Engine alignment

[mferraro76]

Had the shop put the engine in before dropping it off at my house, it looks crooked? any way i can check this?

68 satellite with 318, 727.

 

[john.thompson068]

How about some pictures? I have got to see this.

 

[70rr-brian]

The engines are slightly off set to the passenger side...is that what you mean?

 

[mferraro76]

The engines are slightly off set to the passenger side...is that what you mean?

no, it looks like it is angled. If you look straight down as if you are looking at the intake, it looks like it is rotated slightly clockwise. So the front of the engine looks like it is pointing more to the passanger side and the rear of the engine looks like it is pointing towards the drivers side. in other words, it does not look parallel to the car. i thought the mounts might be bolted up wrong but they appear correct according to the service manual.

i'd take a picture, but the whole engine bay is taped off for some last minute painting so it would be hard for someone to see it. it is slight, my guess is about an inch or so - i thought about measuring from the heads to the fire wall but they are aftermarket so i don't know if they would be consistent with everyone else.

if anyone has an idea how to figure out if i'm straight or not, or better yet - the factory measurements - i think that would get me started.

 

[Supershafts]

Measure the front and back of the block to the frame on each side and see.

 

[70rr-brian]

Well the engines in these mopars were offset slightly to the passenger side. They did this to cut down on vibration and allow a proper angle for ujoint lubrication as I understand it. Is the trans hooked up too? If not I could see how it could appear as the offset to the passenger side would further be exaggerated if the trans wasn't hooked up.

 

[Moparsmitty]

Well the engines in these mopars were offset slightly to the passenger side. They did this to cut down on vibration and allow a proper angle for ujoint lubrication as I understand it. Is the trans hooked up too? If not I could see how it could appear as the offset to the passenger side would further be exaggerated if the trans wasn't hooked up.

Most Mopar engines are offset an inch or two to the passenger side for the reasons Brian mentioned.
I had a shop in my area order motor mounts for a Cuda, send them back, order some more and send them back. When I asked them what the problem was, they said we must be sending them the wrong mounts because the engine won't sit straight in the car. The hole in the hood and the tunnel ram really exaggerated the offset.

 

[Mick70RR]

Check the transmission mount, there's some side to side adjustment.

 

[mferraro76]

Check the transmission mount, there's some side to side adjustment.

gonna check that next. i tried measuring from the block to the frame, but i think the frame horns must angle in since the measurement drops about 1/2-1 inch from the front of the block to the back, on both sides.

 

[Garys1969RR]

If the transmission is installed, the tail shaft should be centered in the drive shaft hump. There is a little side to side adj. where the mount bolts to the trans.

 

[Supershafts]

gonna check that next. i tried measuring from the block to the frame, but i think the frame horns must angle in since the measurement drops about 1/2-1 inch from the front of the block to the back, on both sides.

Did you check that and see, check and see if the frame is narrower

 

[mferraro76]

update: the problem was discovered - the transmission mount was not properly installed nor was it fully bolted to the transmission. the bolt was so far out it was hitting the cross member causing the engine/tranny to rotate.

new problem is - started it up and it sounds like the shop didn't line the notch in the torque converter with the key on the front pump. can this be fixed without dropping the tranny? might have to start a new thread on this...

 

[BeastlyBirdie]

It should be able to be fixed, undo the bolts, spin the tc while pushing it in, until it drops. However, I would look at the flexplate and transmission sheet metal to make sure nothing is hitting. Most of the time if the tc isn't fully engaged it looks funny when trying to bolt it up....

 

[mferraro76]

is it that easy? I would think the pressure from the flexplate would just cause the pump to turn rather than sit still long enough to turn the TC until it lines up...

of further concern would be if the flexplate was bent in the process or if there is damage to the front pump and metal floating around...

any thoughts on that?

when I was 18, I thought you could just slap everything together and go after changing trannys, the noise is very obvious and it wasn't long before I sheared the keys off the front pump. that's the only reason i recognized the noise. i will take off the only piece of sheet metal and inspect but there really isn't any way something could rub on the inspection cover and not hit other stuff.

 

[MCODECUDA]

If the shop bolted the engine to the tranny and you paid to have them do it I'd bring it back to them and have them correct it. You can easily check to see if the converter dogs are engaged by removing the converter and if you can spin the converter then it's installed properly.

 

[mferraro76]

If the shop bolted the engine to the tranny and you paid to have them do it I'd bring it back to them and have them correct it.

I agree. I'm definitely bringing it up with them. But i am to the point where i don't want them doing anything mechanical based on the mistakes thus far. they already screwed up the tranny mounts, they must of had a floor jack under the tranny pan based on the scratches and dents they left. i guess as a body shop, the mechanical stuff is not familiar to them.

So if the converter dogs are not engaged properly, the converter wont spin freely?

 

[BeastlyBirdie]

Unbolt the tc, loosen trans bolts, slide trans back enough tc/fp are not rubbing. Spin the tc and get it to engage the pump. To check the fp, spin engine by hand and see if its tracking straight.
The tc sits in from the bellhousing, offhand I think its around 1/4 inch. If its flush with the bellhousing, its not together right.

 

[mferraro76]

gonna try just taking out flex plate bolts and turn the tc - but i think this won't work unless i have some way to keep the front pump from turning.

Unbolt the tc, loosen trans bolts, slide trans back enough tc/fp are not rubbing. Spin the tc and get it to engage the pump. To check the fp, spin engine by hand and see if its tracking straight.
The tc sits in from the bellhousing, offhand I think its around 1/4 inch. If its flush with the bellhousing, its not together right.

but i'm pretty thinking the most i can go without completely taking bolts out would be 3/4 inch - and i'm trying to avoid removing the crossmember, shift linkage, etc...so not entirely sure it can be done this way. and i have that one annoying bolt that is behind the oil filter, so that would have to come off, too.

 

[MCODECUDA]

I agree. I'm definitely bringing it up with them. But i am to the point where i don't want them doing anything mechanical based on the mistakes thus far. they already screwed up the tranny mounts, they must of had a floor jack under the tranny pan based on the scratches and dents they left. i guess as a body shop, the mechanical stuff is not familiar to them.

So if the converter dogs are not engaged properly, the converter wont spin freely?

Yes, the converter will not spin freely. If you find out that the dogs are not engaged I'd pull and check the tranny since you had the car running. I've also seen the tranny cases cracked by forcing the case to mate up to the engine without fully engaging the TC.

 

[Supershafts]

Why would you bring that work to a body shop ?

I concur with MCODECUDA, you could get lucky, but it is FORCED together and forcing things together is never good and usually leaves to other issues down the road.

Don't go to body shops for mechanical work and don't go to motor shops for body work