body sits too low, or is the engine too high...

[bentbaggerlen]

Ok, so I'm putting my bucket back together after painting the frame. I find I need to mount the body about 3/4" higher, other wise it sits on top off the transmisson. I was thinking of using nylon or rubber as a spacer, or maybe even hockey pucks would work. So far I'm leaning tords the hocky pucks. Any other ideas?

I'm not sure why it hits the body
Its a Spirit body, on a Spirit chassis (From the kick up forward) with a 302/C4 drivetrain. When I installed the engine and transmission I found that the tranny crossmember was to far forward, or the engine mount was too far back. But I cut out the tranny crossmember and moved it back about 1 3/4" so the mount would line up with the tranny. If I had moved the motor mounts forward, my water pump shaft would have run into the electric fan. As it is I have about 1" between them. That and I already have my drive shaft made, so everything is going to stay put. It would get really expencive to change it now.

 

[EX JUNK]

This is exactly why you should assemble the entire car before doing any painting. That way these little hic ups can be addressed properly without endangering any finishes.

 

[Youngster]

Have you done anything as far as final paint on the body yet? How much room is there between the firewall and the engine?

Ron

 

[blownt]

I would work on the tunnel and not raise the body. Your body is prolly channeled over the frame. You raise the body it will not look right with the frame. But it's your car, do what you wanna do.

 

[LumenAl]

...I would work on the tunnel and not raise the body. Your body is prolly channeled over the frame. You raise the body it will not look right with the frame...

I totally agree... easy to cut the tunnel out and redo a new one or modify that one to provide you the clearance you need...

 

[Lee_in_KC]

I have a Spirit frame and body also, and I had to cut away a little of the sub-floor to clear the tranny. I'm not sure why it's that way. The frame was built for a SBC and a TH350, and they dropped right in. You would think the tunnel would have been sized and shaped appropriately, but it wasn't. Not a big deal, really, just one of the "adjustments" that need to be made.

I agree with the others... don't raise the body, modify the tunnel.

 

[VegasBruce]

I'll go along with the crowd, revamp the tunnel for clearance.

 

[datonamanmike]

myself i like the idea of raising the body i have the same prob with the fire wall couldnt get my tranny dipstick in the small gap ended up making a shorty dipstick and gotta crawl under to check trans fluid

 

[bentbaggerlen]

The firewalls not the problem, lots of room there. The tranny hump is just a little too low. I dislike working with fiberglass. So if I dont rase the body, I'lll just make my own rear tranny mount to lower it a bit.

The entire car was mocked up and then dissasembled before paint. It sits on top of the tranny by just a tiny bit. I can most lilky get by with a thinner riser just thought I would ask.

Thanks!

 

[T-Rex]

I had the exact same problem and had to move my trans crossmember back about the same distance ( they are supposed to be built on a jig?) anyway, I had to carve a little off the bottom of the floor/trans tunnel. The bottom is about an inch thick there so did not need to come thru the top layer.

 

[LumenAl]

myself i like the idea of raising the body i have the same prob with the fire wall couldnt get my tranny dipstick in the small gap ended up making a shorty dipstick and gotta crawl under to check trans fluid

Have you checked into one of these... I had a stubby stick on the original car that you accessed from a hole in the floor... I blew that up and went with one of these:

There are several different models for different transmissions and mounting options... just food for thought...

 

[thomas]

Ok, so I'm putting my bucket back together after painting the frame. I find I need to mount the body about 3/4" higher, other wise it sits on top off the transmisson. I was thinking of using nylon or rubber as a spacer, or maybe even hockey pucks would work. So far I'm leaning tords the hocky pucks. Any other ideas?

I'm not sure why it hits the body
Its a Spirit body, on a Spirit chassis (From the kick up forward) with a 302/C4 drivetrain. When I installed the engine and transmission I found that the tranny crossmember was to far forward, or the engine mount was too far back. But I cut out the tranny crossmember and moved it back about 1 3/4" so the mount would line up with the tranny. If I had moved the motor mounts forward, my water pump shaft would have run into the electric fan. As it is I have about 1" between them. That and I already have my drive shaft made, so everything is going to stay put. It would get really expencive to change it now.

I had the same problem with my Spirit frame and body. I had a problem with the trans mount. I too have a 302 with C4. I finally had to cut off the trans mount and lower it about 1 1/2". I also put 3/8" rubber washers between the frame and body. Make sure that the rearend and trans are parall to each other. Dropping the trans mount made a big difference in the angle of my driveshaft. If you need to make changes, do it now before you get any farther along. You will be glad you did.

thomas

 

[bentbaggerlen]

Gee, its kinda funny... When I found that the crossmember was in the wrong place I contacted Spirit as was told "Sorry don't know how that happened... we build everything in a jig" Looks like I'm not the only one.
:welcome:

I was thinking that maybe I had the wrong motor mounts, or tranny mount. But I guess not.

 

[LumenAl]

Looks like then the hockey puck might just be what you're looking for... just set them in place, set the body on and step back and look at how the body sits in the frame... if it looks good to you, you are good to go!