I would have thought (had I been asked) that swapping a B engine/trans into
an A would have been a bolt in, but since I only have first hand knowledge
of B's I guess this isn't the case. From Andy's post this sounds like your
basic engine swap. I have a very good book (and some experiance) on the
subject of engine swapping, the title and publisher of which escapes me
(something like Practical Engine Swapping.) I'll check it this weekend and
post it later.
> I can't see how a tilt of 5 degrees max would be a problem. Manufacturers tip
> and tilt their engines every which-a-way to get clearance under the latest
> designer-inspired sheet metal. Also, of course, the car as a whole is unlikely
> to spend much of its travel time on a dead-level surface, so who cares if the
> engine _within_ the car isn't at the same angle as the car itself.
>
> I think one bigger consideration would be, as you mentioned, what sort of
> angle or contortion you're putting on your driveshaft. The less the better.
This is true to a point. The angle the driveshaft makes with the input of both
the transmission and differential MUST NOT BE ZERO DEGREES. The driveline
should be properly phased. This basically means that the centerline of the
crankshaft and the differential input shaft should be parallel in both the
horizontal and vertical axis but mustn't lie in the same planes. The harmonics
created by lining everything up causes driveline vibrations which merely
destroys the u-joints at best, and potentially the remainder of the drivetrain
in the worst case. The following is my feeble attempt to illustrate the idea.
______
Top view (______)
----------- | |
| engine | |a|
crankshaft cl -+---------+-> ________________ |x|
| | <-+-+- diff input shaft cl
----------- |l|
|e|
| |
Side view _____
----------- (_____)
| |
| | _
crankshaft cl -+---------+-> ________________ / \
|_____ | <-+-+- diff input shaft cl
\___| \_/
You can see from the diagram that moving either end of the engine without
regard for the other is not a good idea, however rotating the engine
about the crankshaft centerline is fine as long as you keep things like
oiling system, carb float bowl levels etc in mind. The most important points
are that 1) the crankshaft and diff input shaft must be parallel in both the
horizontal and vertical axis, 2) the u-joint angles not be to severe and
3) there be something for the u-joints to do. There are various methods
for establishing/measuring the diff pinion angle and the parallelism of the
crankshaft/diff input shaft. Without retyping the book I would be glad to
elaborate on these in case anyone cares and doesn't have access to the book.
Gregory S. Stier
Applied Computing Devices, Inc. Internet: gss@acd4.acd.com
100 South Campus Drive
Terre Haute, IN 47802
|