ok, overdue for an update… here’s what I’ve been up to. First, as the title suggests, I had to pull the transmission back out of the car. I have to admit I was pretty sure it would have to come out for something. When I was first test fitting everything I tried to mount the external slave cylinder. It mounts on a simple aluminum block that bolts to the bell housing. Well, it interfered with the header. So, after looking it over for a while Joe said the best bet would be to switch it to a pull style slave cylinder that mounts towards the rear of the car. I didn’t even know pull cylinders existed… Ok, great I thought, problem solved. Well, my mistake was I never checked to see if the FORK interfered with the header as well before I put the trans in. Of course it did hit. So the trans came out and the fork got shortened. Ordered a pull slave and now I just need to figure out where/how I’m going to mount it.
Don came over yesterday and I put the fork back in the car and he helped me get the trans back in. It was great to Have Don on hand. He’s a mechanical engineer and an autocross champ. We were having trouble getting the trans to seat the last half inch. Don showed me a trick where you take a lever and push on the clutch fork a bit. Worked like a charm, the trans slide home the last half inch with a satifying thunk! Next up was the trans mount. I had been trying to figure out the best way to mount it and was having a little trouble. Don looked at it for 30 seconds and came up with the right solution. Once he explained it to me and I understood it was pretty quick and easy to cut a piece of angle iron, trim the stock crossmember and start welding. I just need to add a couple of gussets and grind some of the sharp corners down and it’ll be good to go. Don also helped me test fit my hood back on the car. I was worried it wasn’t going to clear the air cleaner but everything clears fine so that was a relief. And the last big thing Don helped me with was getting the rear glass back in the car. Thanks Don!!!
Couple of other odds and ends… I got my fuel lines to the Carter pump finished. Fuel system is done. I also made an aluminum block off panel that closes up the gap between the front spoiler and the lower radiator support. I need to finish boxing in the radiator so I need to make some side panels and a top next.
Getting the trans back in and the trans mount almost done felt like a big milestone. Really think I’m almost ready to go get the exhaust done and the drive shaft made! Stay tuned…
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