Spent some time on the new upper trans mount saturday. They were built nice, but I didnt like how the top was open, or the state of the welds. Added a piece of steel over the open are and used some silicon bronze over the welds and did a nice fillet with the dynafile.
Im likely going to weld up the S&P logo and the small triangles at the top.
Finally, soaked the trans in some old degreaser I had and hosed it off with hot water. At least now I can look at it without getting covered.
Dan
Finished up the clutch master tues night.
Added a small wedge on the right side of the bracket to tie it into the pedal box better. Also had to shift the hole in the pedal arm up half a hole to get the alignment perfect. Took the opportunity to fatten it up in that area so I dont need spacers in the clevis.
Ive since sandblasted and primed it. Ill blow some black paint on it tonight and itll be done. Of course I need to drop the pedal arms back off to be re-powder coated.
Welded nuts to the backside for easier in-car swapping.
Nutserts in the cowl area for the top mount.
Finished assy.
Dan
Pure amazing clean work. On the one hand you inspire, on the other hand it’s like I am so satisfied with seeing your craftsmanship that I don’t even want to touch any of the projects in my mind 
Haha thanks.
With the column done it was time to get back to the trans mounts and shifter bits.
When I first test fit the 02A S&P mounts I noticed that while they fit fine, they seemed to locate the motor in a different spot than the OE mounts for the 020. This was not acceptable as I had already done the exhaust among other things with it in the original position. I struggled with a way to locate it the same but eventually came up with this.
Installed the original 020 trans and mounts, and used my hydraulic table and wooden cradle to hold it in place with the upper trans mount removed. Then made a jig that located the trans mount to the body.
With that set I pulled the motor back out then made another jig to act like the trans mounts on the body. I made a wooden disc to take place of the rubber trans mount insert as I didnt want to press it in and have it damaged from welding etc.
And there we have the difference between the mount I bought and where I need it. The sharpie markings were my best guess based on some measurements I was trying do do with the transmissions on the bench, not bad.
Cut the mount up. and started welding in new sides. I did them in two pieces, welded top and bottom as I didnt have the correct box tubing. A couple of 0.025" ss spacers were used between one of the legs and the trans to allow space for paint/ powder.
The we skip a bunch of steps where I weld in extra steel to even out the top, then some silicon bronze for the radii and fillets.
Clearance for the reverse switch
Close up of the finish.
I do need to take about 0.1" off the bowtie piece of the Diesel Geek shifter plate so it doesnt interfere with the mount. Most people window the side of the mount but it doesnt look as good and since Im not using the stock shift linkage its just not necessary.
Up next the shift cables.
First test fit them with the oe trans bracket and they fit perfectly.
However, when I went to double check the fit of the charge pipe there was an issue since when I did the turbo setup there were no cables…
I decided to lower the cable bracket vs smashing in the charge pipe. But first I needed to remove this:
Cut up the oe bracket and welded it to a new base plate.
Added some sil-brz and created a nice fillet and finished.
I also had to tweak the lower trans mount by redrilling the holes in a slightly new spot to get it to fit, but no pics.
Up next: Intercooler mount.
Dan
Got a pic of the previously mentioned lower trans mount bracket. Basically I just had to weld up the original holes and drill two new holes for the mount. Sharpie marks are about where the original holes were located. So that finishes up all the mount mods needed.
Next I needed to add a little clearance between the DieselGeek shifter plate and the trans mount. I simply ground about 0.1" off the plate. I also didnt like that there were two stacked plates so I welded the edges together and ground smooth. Much better.
Then I came up with mounts for the intercooler. Its likely overkill, but I think it looks cool and is functional without having a huge plate or something else supporting it.
This was fun. I ended up doing the bottom few dabs with silicon bronze so as to not ruin my blend job.
Mount blended.
Reverse switch and connector still fit!
A few shots of the almost complete assembly.
Yesterday I just did a bunch of little nonsense.
Swapped the bypass valve cover from the plastic one to a billet one.
