When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Do you have coil overs on your car, or do you have OEM style springs?
It sounds to me like you have OEM style springs and you do not understand what coil overs are or how coil overs work. I'm not working from theory or guestimation either, but I do understand the differences between OEM springs and coil overs.
OEM springs mount between the front control arms and the k member. When you put spacers between the k member, and the chassis with OEM style springs, the engine stays where it is and the chassis ride height moves up. You can easily google pictures of this.
Coil over springs mount on the front strut, and set the ride height of the chassis by spacing the spindle relative to the strut towers. When a spacer is placed between the k member and the chassis, the distance between the spindle and the strut towers is unchanged, the ride height remains the same, and the k member and engine move towards the ground. In order to show a visual, I am linking an image of my actual car and actual coil over and struts. You can clearly see the spring on the struts which sets the ride height between the spindle and the strut tower.
Also, you had referenced Maximum Motorsports at one point, and if you actually look at their site, you will see they agree with me:
Now, If I had moved the engine forward in my chassis and set it back at a larger angle, then I would not have had to hammer the tunnel or firewall either. However, since I wanted the 650 lbs of drive train back as far as possible, and it is about 3.75" behind where a SBF would have been, I was willing to hammer the required areas. Not to mention the SN95 trans tunnels are different than the Fox trans tunnels, so there may just be more clearance in an SN95 tunnel.
Why don't you go take the same measurements as posted above and put them up as a point of reference for other users in the future.
Yes, thanks for explaining that to me, I had no idea what a coil over was.
So you spaced the body up 3/4" which increased the space between the front tire and fender. Then you adjusted coil over to lower the body to return to the desired ride height. When you dropped the front end 3/4" by adjusting the coil overs, the k member was also lowered.
My car has been LS1 equipped for over 8 years now. Its pretty well thought out by now. We where on the phone with AJE back then to tell them how close their K member worked with a LS1, before they even knew it could work. Made all sorts of measurements for them 8 years ago. What I have noticed is a lot of different mounts set the motor in different places. I tried dirty dingo mounts in another car where doing and it sets the motor way to high. I just installed 1 7/8th kooks on my car and heck even they where not a perfect fit but we made it work. Now you have a team Z so maybe their mounting pads are a little higher possibly.
My car has been LS1 equipped for over 8 years now. Its pretty well thought out by now. We where on the phone with AJE back then to tell them how close their K member worked with a LS1, before they even knew it could work. Made all sorts of measurements for them 8 years ago. What I have noticed is a lot of different mounts set the motor in different places. I tried dirty dingo mounts in another car where doing and it sets the motor way to high. I just installed 1 7/8th kooks on my car and heck even they where not a perfect fit but we made it work. Now you have a team Z so maybe their mounting pads are a little higher possibly.
I have considered chopping the mounting pads on the K itself but we're going to try the motor mounts (that bolt to the block) first. I can see me having the fore and aft issue because of the oil pan, maybe, but not the vertical location. I'm almost 100% sure the tunnel is no different than any other foxbody tunnel. From the factory the car had auto trans and I converted to manual and have had two TKO's in it with MCleod bell housing.
you are right that there is no difference at all on the tunnel no matter what you read. 4 cyl or v8, aod or 5spd. tunnel is the same. not sure where that started. I use to work at a Ford dealership way back in the 80's and did many swap outs. Yes I would try the pads first as they look easier to do and less costly if you mess up lol
Some pics. for comparison. Measurement from top of the valley cover to the firewall pinch 7 3/4"+. Car is strapped to a trailer so suspension is loaded some.
Some pics. for comparison. Measurement from top of the valley cover to the firewall pinch 7 3/4"+. Car is strapped to a trailer so suspension is loaded some.
Do you have a pic looking down over entire engine bay?
Got one of the base plates for the motor mount, put the engine where I want it and you can see where the mounts will be. Hope to get mounts together next weekend.
Still thinking about cutting a half inch off the front of the sump.
Looks to me like your steering rack has plenty of clearance for solid mounts.
Also, you may want to consider matching the engine height to whatever the air intake needs which you appear to have gotten from Tim. Is that really 8.5"? I guess I'm just backseat driving now though.
Maybe you should start a new thread and have the title......Guys with AJE K-members and t56 trans please step in........lol not everyone could be having all these problems.....
i have used 3 aje k-members and the aje trans cross member but i used th350 and th400 and f-body oil pan with Kooks conversion headers with 3 1/2 collectors.. so i'm no help..
Thanks for the AJE pics. As you can see I'm using the new model Team Z k member and since Tim had used the AJE in the past and engine placement was perfect, he suggested getting measurements from someone that had one now to determine where the engine was sitting.
Looks to me like your steering rack has plenty of clearance for solid mounts.
Also, you may want to consider matching the engine height to whatever the air intake needs which you appear to have gotten from Tim. Is that really 8.5"? I guess I'm just backseat driving now though.
I had a 1/4" spacer btwn pan and rack when positioning the engine. Like you said, that should be enough with solid mounts.
The TB/air pan needs as much clearance as possible, so the rack and ground clearance are the limiting factors as to how low the engine can go. I'm determined to keep the factory hood and cowl scoop. I could only get it to 8" from pinch weld to valley cover and the car is still in the air. Got the trans in and it was a pain. Don't think I could do it with a pilot bearing and clutch in there. Now I'm thinking about cutting and raising the tunnel.
We finished the motor mounts and they put the oil pan 1/4" behind the k member and 1/4" above the steering rack. The valley pan to pinch weld is right at 7 7/8". Crank centerline is just over 2" below bottom of frame rails. So the engine is in a good position but transmission is still tight against the tunnel.
Maybe you should start a new thread and have the title......Guys with AJE K-members and t56 trans please step in........lol not everyone could be having all these problems.....
i have used 3 aje k-members and the aje trans cross member but i used th350 and th400 and f-body oil pan with Kooks conversion headers with 3 1/2 collectors.. so i'm no help..
Can you post a few more pics of the engine bay? I am using all the same conversions parts you used on my mustang. Or do you possibly have a build thread?
09-28-2014, 09:34 AM
but we made it work. Now you have a team Z so maybe their mounting pads are a little higher possibly. 
