February 1, 2009 - The plastic engine is back in the car.
I clamped a piece of plywood to the bottom of the framerails to ensure the bottom of the engine will not protrude below. And it's looking pretty good. It needs to come back 1.5" from the current position to put the shifter in the correct location, which will place the right head almost up against the leading edge of the footwell. I can make a little more room there if need be.
On the driver's side, the head sits slightly forward so there's more clearance there. But it does hit this protrusion at the bottom of the footwell. A bit of poking around revealed an odd thing - there's a significant amount of footwell in front of the gas pedal at WOT. Space you simply can't use. Is it left over from RHD versions of the car? That useless space is exactly where I need more room in the engine bay, so this is working out nicely. So nicely, in fact, that it appears very little work will be needed to stuff this giant drivetrain in place. Work beyond rebuilding the frame from the firewall forward, of course. But passenger compartment intrusion will be minimized. Amazing.
tags: footwell, clearance, engine |
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