Problem with shifter hitting the floor pan, need help

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

I just finished doing my head/cam swap, and now the engine is torquing over so hard that it's causing the shifter to hit the floor pan. Before, it was already close and i really don't know why, but now it's twisting enough to hit, and hit bad. I've already got new engine mounts (vert mounts) and poly cross member bushings and a new trans mount...i don't know what else to do.

It seems to me like the trans is rolled over towards the passenger side but i don't know how to correct it. Anyone got any ideas (aside from solid engine mounts etc)?

 

[86bluecobra]

First thing I would check is to see if your engine is sitting as low as it can in the K-member. I have istalled new motor mounts before and really had to wrestle with the engine to get it to slide right down to the bottom of the k-member. You know the little slats that the motor mounts bolt into. Get them right down to the bottom if they aren't already. Only thing I could suggest.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Yeah i just put in a new cross member with the poly bushings and a new trans mount and that really didn't help any so i figure it's something to do with the engine mounts. I'll have to check that out.

 

[86bluecobra]

You just put a new K-Member in aswell? or the tranny double hump cross member?

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

New trans cross member (not the K member the engine sits in) and new trans mount that bolts to the cross member. I'm 99% sure it's the engine sitting sideways...i'm thinking back to when we did the motor mounts and jacked up one side at a time and i'm almost certain that's the cause. It probably has something to do with why my headers are hitting the steering shaft now too.

 

[86bluecobra]

LOL yes I think you may have found your alignment issue. BTW did you ever get your car weighed?

 

[Darkwriter77]

I had something similar happening with my notch, especially with the UPR cat'ed X-pipe I was using. Under hard throttle, the whole drivetrain would torque over and the exhaust would lean up against the tranny crossmember, transferring a weird vibration into the interior of the car, even after I notched the crossmember out to clear the cat. The shifter was tilted a little too far over to one side, as well, but I can't recall if it was toward the driver's or passenger's side.

When looking at the motor underneath from the front with the car flat and level on pavement, I could see that the engine, itself, was sitting a little crooked. Motor mounts were getting worn and while they hadn't completely torn, they were permanently skewed to one side. I swapped 'em out with a fresh set of 'vert motor mounts and I suddenly gained an inch or two of clearance everywhere that it had been banging/rubbing on the exhaust before.

Maybe peek at the underside of your car on flat concrete and make sure the engine is sitting level in there (the hanging distance of the X- or H-pipe may or may not give an indication of its angle).

Also, is the new tranny mount you put in there poly or rubber? Switching to a poly mount on the notch made a HUGE difference in the shifter's feel - didn't flop, bounce, and bob all over the place anymore like it did with the stock rubber mount.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

LOL yes I think you may have found your alignment issue. BTW did you ever get your car weighed?

Yeah it's down to 2880 without me in it. I don't think it's gonna get much lighter than that without fully gutting the interior and getting aluminum heads and a tubular K member/A arm setup. I still have small stuff like the dogbone on the rear end but that's only 8lbs, and i could run lighter rims like Draglites instead of the 16'' ARE's i've got on it now but i'm pretty happy with that number. I would like to get it down under 3k with me in it but i think i'm gonna have to go on a diet myself before that'll happen...lol.

What i'm gonna do about the engine thing is just unbolt it from the K member and rock it towards the driver's side until the shifter is centered and then sit it back down. I figure that should be close to dead center as long as the shifter is centered with the engine (probably not but it should be good that way).

I still need to do a thread on my head/cam swap....i have a good feeling it's in the high 12s now I went to the track on drag radials before the swap and finally ran a 13.80 launching at 2k RPM because they were still spinning. It's a LOT stronger now.