Back on Track

It has been 7 months since my last post where I reassembled the wagon so it could be used as a picture car in a major movie. The movie is called "American Hustle" and is scheduled for release in December 2014. The wagon was used in one scene where I drove it past the camera filming people going to a crazy party. It snowed the night before the shoot and I drove it 50 miles in 2-4 inches of snow. That was an interesting trip!

 My 1951 Opel Olympia and '69 GT were also used in other scenes and I was a background extra in a couple. It will be interesting to see if they make it into the movie.

Back to the project!!!

I have been driving the wagon all Summer including a trip to the Carlisle Import Show in PA back in May. There should be another 2 months of driving before the weather changes around here so I started working on some more prep work.

Motor Mounts

The measurements taken last Spring showed the motor needed a 3.5 to 4 inch setback in order to get the necessary radiator clearance. The crossmember I am using if from a 1974/75 Manta. First step was to confirm the 1.9 Opel GT mount brackets and crossmember mounts would line up with the 3.0.  It did!

Using 1.9 mounts

This picture shows the oil pan clearance interference problem that was solved by eliminating the sway bar!

Links replaced sway bar

A piece of 3 inch channel iron was trimmed and bolted to the Manta motor mount crossmember bracket. A race version of the GM transmission mount will be used for the motor mount.

Rough location of mount

The channel iron will be trimmed and mount holes drilled once the final setback is determined.

Given the weight difference of the motors, 10 ga steel gussets were added to the mount brackets for reinforcement.

Gussets added

The crossmember mount brackets will also be reinforced.

Additional measurements of the engine height were taken while this setup was in place to make sure it would clear the hood.

A friend from Germany sent me some pictures of a similar project. That 3.0 conversion was not setback as far and required modifications to the front grill area for the radiator. An install into a Manta would be easier as there is more room in the front of the radiator. The direction I am going in will put the majority of the weight of the 3.0 behind the front axle so the handling "should" be better.