TurboJ4000 wrote:With the cost of lumber its probably not much different in cost to do wood vs a steel frame. Can you not get just the engine in and then bolt the tranny up later? It would make your cradle a bit simpler if it just mounted to the engine mounts and maybe tilted the engine with a ratchet strap set up.
I did buy some scrap and built a cradle to bolt to the HD tranny lift, then strapped it all down at the motor mounts.
I supported the tranny with the old tranny jack and 2x6 wooden braces screwed together with decking screws (same one I made to support the front axle).
That was also strapped down to that lift and the transmission was strapped to it as well with it’s own strap.
Roughly two days of cradle-making, strapping, lifetime, adjusting, measuring, and using the angle finder to get it all aligned properly and the engine/tranny combo is mocked up.
It’s frickin hot AF here in the Pacific Northwest and I’m done for the day- after cleaning up of course.
She’s centered in the space, and aligned front to back, but still needs to be aligned side to side (left to right), and the AC has to come out, too.
Once that is done, then it’s on to motor mounts, and the tranny mount.
Edit:
Tranny x member is nearly done: notched for the front driveline, side mounting brackets installed, cradle welded up to bolt up to the t case adapter, and the first coat of black engine enamel.
Just need to burn in the frame mounts and weld up a tab for the t case support bracket/bushing. The t case itself is just mocked up so I could get the notch dialed in.
I’ll wrap it up tomorrow- including the 4 wd shifter mechanism.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk