Hi Ron,
The plot thickens....
My notes are inserted into your text, below
On Mon, 23 Mar 1998 07:15:05 -0600 Ronald Olds <tr6@pipeline.com> writes:
>Thanks for all of the help and information many of you have sent me on
>this
>topic so far. I have done some further investigation of my problem
>with the
>way the engine is sitting in the car. Here is what I have done and
>found
>out this past weekend.
>
>1. I disconnected the engine stabilizer link and the engine didn't
>move one>way or the other.
That's good, as far as it goes. The stabiliser link is not supposed to
force the engine into position, but to hold it in the right position once
that has been established by means of the front and rear mounts.
>
>2. The front motor mount looks alright but the rubber might be soft,
>the>engine moves very easily from side to side.
If the sides of the mount are straight, then it's probably OK. If they
are bulged, then the mount is due for replacement. If the front mount is
bad, the rear mounts will be worse. ( And harder to replace)
>
>3.The bracket the engine stabilizer link attaches to that bolts to the
>frame has a problem. This plate doesn't look original (looks new).
>The>rear bolt that attaches it to the frame was missing. I couldn't move
>the>bracket around to line up with the bolt hole because it hit the bolt
>that>attaches the cradle (piece that the front mount bolts too) to the
>bearer>plate (on front of engine). How much clearance should be between
the
>bracket and the bolt? This make me believe the engine is a little far
>forward.
We're getting into nomenclature problems here, I fear---I measured the
front edge of the 1/8 steel front plate on the engine (between block and
timing cover) and the rear edge of the stabilser bracket and found the
space to be about 7/8".
The stabiliser bracket has two bolts into the chassis, and one bolt
that goes vertically into a little tab that is welded to the front
crossmember. The bolt on the tab is about 7/8" OC back from the
crossmember. I am wondering if that tab might be missing on your car and
if the DPO bolted it horizontally, and too far forward, to the Xmember.
>There was about 1/2" gap between the frame cross member and
>this>bracket. The DPO had used washers to shim up the gap. Is the front
>bolt>supposed to be through the rear inside shock mounting bolt.
On my car, no. The front bolt on the bracket is inside the engine bay,
while the rear inside shock mount bolt is inside the fender and reachable
only from the fender side. That is, however, on an Armstrong-damper
equipped car.>
>4. The stabilizer link is on an angle (front to back). Where it mounts
>to>the engine is forward of the bracket.
On my car the turnbuckle runs straight across. It's perpindicular to
the connection on the engine and to the bracket.
>
>5. I have about 1 1/4" gap between the rear cover on the head and the
>engine bulkhead.
That my be revealing the problem. On the right hand side, I measured
about 7/8" from the head to the upper edge of the footwell.
>6. Is the center of the crankshaft pulley, center of the water pump
>pulley>and the center of the thermostat housing opening on the same
center
>line?>My engine is sitting with the center of the thermostat housing to
the
>right> (looking at it from the front would be to the left). I can easily
>tilt the>engine so that all three of these items are on the same
centerline
>(which I>believe is correct).
Straight in line and straight up is the way it's supposed to be.
>
>7. My car is an early TD which has Girling front shocks. Looking at
>some
>catalogs I see that the Girling shock has a thicker base then the
>later
>Armstrong shocks. My engine stabilizer bracket is bolted to the frame
>using
>the rear inside shock mounting bolt (bracket mounting hole on top of
>the
>shock). If the Girling shocks are thicker then this has to make a
>difference to the bracket in the way the bracket sits
>Can anyone tell >me if>the bracket is mounted correctly or do I need a
different bracket with >the>Girling shocks?
I do not believe that there were two brackets. In the Service Parts
List, there is only one bracket listed for the stabiliser.
Ron, let me know if you need more measurements. I will be at home much
of today, so can run out and measure things for you.
Bob
>
>Any help or additional information would be appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>
>Ron Olds
>
>
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