The March To The Engine Swap...Baby Steps

Hello Gray Ghost Fans!

A short update on the road to the engine swap.

The front motor mount is a funky kind of thing, with several pieces.  They all connect to a plate that mounts to the front of the engine block.  All of this, bolts to a crossmember that connects the two frame rails.  The motor mount is a high wear item, so I decided to buy a re-pop.  It looked pretty good and heavy duty, but came without any finish.  So, to protect it, I primed and painted it.  The stages of that process looked like this:

A good wipe down, first, to remove the protective oil layer applied during manufacturing.

Ready for primer.  Here, I used an old woodworking finishing trick.  I have four screws in each board that the parts sit on.  This supports them off of the wood and only makes a very small contact (the point of a wood screw.  This preserves the newly applied finish and allows you to do it quickly.

Here they are, in primer.  I used the Duplicolor self etching metal primer.  This lays down a really nice primer coat.  Now, onto paint:  I used the Rustoleum High Performance Semi Gloss Black.  It is supposed to be tough enough for industrial applications.  We'll see.  No pics on the blocks, but here they are on the workbench after drying:

I've laid them out in the order that they assemble in.  You can also see the biscuit, which is a rubber part that sits inside of the mount.  Next is what they look like semi-assembled:

Biscuit in the base.

Plate on top of the biscuit.

Cover on top of the assembly and the assembly bolted to the front motor mount plate.  As I mentioned, this plate mounts to the front of the engine block.  The cam and crank come up through the holes in the plate and gears attach to their respective ends.  You can make out the outline of the cover (rusty area that leans from bottom right to upper left).

Not much of a project, but all I could muster.  You see, I've managed to hurt myself, again.  This time, I was leaning over the fender working on loosening the bolts holding the generator to the engine block.  I felt a sting in my left peck.  It was painful enough to make me stop working at the moment.  The next day, I finished the job on my peck, picking up one of my grandkids.  That was two weeks ago....  It is still quite painful.  So there is no heavy lifting right now.  I know what you're thinking.  Gray Ghost, how do you think that you'll be able to do the engine swap if you can't lift anything?  Great question!  Right now, there isn't a great answer!  Seems like everyday life keeps re-injuring it, so it never heals.  In fact, it hurts as much today as it did when I initially hurt it.  Thus, the small project.  Don't get me wrong.  It needed to be done.  And now it is.  It just isn't a breathtaking type of project.

So, even with the hurt peck, this weekend I went back out there and finished removing the old generator.(Maybe that's why the peck still hurts?!?)  So, all that's left to remove from the old engine that I can get at from the engine bay, is the starter.  After that, it really is time to disconnect the torque tube and get that transmission off of the bellhousing.  Even with the baby steps, it is getting closer and closer.

That's all for now