Ground all of the 020 shifter lever tabs off of the steering rack.
Added the bulkhead for the hydro clutch
Reassembled the steering column so I can do the clutch hard line since the banjo fitting for the master arrived.
Dan
what kind of ic core is that?
It’s just a cheap CX Racing piece
Truly beautiful work, Dan…
such clean and calculated work
Thanks guys. I feel like its finally coming together. At least mechanically. With any luck Ill have all this shit done soon so I can get back to the body.
Will you be handling/rebuilding the engine/trans yourself or outsourcing?
I ran one of those before, and I had a lot of trouble with it. I hate to say it, but on a build like this is seems like an oversight to use such and iffy piece. Maybe at your boost levels it will be fine
Yea, I figured for a street car at 15psi it would be fine. If not, Ill get a Bell core and make my own to replace it.
Finished up the shifter.
Cleaned up all the factory parts, replaced the main “bearing” for the shifter arm, and the little rubber insulator for the side/side spring, bead blasted and matte cleared the housing, installed the ss mounting studs (two of which I had to trim to lenght b/c nfw I could leave them diff lenghts), and added some gold foil to the bottom cover.
Made the hard line for the clutch master.
Then decided I best put EVERYTHING back in to be sure im not missing anything big and that there are no issues. So far so good.
Still need to get the HX mounted an make up the last two lines for it to the pump and IC. Hoping to have that done this weekend, but we’ll see.
Dan
What sayeth you on my engine/trans question? Im curious.
Totally missed this. I will be having it done. Some things Id rather leave to someone else. This is probably the one thing I wont tackle (and maybe the final paint depending on how i do on the bottom and engine bay.
EDIT: I will likely be installing the diff in the trans myself. This Ive done before and Im pretty comfortable with.
Dan
:tup:
I feel you. Although based on your attention to detail and fab skills im confident an engine build would probably be a walk in the park for you.
either way, love love loving these updates and the IG updates. Keep it coming.
Sat I made the mounts for the heat exchanger. Naturally the storm messed up my Summit shipment so I wasnt able to weld the AN bugs on but at least its mounted now.
My super high tech fixture for the lower brackets.
Cut out a section of box tubing to make the top brackets and welded them on.
Bingo
Next, I refused to use the giant self tapping screws or whatever to mount the fan shroud so I added some 10-24 brass inserts.
Then switched gears to work on some other parts for the body while I wait for parts.
Hood hinges smoothed, dimples filled with silbrz and the “hooks” removed.
Then I decided to tackle the trunk lid. Since Ill be shaving the lock I needed to add an acuator.
Original mech
Trimmed and bent the rod to attach to a door lock actuator.
10-24 nutserts fit perfecly in the OE holes for the cardboard panel that went over this area.
Added an aluminum plate. Works mint.
Finally I started shaving the holes from the emblems. Oh the days before two sided tape…
Dan
Good progress last night. Finished shaving the badge holes. Which went pretty smooth and turned out good. They probably wont even need any filler.
Then it was time to tackle the lock hole. I needed to remove the step, but wanted it round and centered if possible. Puzzled it for a bit until I remembered I had this hole saw arbor that lets you expand existing holes. Luckily I had the perfect size saw for the existing hole (just had to go around it like 20x with a deburring tool for a slip fit).
Then carefully cut a circle of steel to fill the hole.
Skipping a bunch of steps, but basically i did a bunch of tacks a few times around to get it fully welded. Then ground, sanded, hammered, sanded, hammered, until we get to here. Its def not perfect and will certainly need some filler, but Im pretty pleased.
Up next is the third brake light. Im either going to shave it completely or shave it but add a thin flush mount LED. I cant find a good pic of what Id like to do, but basically youd just see the lens which would be a piece of lexan sanded flush to the contour of the lid.
Dan
Whats left as far as fab/body before the engine/trans can be sent off to be built and you can paint and re-assemble this thing?
Loving the progress updates. Favorite thread here by far.
