Engine and gearbox - how hard to fit to car?

[xb-60]

Dan, the chassis is an all-aluminium alloy semi-monocoque....hence no access to the gearbox from above. The tunnel is open on the underside (see pic.) for most of its length and the crossmember for gearbox support is fitted separately, after the engine and gearbox assembly is fitted.

Which manufacturer? My car is a PACE 289FIA. PACE hail from Arundel, just south of Brisbane, Qld, Australia. The chassis is their design, and the body is a PACE-modified Bruce Chervenak body, reinforced with carbon fibre and kevlar, and modelled on CSX2323.

To my knowledge there only two PACE 289 FIA/USRRC cars here in Australia. The other one, a USRRC replica of Ken Miles' car, is near Canberra, around 800 miles away.

Here's a view down the tunnel....



Cheers,
Glen

[BJ's Snake]

I took the body off to do other jobs and dropped the engine in at the same time.









Cheers

[xb-60]

Well, I'm not going to take the body off now, am I?

Remind me, you had the gearbox and engine as one unit for fitment to the chassis, yes?

Cheers,
Glen

[BJ's Snake]

Yes mate, engine and gearbox together.
Raised the car as you can see to get my fat gut under to line stuff up and bolt cross member in. With the TKO600, had to drop the assembly a bit to get the gear stick under the tunnel enough to slide back to go up through the hole in the tunnel.
As for taking the body off, very easy as it only weighs 48kg.. The daughter and I managed easily.

[DanEC]

I would say you have at least a couple of options depending on what equipment you have and feel the most comfortable with. Being as your engine bay and transmission tunnel are so wide open I think you could drop it in from the top very easily or rig up a frame to mount the assembled drive train on and slide it under and lower the body down around it.

With a good hoist and a crank tilter on it you should be able to drop the engine/trans in hanging from a steep angle from the side, slowly level the assembly out as it's lowered and have to do very little jigging of the hoist side to side to get the engine in it's mounts. The front tire will probably need to come off to allow the hoist leg to slide under the car. At some point, unless using a second set of hands, you would need to prop the tail of the transmission on a 4-caster furniture dolly or something to hold it off the floor and let it roll back as the unit is lowered and leveled out. Once the engine is in it's mounts, the tail of the transmission can be jacked up to get the crossmember mount under it and get the bolts through the engine mounts.

Good luck.

[DesertMK4]

I used 4 friends. One on hoist, one on leveler bat, two at sides, me all over the place. I lowered the front end of car so didn't exceed lift height and reach of hoist.. Rent or harbour freight. Must have screw type leveler bar. Cover parts you don't want dinged up (frame, tunnel front lip, etc.) Be prepared to stop and rethink or adjust. Have beer handy. Install was the hardest thing physically you have to do. I put motor mounts on engine, but loose so they can wiggle.

[xb-60]

Thanks all for the advice.
It's nice to have options
It will be another month or so before I'll fit the engine and trans. I'll post pics.

Cheers,
Glen

[CHANMADD]

It seems that with the amount of trepidation here, you should get help.

[1795]

Originally Posted by xb-60

Thanks all for the advice.
It's nice to have options
It will be another month or so before I'll fit the engine and trans. I'll post pics.

Cheers
Glen

Glen,

Another month or so! We want results now You get off that couch and get your butt in that garage right now mister.

Cheers,

Jim

[Alfa02]

I agree with Mister. Jim, we have nothing better to do, then watch the motor & trans get installed in the car Cheers TommyRot Hey will you be so kind to flip my picture on the "Sunbrust Post, Please oh Please

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by Alfa02

I agree with Mister. Jim, we have nothing better to do, then watch the motor & trans get installed in the car Cheers TommyRot Hey will you be so kind to flip my picture on the "Sunbrust Post, Please oh Please

Tom, is that post #28, dated 12-24-2017, 11:14 AM ? It all looks OK to me. If I'm looking at the wrong one...not the first time

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by CHANMADD

It seems that with the amount of trepidation here, you should get help.

Ouch...trepidation...?
Just forward planning so I'm good to go on the day. Some work yet to be done on the engine, so not ready for a little while yet before I need to assemble the hoist

Cheers,
Glen

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by 1795

Glen,

Another month or so! We want results now You get off that couch and get your butt in that garage right now mister.

Cheers,

Jim

Jim - it's cold in the garage. It's wet outside. It's Sunday.