Slow old poop
15+ Year Contributor
- 707
- 7
- Jul 24, 2005
-
Cedar Rapids,
Iowa
Two weeks ago, we did a test n tune at Midamerica Motorplex (MAM) in Council Bluffs. As usual, Mr Never on Sunday (so-named because it never makes it to the Sunday half of a two-day weekend track event) ran strong but broke. Our winter work of fixing boost leaks and running new intercooler pipe paid off, because it was pulling a solid 20 psi all day. The new fat Stoptech rotors and widened calipers seemed to work OK. It was so bitterly cold (19F ) that we didn't even try the new 245 Hoosiers, just slithered around on the old Toyos on the icy track.
Then it broke again, as Mr Never on Sunday is wont to do.
As you may or may not recall, last year we broke the ear off the engine in front, where the tranny mounts. We took it to AMS in Chicago who welded it all back together, but warned us that it may or may not last. It didn't.
At MAM, I detected the telltale signs of a broken ear: it doesn't want to shift into 4th, third gear downshifts are grindy, and shifting gets harder and harder. When we blew off the wastegate, it was time to trailer the car home. Good thing, too, because if we had run the car much longer, the tranny might have slipped like it did last year, and broken more stuff, like it did last year.
With the first NASA event looming at Iowa Speedway, our choices appeared to be:
1. Weld it back on and try again.
2. Get another six-bolt short block, machine it, and transfer all the 2.3 stroker parts to it.
My buddy Brent, ace fabricator, decided there was a third option: Bolt the transmission to the front motor mount!!
Brent, you gotta be crazy! Nobody in the DSM world, including AMS, has ever done anything like that. (Well, not that we ever heard of, that is.) Here's what Brent the Fabricator came up with this weekend:
Photo 1
First thing he did was knock out the locating pin from the broken engine piece (right piece in both photos), welded it to a steel rod with a backing plate, then drilled and tapped the rod (left piece in both photos).
Photo 2
Then he tacked it into place onto the front motor mount for position.
Photo 3
Here's what it looks like, welded to the front engine mount
Photo 4
Brent decided that wasn't strong enough, so he welded gusset plates on two sides
Photo 5
Here's the finished motor mount/transmission mount, painted. The little curvy section on the left fits into the broken part of the engine block. It took HOURS and HOURS to grind this part so it fits perfectly to the motor and the motor mount.
We'll find out in two weeks if it works.
We've had so much trouble getting the car on the road, we haven't even weighed it yet, much less get it dynoed. So I have no idea what NASA class it will be in. Without weighing and dynoing, I think they'll stick me into some upper class, like TTU or TTR. I just want to get Mr. Never on Sunday back on the track, so I don't care what class it's in.
Then it broke again, as Mr Never on Sunday is wont to do.
As you may or may not recall, last year we broke the ear off the engine in front, where the tranny mounts. We took it to AMS in Chicago who welded it all back together, but warned us that it may or may not last. It didn't.
At MAM, I detected the telltale signs of a broken ear: it doesn't want to shift into 4th, third gear downshifts are grindy, and shifting gets harder and harder. When we blew off the wastegate, it was time to trailer the car home. Good thing, too, because if we had run the car much longer, the tranny might have slipped like it did last year, and broken more stuff, like it did last year.
With the first NASA event looming at Iowa Speedway, our choices appeared to be:
1. Weld it back on and try again.
2. Get another six-bolt short block, machine it, and transfer all the 2.3 stroker parts to it.
My buddy Brent, ace fabricator, decided there was a third option: Bolt the transmission to the front motor mount!!
Brent, you gotta be crazy! Nobody in the DSM world, including AMS, has ever done anything like that. (Well, not that we ever heard of, that is.) Here's what Brent the Fabricator came up with this weekend:
Photo 1
First thing he did was knock out the locating pin from the broken engine piece (right piece in both photos), welded it to a steel rod with a backing plate, then drilled and tapped the rod (left piece in both photos).
Photo 2
Then he tacked it into place onto the front motor mount for position.
Photo 3
Here's what it looks like, welded to the front engine mount
Photo 4
Brent decided that wasn't strong enough, so he welded gusset plates on two sides
Photo 5
Here's the finished motor mount/transmission mount, painted. The little curvy section on the left fits into the broken part of the engine block. It took HOURS and HOURS to grind this part so it fits perfectly to the motor and the motor mount.
We'll find out in two weeks if it works.
We've had so much trouble getting the car on the road, we haven't even weighed it yet, much less get it dynoed. So I have no idea what NASA class it will be in. Without weighing and dynoing, I think they'll stick me into some upper class, like TTU or TTR. I just want to get Mr. Never on Sunday back on the track, so I don't care what class it's in.