Progress on ERA 753 continues. We were delayed somewhat by transmission modifications for the installation of a McLeod dual-disc clutch. We had to take the input shaft carrier off the transmission and have it shortened by a machinist to account for the higher pressure plate dimension on the dual disc clutch that I'm using. Those changes were completed yesterday and we installed the engine and transmission in the car last night. The FE engine was a tight fit going into the car. I got around this by removing the bell housing and all of the accessories (alternator, water pump, pulley, etc. in the front on the engine. Here's a picture of the engine going into the car.
Once the motor was in the car, there is a reasonable amount of clearance all around (although installation of the driver's side headers will be tight).
Here's a picture of the engine after the installation was completed. Note that we had to remove two sets of the injector stacks to create clearance for the engine hoist chains.
ERA's design really makes engine and transmission installation simple. The tunnel and carpets are easily removed which allows the bellhousing and transmission (its a TKO600) to be installed from the inside of the car. Here's a picture of the inside of the car showing the installed transmisson with the tunnel removed.
So today we're going to put the stacks and all of the accessories back on the motor and start installation of the clutch and throttle linkage as well as the fuel and
oil lines. I'll post some more pictures when we get done with those steps.
- Fred