Engine placement.

All these posts have the same date on them because I am only just getting round to updating this blog - but what I write about here is basically what I've been up to in the last week or two so doesn;t necessarily match up with the stated date! Anyway... I bolted the gearbox to the back of the engine and lowered it onto the chassis to have a look at how far back I can get it. With the 1800 sump on it which has the cutout towards the gearbox, the front of the engine can't be lowered very far because of the crossmember on the chassis. I replaced the sump with the original 2.0L one which has the cutout the other way round and the engine now sits about 2 inches lower. Since then I have decided to buy a modified sump and oil pickup from Dunnell which flattens off the bottom to allow for lower engine placement and has modified baffles and oil pickup to cope with the engin ebeing the other way round from its original placement and being vertical (in the original car the engine is tipped sideways slightly). With the engine as far back as this the thermostat housing will be fouling the bulkhead so another extravagant purchase from Dunnell is a modified water rail which allows the thermostat to be moved aroun dthe side of the engine with a much thinner housing on the back of the engine. Anyway, here is the engine sitting more or less in its final position.