i am going insane.

[v8blazer]

Motor was finished last week, so i figured id drop it in this week. Finding out now that the conversion is not quite as drop in as they say http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif But here is my dilemma... I need some guidance. I have the td mount adapter plates, that use standard v8 mounts and standard v8 mount shells for the block and I have hedman long tubes for pipes. Went to drop in the bright and shiny motor, and of course it wont go in for the life of me. The problem is with the tranny hitting the firewall. I know i have to hammer it in pretty good, but how much? How much do I hammer vertically and how far back into the tunnel do I have to do it? Clearly I didnt do enough. Another question: I have a 700r4 from a 4.3 truck, will the stock location work? Should I pull that too and drop it in with the tranny attached? Probably make the bolting of the tranny easier, but is it worth it. Sorry about all the questions, but all the motor in, motor out stuff is driving me mad. Thanks.

[mommasboy]

I have the TD plate kit too, the instructions with it say to hammer the firewall i think 3\'\' up and 5\'\' back.....Wrong, just to make things easier hammer it at least 4 1/2\'\' up and about 6 back. If you can try to drop the whole engine and tranny in as one peice, this way you dont have to lay on your back and try to fit the damn tranny in. If you can get it in that way do it. If not get down and get it bolted up from the bottom. After you have proper clearance to get the tranny in and have it bolted up bring the crossmember up and see if it will fit in the stock location. With a TH-350 it will dunno about the 700r4 it should though. Then it\'s on to the drive shaft. And u have the Headman longtubes, with a TH-350 tranny you have to trim the little tabs off the side of the \"bell housing\" on the tranny so your headers dont hit when the motor torques. You need to check and see if these same tabs are on the 700r4 and if so cut them off BEFORE it\'s in the truck.



And if you have any more questions or problems dont be afraid to ask. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[v8blazer]

Thanks for the info. Im off to take out some aggression and \"massage\" the firewall a bit. Gotta get a ball peen hammer, see how that does me, otherwise I have a 20 slege just waiting for some luvin. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

[bohn333]

I have a 700R4 in my truck and all i had to do was hammer in the lip on the firewall. I did cut off the ears on the tranny also. If yours was originaly a 4.3 with a 700R4 then you shouldn\'t have to do any pounding.

[v8blazer]

Thats strange. I dropped the motor in again today (thats attempt number 2) bought an air hammer, but the ball peen worked best. I really hammered the hell out of that thing for a good long while and it still hits. The dificult thing is how to describe it. If you are in the engine bay looking at the fire wall, there are actually 2 lips, the one from the fire wall itself and another one farther down the tranny tunnell. I hammered back both of them and the tranny is still hitting on the second one. I can only get one of the mounts close, just have to pull it and try again tomorrow I guess. So which edge needs the most hammering? The one actually on the firewall or the one a little farther down the tunnel? http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_confused.gif

[msa1t0t]

i used the headman motor mounts and just trimmed the edges of the two lips. got the motor and tranny in at the same time and welded the crap out of the plates on the frame.now i wonder how difficult it would be to switch my turbo 350 to a 700r4. but after reading your difficulties i might just leave it alone. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif

[mommasboy]

All of it needs to be enlarged. And when you say u can only get one of the mounts to get close, are you talkin about the motor mounts? If so that is probably your problem. Weld the plates down to the frame, put the 2.8 mounts on the plates and put the mounts that bolt to the motor on the motor. THEN drop it down. If the motor wont slide right into the mounts then you have other issues.

[Steve86GT]

Well... actually I\'m a friend of v8blazer that is helping him do the swap, this is my first s10 motor job and my first post on this site. You guys provide a ton of information and are very helpful.



Actually, it\'s very close right now, the passenger side is lined up pretty much and the driver side is off about 1/2\". It\'s hitting the transmission tunnel a little bit. So we\'re going to \"clearance\" it again today. It will fit.



There are a few things that make it complicated such as the poor instructions that dont list exactly what is needed to be done for different applications. It\'s very general for the mounts, and on the header instructions I won\'t even comment. It looks as if someone that doesn\'t speak english wrote them. Also every mount kit uses different everything, so what works for one setup, won\'t with another. Like the JTR conversion manual is practically useless on this conversion because he didnt use their mounts and exhaust.



And another thing, the crossmember has different mount pad in a 2wd blazer. They sit about an inch higher than in a pickup, which is going to make a difference in how much is needed to be clearanced.



The TD kit, uses the adapter plates bolted to the mount pads on the crossmember with a \"regular\" chevy V8 motor mount and the regular chevy clamshells that bolt on the block. There is not a 2.8 mount used, it is different, and will not work properly with this kit. We had originally thought that a 2.8 mount was needed but it is not. It will not mount on the pad. It is a 3 bolt design, with the holes in a triangle fashion. The v8 mount is a 4 bolt design where they are in a rectangle and 3 of the bolts are used.



The only way a 2.8 rubber motor mount would work, is if you dropped it on the plate and welded it in place without using any bolts, but this introduces new possible problems with exhaust clearance. Because it may not be in the correct geometric location for where the longtube headers are designed. This could throw the whole thing off if they then they might not fit.



Well.. we\'re gonna work on it again today

Steve

[v8blazer]

We got it in finally. Just hammered the living hell out of everything in site, and it went in. Thanks to all for the guidance.

[Mike]

the firewall has plenty of give before you notice anything from the inside. and once the engine is in, you can\'t tell the damage from the engine compartment.

[mommasboy]

All else fails dont read the instructions....beat the shit out of it. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif

[eurekarobert]

CONGRATS!!!

[Mike]

popped the cherry on that s10.....................................you\'ll wanna do it again.http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/naughty.gif