshoe. I thought we could pull the engine/transmission forward enough to avoid this, but, that is impossible.
The half-shafts from the transmission to the rear uprights pretty much defines where the engine and transmission have to be. If pretty much in line with each other the front webbing of the 016, right in front of the round section for the differential and LSD, will have to be cut out. How much I'm not sure but will mock up and measure accurated tomorrow, as well and take good photos. I would rather not cut out anything from the transaxle, but, I definitely don't want to cut anything from the frame.
One could try and space the engine and transmission up in the chassis, but, that isn't a good idea. Besides, the RCR adapter plate also acts as a motor plate and is bolted to the chassis via two huge bolts. So, they dictate how low the whole assembly has to be, I'll get some more info tomorrow, maybe it won't take much modification. We made only a trial fitment today and didn't have a lot of time to tweak and think about it.
Other than that it appears that it will slide in nicely and has enough room. It'll be close on the firewall area but looks like it'll fit well. So, we're making some progress!