mitchberry

iTrader: (1)

any bright ideas about how to align the motor mounts??

everyone says "well the motor mounts should work no problem"

and.. well, they do, they are exactly the same, but no one mentions how the 305 tbi has offset mounts and the LT1 doesnt .


is there a tried and true method / measurement / formula pertaining to where to move the mounts ????

mitchberry

iTrader: (1)

dang.. i guess everyone's out wrenching on their cars today...

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

If you have the mounts bolted in the correct location they work just the same, you bolt them up in the same spot as they were on the 305 block.

novaderrik

yeah, just bolt the 305 mounts to the LT1 and drop it in.. the LT1 is just a new small block with a funny looking water pump and the distributor on the front of the motor.. all the mounting points are the same. they did move the passenger side mount back on at least the B Body LT1's to clear the AC compressor, but they did leave the regular old school mounting lugs like they used on every Chevy V8 engine from 58-99 on the block, so any regular small block Chevy clamshell mount will bolt to the LT1 block.

mitchberry

iTrader: (1)

revision::::

" but they did leave the regular old school mounting lugs like they used on every Chevy V8 engine from 58-99 on the block, so any regular small block Chevy clamshell mount will bolt to the LT1 block."

Yeah i have no problem mounting her clam......... it's fits like a glove.... they are exactly -exactly- the same clams

"they did move the passenger side mount back on at least the B Body LT1's to clear the AC compressor, "

BINGO....... That's where the issue is..... thanks Nova..

now i'm just looking for feasible solutions to this issue that don't require taking my suspension apart to get that mount off.

any ideas???



NOTE to people buying an LT1 for their 3rd gen....

Cadillac LT1's are offset....

here's the funny part though......

everyone says you have to either re-mount the AC compressor elsewhere using vette brackets, blah blah, or cut your cross member...

at the MOMENT, it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case. i had the compressor on there before i tried to fully put it into place, and removed it because everyone says it won't fit... but.... i'm fairly sure it will fit....

at least in this scenario.


HOWEVER............ it really doesn't look too likely that i'll be able to close my hood, the motor seems to be a lot taller, and is sitting notably more FORWARD than my last motor.....

I'm going to have to look at it a little more and dry fit my radiator n stuff to see how much room i really have, but i'll probably have to move the entire motor back a few inches....... i guess i'll figure out how much play i have on the drive shaft and go from there.


man....... technical issues suck...........

novaderrik

the stock old school small block mounting lugs are on the LT1 block.. in the same location as a regular old small block.. the stock clamshell bolts to it and it bolts in just like a stock 305. the AC compressor actually clears the clamshell by just enough to get custom AC lines in there.. but you will probably have to put a notch in the crossmember to clear the compressor if you are using B body accessory brackets.. otherwise just go to NAPA (or whatever your favorite parts store happens to be) and get an AC delete pulley.

mitchberry

iTrader: (1)

ok.. i think i just read something i didn't comprehend in your first post nova, going to check that out. but i seem to remember there only being 3 holes not 6... (meaning lt1 and old school mount locations)

but if there ARE, then i'll have to delete the AC.......... not going to happen in Texas.... i'll get back to you

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

Modifying the passenger side mount is to brace it to the mount, since it has a bolt location back there, you can clearance it to fit and not have to weld to it if you dont want the brace bolt, but its best to have.

You'll need to clearance the K member, whether you do it with a torch and a bfh, or a grinder/plasma cutter is up to you, but you'll need to make the space, if you dont have a welder the bfh method works, you could alternately cut it out and just leave the space, the thirdgen K member is pretty damned stout and should hold up.

mitchberry

iTrader: (1)

ok... i'm not sure how i read it the first time around, but, nova, you said that there were two sets of mount towers on the block, and i couldn't for the life of me figure out what you meant. I looked everywhere for them and could NOT find them, so figured you may have meant something else and kinda gave up...

then i read it out loud to my helper this afternoon and realized what you meant specifically...

anyway....

i said to him "it makes sense that there WOULD be two sets of mounts if the ac compressor has to be moved on some models vs others because when they MAKE the motors they don't necessarily know specifically what they are going in, so they would make two options if it needed them"

so we looked all over the dang place for it and it just.. didn't make sense.

we went and bought a piece of thick plate steel and started cutting and fabbing a plate so we could mount it to the existing hardware but... re-aligned....

there happened to be an aluminum HOSE in the way that was keeping it from mounting firmly for the emmissions crap i planned to delete anyway, so... we UN-BOLTED THE MOUNT for the tube and..................

suddenly it became apparent............

. .
. .

the place where it was mounted WAS the other mount tower but it had a STUD in it...

so we pulled the stud out, flipped the bracket around the correct way, bolted that bad boy on there and mounted the freakin engine STRAIGHT and ... lower than the hood, so it should close!!

SCORE!!!!!!!!!


THX!!!!! that's something i probably would have never figured out if i didn't know to look for it specifically despite it WOULD have taken that tube out either way.

id have never thought to remove the stud aside from the point that it was kinda in the way of what i needed to do.


sooooooooo

there IS the question though....

I need AC in that car and i don't want to necessarily buy all of the vette bracketry..

is there just ONE mount i can buy to relocate the compressor? or do i need to redo all of the crap on the front?

then again, i'm asking this question without having tried to fit the compressor back onto the motor with the mounts in place..

i'm just -assuming- that the bracket being forward will make it not work...

i'll test the theory tomorrow....

ideas??

thx!!!!!!!!!

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

Read my post, clearance the K member, bolt compressor on, be happy.

88monteSS

There is a bracket kit that uses all of your existing accessories if you find that you don't have the room & don't want to notch your K member. I found a couple with a google, one is the one I used (http://www.brrs.efishant.com/index.p...pper&Itemid=60), the other might be nice, but I have no experience with them & I didn't see any pictures or prices on the site, so idk.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

$300, to avoid a meaningless dent, or notching the K member ?

I see a loss of $300, and a gain of nothing. And thats only if you dont count moving the cg higher by putting it up top.

88monteSS

If he wants to notch or dent his K member, that's his choice, if he chooses not to then he still has options to keep his a/c.

There are people out there that have done it & never had problem with it, and then there are people out there that swear up & down it's a bad idea, but that's just the nature of the internet lol. Since I've never done it personally & have no firsthand experience with it, I'm not going to tell him to dent/notch his crossmember & I'm not going to tell him not to.

EDIT: You got me thinking about moving the cg, just curious, would moving the compressor up top make all that much difference since the stock compressor was up there already, although on the other side? I know if he were setting it up for autocross or similar competition every little bit counts, but I'm just curious how much of an impact the move would make.