We test fit the F40 this morning (a day later than planned). We took the old frame that has been sitting in the barn for a couple of years and cut the old style engine and trans mounts off. We also had to cut the front radiator mount off because it interfered with the chassis jig (for those that aren't familiar with the early frames, the radiator mount used to be part of the frame instead of being a bolt on piece).
Once we got the frame on the jig, Ray welded on the current engine mount (passenger side) but did not weld on the transmission mount. We pulled the frame from the jig and lowered it down over the engine and transmission (our empty Ecotec and KLM's new F40).
We started to bolt the engine to the frame but immediately saw that the transmission end was way too low. We couldn't raise the transmission up high enough to level the engine because the transmission hit the chassis. We figured if we can't raise the transmission end, we should lower the engine end. So we added 5/8 spacers on the engine end to level the engine.
But then we saw that the transmission couldn't come far enough back so the driver side of the engine was further forward than the passenger side. The transmission hit the frame so it couldn't come further back. Since we couldn't move the transmission further back, we decided to take a shot at moving the engine forward to the bolt holes that are normally used with the automatic powertrain.
With the engine in the forward holes and the 5/8 spacers installed, it looked like it would fit but would require a little bit of grinding on one of the transmission bosses to give a little bit of clearance.
We then started to install the subframe. Even though the engine was 5/8 of an inch lower, the passenger side still cleared the subframe. However, the transmission did not. The subframe hit the transmission and raised it up until it touched the frame.
This all means that the chassis is going to have to be modified to clear the F40.
Our first thought is to change the cage rail that is hitting the top/side of the transmission. We're thinking of adding a bend so that it ends up further away from the transmission. This will change a couple of other pieces but it seems doable.
With the test fit out of the way we are now thinking about all of the other things that will need to be adjusted or created. Things like the actual transmission mount, the front and rear trans mounts, shifter cable mount, linkages, etc. There is going to be a lot of drawing and CNC machining parts until we have mounts that we like. Then we'll send those models to the laser cutter to let them burn the parts our (CNC milling works alright for a prototype but is not okay for production pieces).
Hopefully by the end of the day we can have an idea of all of the steps involved to get the F40 to fit.