Rick's V8 Fiero - Engine mounts
The transmission mount tack-welded to the cradle for a test fitting in the car. The mount is a 3/16" thick plate welded to a piece of angle iron that will be welded to the cradle once the position is confirmed to be correct.
The 2 pieces of the mount before welding them together.
Note to self: Remove plastic clamp before welding next time as the heat does nasty things to it!
Note to self: Remove plastic clamp before welding next time as the heat does nasty things to it!
The engine and transmission mounts were welded up from 3/16" thick plate and angle iron. These are welded to the cradle and then the engine/tranny bolt onto them. There are 4 mounts that were fabricated. The front engine one is the large U-shaped piece that bolts to the front of the engine and sets the height for the other mounts. As it is mounted in the Fiero, the engine sits transverse, with the "front" of the engine on the right side of the car. So sometimes I call this the front engine mount and sometimes call it the right side mount. There is the rear transmission mount (on the left side of the car). Then there are 2 other mounts, which are on the front and back of the transmission, as it sits in the car. The front one is a 2-piece mount which makes installing the engine onto all the mounts a lot easier. The rear mount is actually an anti-torque rod which will help keep the engine from rocking back and forth. So the engine/tranny is mounted in 4 locations.
This is the right side mount. The large U-shaped bracket bolts onto this to support the front of the engine.
This is the left mount that supports the transmission. It is kind of a stepped design since I had to cut down the original one to lower the engine, and I wanted to save as much of it as I could. As much fun as it is sawing 3/16" steel plate, I had had enough fun for one day.
Other side of the transmission mount shown above.
OK, we are still making engine/tranny mounts. This is the 2-piece front transmission mount. This is the part that is welded to the cradle. The other part will be seen when the engine is mounted back on the cradle.
Same mount, other side. Exciting stuff, I know.
The torque rod mounting bracket. Basically a piece of angle iron with some reinforcing. It's purpose will be seen later when the torque rod is mounted. I may not need this with all the other mounts, but I feel safer with it there.
This is the cradle notch. This is required to clear the transmission. A notch is cut out and then some reinforcing metal is welded back in. It can't be too deep since the suspension lower control arm mounts in from the other side and will hit this area. As it is, I ground a little of the control arm flange off to provide some clearance.
Engine/tranny installed on the new mounts, showing the torque rod mounting. The long, black tube right beside it is the transmission dip stick; may have to cut this down a little later.
The 2-piece front transmission mount. The 2 hoses are the transmission cooling lines, not actually attached to the mount, as it looks.
Who is that masked man?