Got the engine and tranny mounted, had to re invent the tranny crossmember to let the exhaust clear (holes further apart) and make a mounting plate for the ZF









Pat, how did you destroy the arms? Crashed a lot?

BTW Dave has the manufacturers website right

Marck

 

110+ into a wall hurts them pretty bad ,1/3 mile oval and 33 degree banking turning 7600 rpm with 26 others modifieds can get pretty dicey.

 

that's what I guessed I wasn't exactly planning on crashing and these look much sturdier than the ones from speedwaymotors...and they have athe GM balljoint pattern instead of the dodge screw in like the SWM ones.

 

Oh, BTW...anyone know if there's a longer driveshaft available than the 700R4 one? If not I will have to have one custom made. I'm already using a 400 yoke and had to make a special bracket for the shifter linkage to gain some clearance so the yoke would slide in far enough, I didn't like it sticking out a couple of inches and wasting spline surface.

 

Hey Twin...

What the....??? Well, what do you know....These pictures appear to be taken in daylight! (unlike the last set...)

Looking great! I'm interested to see how that A-arm setup works...

 

I take pics with a digital vid camera, it isn't too good at that. Here's a pic i took just now, does it appear dark also?

kind of the same in daylight (in the morning)



I can see it just fine and I don't have my brightness all the way up.

Oh and for people doing transmissions swaps, swapping the ZF isn't that bad a deal if you don't mind hacking up the crossmember, building your own mount (ZF has a torque arm mount) and hammering the hell out of the trans tunnel (widening it). It sure looks like it was meant to be put in the C3 by how well it fits the frame

If I find a D44 rear from a C4 (and I think I found one) I will probably build a torque arm for it so I will have a normal mount, a diff w/ pinion mount (mount must be fabbed) and the torque arm. that should be pretty stiff.

 

Well, it is darker than those on page 1 (and the same one on this page without the wheels), but I guess the sun is setting over there, right?

 

yup sun was already setting.

 

Looks like we should start calling you "Merlin2"

Nice work Marck.

 

It isn't a merlin block so it can't be merlin II

What to call it...hmmm....

Noticed I had a slight problem today, the pass side. turbo drain line is rubbing on the upper control arm (scratched my powdercoat..damn, too bad but I won't use these arms anyway)

Now I will have to reinvent the little drain manifold that bolts to the cartridge. It involves welding aluminium so I'm screwed...gotta farm that out For the rest, it all seems to fit nicely, good thing I don't have inner fenders since plumbing will be a nightmare as it is.

For those interested, here's my ZF6 mount:


The orange plugs are just caps that go over the long bolts that bolt the bracket to the tailshaft.

 

Lookin good

 

Looking good Twin Turbo. I see a mig welder in the picture with a green bottle??? Mig doesn't use oxygen or any part of it, just argon with a mix of carbon dioxide to better flow.
Are you going to lower the upper inner A arm mount? Now is the best time. I believe lowering this mount plus moving it back/rearward 3/8th of an inch is superior to extending the spindles.
You have me thinking that I should pull my frame again this winter and try this modification plus weld all seams, something I never thought about 14 or 15 years ago.
Anyway when is the project completion date?? I am anxious to hear some driving reports.
I know it is a long way off yet but how about a ball park figure.
Looks good Marck.

 

You still have the exhaust passing through the cross member. This can be a real pain at times. I closed in the original holes and made knotches under the crossmember to allow me to unbolt the exhaust in one peice.
l too moved the exhuast outboard alot to keep the heat away from the transmission.

 

Norval, it's a gray bottle w/ a green band, it is argon/Co2 but the color coding here is different. Pure argon is a green bottle here, oxygen is blue or gray with a blue band if I'm not msitaking. Don't worry, I'm using the correct shielding gas I get my bottles in good ole germany, they are much cheaper there and I OWN these bottles, in NL you can only rent them and that means a mandatory yearly inspection. I can have the 20L bottle refilled for less than 20$. Oh, it's 86/14 mix.

I am gonna lower the upper mounts, I need to because I have a slight clearance issue with the driver side turbo drain (damn). I've been mentioning lowering the cross shaft in most suspension related topics. I will probably not move it back, I can adjust the arm to get the proper caster so the stock pos. will do fine. Moving it further back means the cross shaft will be seriosuly digging into the turbo oil drain line, which is a problem already.

As for completion, hopefully this winter or at lest before next summer. In a couple of months (or hopefully weeks) I'll have anew shop with a thicker floor so I can isntall a 4 post lift and stuff. I'll be able to put the frame inside also (it will be 10mx7m)

I have the exhaust through the crossmember but I modified it, I chopped the crossmember in pieces and moved the holes for the exhausts so they are dead straight behind the downpipes. When it passes through it will make a bend to the side and exit under the door I don't mind that it goes through, I know it's a pita but I didn't want to chop up the crossmember any further. I was fed up with it, and happy that the tranny mounts perfectly on it now.

I have the body installed, the tranny is a VERY close fit, it just barely fits my severely modified tunnel. There's no room on the sides. .... but IT'S IN AND THE BODY IS ON YAAAAAYYYY






and the intercoolers mounted







One major problem I found... my hydrobooster doesn't fit, well the booster does but the MC doesn't. crap! I will have to angle the thing up by mounting it upside down but that means I have to move the reservouirs back, so a remote mounting it is then.

 

TT, where did you get those nice looking upper control arms? Did you make them or buy them?

 

Those are some large front tires. What are you doing to make them fit? and how big are they?

 

the upper control ars are from http://www.polepositionrp.com

The front wheels (there are no tires ) are 16x11, rear is 16x13. To make them fit I need large fender flares and the opening must be cut a good bit wider....something like this (exact same wheels)



That looks lovely IMO

 

What about on the inside? Do you forsee any rubbing on the frame?

 

Nah, I will reduce steering angle to compensate, I'm not going to try and park it anywhere in town anyway. This also makes picking a rack easier, a woodward or appleton will work perfectly, it's the proper length and they have limited steering angle.

 

Wouldnt having a reduced steering angle make turning harder? Or are you not considered about city driving?