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V6 crossmember fitment

P

pcmenten

Donation Time
Hi guys.

I bought the Jose kit and now I'm trying to fit the crossmember. I have a 65 SIV. Jose will be calling me at about 4:00, but in the meantime - my crossmember mounting pads have an angle on them that does not match up to crossmember supplied. Bend the mount plates on the crossmember?

I'm a little anxious to get this fitted up - wanting to see a little more progress on my project. I have cut the floorpan and before I weld it up I want to give the transmission and bellhousing a trial fit.

For reference, the bolts that fit to my mounting pads are metric 8 fine pitch.

Another question; are the bolts on the body metric/SAE or something else? Ace Hardware is going to get rich from me buying bolts trying to fit things up.

Thanks in advance;

Paul Menten, Vancouver, WA
 
bulldurham

bulldurham

Platinum Level Sponsor
When test fitting the trans mount/trans note the location of the trans tail. If it is high you will need to use a spacer to lower the mount and thus the tail, requiring a longer bolt. I don't think all conversions have had this issue but I know some have. Not a big problem if you know in advance.
 
V

V6 JOSE

Donation Time
Hi Paul,

If the angle of the plates doesn´t exactly match the angle of the boddy, just bolt it to the body where it touches the body, then put the other bolts in and cinch it up to the body. Others that have encountered this situation, have done it this way, and it posed no problem, since the difference in angle is minor. Sometimes when the flanges are welded to the frame, they can warp a little bit.

Jose


pcmenten said:
Hi guys.

I bought the Jose kit and now I'm trying to fit the crossmember. I have a 65 SIV. Jose will be calling me at about 4:00, but in the meantime - my crossmember mounting pads have an angle on them that does not match up to crossmember supplied. Bend the mount plates on the crossmember?

I'm a little anxious to get this fitted up - wanting to see a little more progress on my project. I have cut the floorpan and before I weld it up I want to give the transmission and bellhousing a trial fit.

For reference, the bolts that fit to my mounting pads are metric 8 fine pitch.

Another question; are the bolts on the body metric/SAE or something else? Ace Hardware is going to get rich from me buying bolts trying to fit things up.

Thanks in advance;

Paul Menten, Vancouver, WA
Click to expand...
 
G

Gitnrusty

Donation Time
Yes Paul, I had to spread my trans. cross-member a little to get a perfect fit. You may also need to extend the mount to the rear some to get it to line up with the Ford rubber mount. (See the photo in Stromb10 post of this mod).
As to the question of bolt sizes. Sunbeam did not use any metric bolts on the body. They are mostly fine thread SAE bolts.
The Ford 2.8 engine and transmission will be all metric bolts however.
Bolt holes in the Offenhouser 4bbl intake manifold along the valve cover surface will be USS threads.
Enjoy.
 
T

Tom H

Platinum Level Sponsor
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, I have never done a V6 swap, but I see no mention by anyone here about the wedges that go between the crossmember and the Body. It seems to me that that's what is the issue here. Without those wedges the 4 Crossmember mounting bolts will not properly line up and the suspension geometry will be off.

Tom
 
C

Chuck Ingram

Donation Time
Tom H said:
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, I have never done a V6 swap, but I see no mention by anyone here about the wedges that go between the crossmember and the Body. It seems to me that that's what is the issue here. Without those wedges the 4 Crossmember mounting bolts will not properly line up and the suspension geometry will be off.

What Tom just wrote is true.The wedges are for castor and the manual says it is factory set and ther is no adjustment.Well I will tell you Castor indeed can be adjusted. I have my own tool and at times it is invaluable.You may need longer bolts where the shims are at the upper A arm.Single shims are needed and added as necessary.
Click to expand...
 
V

V6 JOSE

Donation Time
What Paul is talking about, is not the front crossmember. He is talking about the transmission support crossmember that bolts in the same place where the stock Alpine transmission crossmember was. There is no relation between them. The stock suspension and it´s location is not altered at all.

Jose
 
P

pcmenten

Donation Time
Chuck Ingram said:
Tom H said:
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, I have never done a V6 swap, but I see no mention by anyone here about the wedges that go between the crossmember and the Body. It seems to me that that's what is the issue here. Without those wedges the 4 Crossmember mounting bolts will not properly line up and the suspension geometry will be off.

What Tom just wrote is true.The wedges are for castor and the manual says it is factory set and ther is no adjustment.Well I will tell you Castor indeed can be adjusted. I have my own tool and at times it is invaluable.You may need longer bolts where the shims are at the upper A arm.Single shims are needed and added as necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

This brings up an interesting subject. It's my understanding that modern radial tires, modern sway bars, etc. use a different front alignment, including altered caster. If there's a thread about retuning the front end alignment to suit modern materials, I'd love to know about it.

I am really enjoying hearing about all the tweaks that can be done to Sunbeams to make them perform; V6, T5, Capri calipers, tuned brake hydraulics, bigger wheels and tires. Very cool.
 
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