I was one of the guys who did my own conversion from Gen1 to Gen2 back in the last century. I had no issues with CV joint wear and tear either. Sometime in this century, my upper tranny mount bracket failed and I welded heavy washers on each side to reinforce where the holes tore out. Alot of those mounts failed due to collisions and general fatigue. When I did my own conversion to Gen3, I bought the adjustable lower tranny mount and a new upper tranny bracket knowing it needed replaced anyway. When I installed the Gen3 engine, I also discovered the upper engine bracket was off by quite a bit, so I removed the engine and carved that out and replaced it with a new one. I was careful about the measurements to make sure the engine was straight and level (if that was important I don't know) before I tacked welded the brackets. I also bought the shorter upper tranny mount which helped alot on clearance issues between the engine and our lower cross member tubing.
Bob Devol mentioned that if Enterprises or a CSR did the conversion from Gen1 to Gen2 there was less issue with engine fit. Since I did my own conversion, I must have not been setup correctly to the Roush manual. It was more work to do this conversion as I had the Gen3 engine in and out 3 times but worth it to make it correct. Good luck!

Mark - thanks for the input. Sounds like your experiences were a lot like mine. None of the mounts in my car seem to be installed correctly except for the forward most mount that's on the rail behind the firewall (come to think of it, I never really checked it to see if it was correct...)

The consensus seems to be that I (we all) might as well do it right this time and have it right going forward. I didn't have any issues with CV joint wear either, but I did have the LR CV joint blow out in my last race of the 2010 season. That, I'm sure, was more from off-course excursions and running over the gator teeth (as I was still learning) than normal wear. The angle of the bolt holes in both the upper right and lower transmission mounts (as well as the angle of the upper transmission bracket) provide insight as to why the engine sits at an angle when spotted in (see photos). Although I'm not looking forward to the grunt work (and mess) of cutting off the existing brackets, I know it will be done right and I'll have rigid, non-fatigued mounts when I'm done.

As to your comment about your engine not being straight, YES, it does matter. If your engine is not straight, then your axles will always be in a mild bind in the CV joints. This creates hear and especially drag, which equates to HP loss. If you ever wondered why competitors pulled slightly ahead of you down the straights, this might be why. Like you, I've already pulled the GEN3 engine twice and will have to do it at least once more before I put it in for its final installation to have free access to the mount brackets to weld them in. I've gotten pretty good at installing/removing it. If there's ever a competition for single man engine removal, I think I'll be quite competitive. On this note, I have opted to install the engine WITH the transmission already mated. I've found this MUCH easier than trying to mate them in the engine box. Curious as to others' experience/opinion on this.

Thanks again to all for your input. I know it's helping me and hopefully it will be good info for any other owner/driver/mechanic trying to do their own conversion.

Just my thoughts, but I believe the advent of the new tires should reduce the problems we had with the Short shafts. If I remember right, this became more of a problem when we went from 5 degrees of camber to 2.75 or less for the Good Years. Hopefully adding camber for the new tires should help. Of course having an engine installed at an angle is a problem that needs to be addressed when you are making the conversion or you will be asking for trouble down the road.

Pat

goolsbey wrote:Just my thoughts, but I believe the advent of the new tires should reduce the problems we had with the Short shafts. If I remember right, this became more of a problem when we went from 5 degrees of camber to 2.75 or less for the Good Years. Hopefully adding camber for the new tires should help. Of course having an engine installed at an angle is a problem that needs to be addressed when you are making the conversion or you will be asking for trouble down the road.

Pat

Pat - Agreed. I'm convinced that taking all the time, sweat, cost, and frustration now to do it right will pay big dividends down the road. I haven't yet gotten to the point about thinking about a new set up or the Hoosiers. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the motor in straight without a.) sitting on the lower crossmembers b.) breaking off or puncturing the manifold from hitting the ladder bar or c.) binding with the shift linkage. I'll worry about the Hoosiers, camber, ride height, etc. etc etc as soon as I can get the engine in properly!

jParris,

I feel your pain of what you are going through with this, as I had almost the same problems. The first kit we got was #25 very early on while enterprises were still tweaking different parts. It took me a very long time to get the motor to sit in there the way I wanted it, some of that time being a learning curve and other times just looking and it and thinking what am I doing wrong for this thing not to line up right. I had made many calls to Mike D. about how its not fitting the right way. I ended up cutting out all the mounts and putting the motor where I wanted it, square in the engine bay. I probably took the motor in and out about 8 times. the first couple where because the bolts weren't lining up with the mounts. so id take it out, cut one out, then fit it back in. every time I did that if fit that much better, but like you I thought I need to do it right so things will be easier in the long run. I have some notes on how high bolts need to be to have the motor sit right (height wise) from mike d. at the shop I can get you if you think it would help. I can also make a rough sketch of where my mounts are in relation to the engine bay.

All the work you are doing is going to pay off, when I was done the last time taking the motor out to finish welding the last mounts that I know were in the right place, I put the motor back in. EVERYTHING fell right into place, bolts sliding in like they should and you will step back and just admire what you have done and all the work you put into it. Keep going!

ill get back to you on bolt height,

Tony

Tony - Glad to know I'm not the only one having this much trouble getting the new engine in. I appreciate your offer of sketches and measurements. Anything will help. Mike sent me six pictures today illustrating spec measurements for the mount locations. But as I say, any help is appreciated and likely to provide guidance.

Jparris wrote:Tony - Glad to know I'm not the only one having this much trouble getting the new engine in. I appreciate your offer of sketches and measurements. Anything will help. Mike sent me six pictures today illustrating spec measurements for the mount locations. But as I say, any help is appreciated and likely to provide guidance.

Jparris,

This is was i could do today. good that you got help from mike, thats probably all that you will need to make it sit in there the right way.

I was measuring the mounts starting from the middle of the first hoop bar in the engine bay, to the point where the mount is welded to the frame.

With the bolt heights written there, i have good clearence everywhere you need it to be. 1/4" of clearence under the oil pan and tans. in this car we have the "newer" upper trans mount which is 1/8" shorter than the older ones which helps alot with height. We also have the adjustable lower trans mount in this one.

Mike D. was telling me when i was fitting them in there that the upper trans mount and the engine mount on the left and right side determine the height of the motor and the other two mounts are there so it doesn't twist. So using that i cut them all out, used his bolt height for the engine side mount and everything else pretty much fell in where it was suppose to go.

hope that helps some,

Tony

Thanks for posting the mount info. Joel

GSR00 wrote:Thanks for posting the mount info. Joel

Thank-you for saying thanks!

Mike Davies sent me pictures of the 'spec' measurements, taken from a new car being built. I thought these might be helpful for anyone who has participated in this post or anyone who endeavors to complete their own GEN3 conversion.