Big day today…
Finished front suspension bits (ball joints, tie rods). Still need to tighten and adjust everything, after the axles are in.
Played around with the exhaust mid pipe, confirmed that the flex joint, cat and new resonator can all fit in where the current Milltek mid pipe goes. Will need to cut the center exhaust hanger plate for clearance.
Will take final measurements after the engine and header are installed, and have this fabbed next week.
Pulled the transmission and installed OS Giken clutch. It’s pretty.
Installed oil pressure sensor.
Hung the motor! I’m getting pretty good at it.
Tomorrow, need to hook everything up, install new radiator, fill with fluids, bleed brakes and clutch, install axles, tighten up all the front suspension bits, and fire it up! Might put the bumper and wheels on it and drive it around the block…
Colin reminded me… I need to move my oil pressure sensor and connect via a hose, so the vibration doesn’t kill it. I have lots of extra AN lines and fittings, just need to get some adapters for it and I’ll move it somewhere before I wire it.
By the way, this was the easiest iteration yet in re-mating the transmission to the motor, after a clutch swap. Method I used was I sat the motor on a couple of 2×4’s laterally under the oil pan to raise it off the floor 1.5″ and hold it stable, and straddled it with the engine crane (so the crane tower was on the pulley side of the motor, and the legs and boom were coming toward me, I sat on the transmission side). Hooked a chain from the crane up to the upper outboard transmission mount hole on the transmission so it could just swing freely. Then was able to easily get the height exactly right and twist and jiggle it until the shaft slid right into the clutch plate, and the bell housing slid right onto the dowels. No drama, and no manual lifting effort. About 5x easier than the methods I had used previously.