Hi guys,
Finally got the engine home. Spent a few hours cuddling with it before doing any actual work.
As you can see, I was trying to marry the engine and the 01e after cleaning the gearbox. Still not happy with the cleanliness of the gearbox, gotta spend a few more hours on it and possibly paint it. Anyway, I got them bolted together however I do have a question for guys here that run the same setup. How many bolts did you fit between the engine and the adaptor plate and the gearbox and the adaptor plate? I think I got 5 through to the engine and 6 from the gearbox and that seems kinda flimsy. The tranny possibly has one or two more holes on the bottom end which I failed to notice since I ran outta workshop time. The plate aligns with the dowels perfectly so I think that's all good, but the rigidity of it all worries me.
Furthermore, one of the nuts on the oil pan prevents the starter to properly line up with the bell housing. I'll probably have to move that nut further away from the gearbox.
I brought some parts over to my machinist friend. After inspecting the welds on the rear uprights and finding they are porous like swiss cheese I decided to have him make me a new front plate. Also the five (?) mounting holes for the lower tie rods on the A arms meant that those plates are also out and another set of new front plates are going in.
It's nice to finally see some actual work being done apart from preparing the parts for assembly.
Btw, got the 302's big brother in, the 440 that's gonna live inside my '67 New Yorker from now on. The heaviest pig of an engine I ever saw. Luckily I now have the crane home too.
Cheers,
Marko