Engine install

Next up - installing the engine assembly. 

A milestone job & relatively involved one having the engine swinging around for much of the operation. It would possible as a one man job, but much easier with two - my wife helped - then you have a point man to look out for clearances etc, and when lowering in the engine one on the hoist & one one guiding the gearbox mounting into place.

Oil pressure sender & underside bolts

A couple of minor installs, the oil pressure sender (on the left of the OEM ford one) & as the engine was raised up I could get access to the starter motor bottom bolt & 2x bell housing bolts. The bottom starter bolt seemed to bind part way in so the washers let it do its job without breaking something.

All ready to go

The load balancer was good at changing the angle of the assembly, I shortened the back chain to give a general downward angle. Because the chains were attached at diagonal opposite corners it did mean the engine would twist as the balancer changed its angle but the effect was minimal & could be offset with a little man handling:

Chassis first time out in the open:

First attempt

The legs on the engine hoist were the biggest liability - they are too tall to run under the Zero's front suspension which means the car needs raising. When raised on axle stands they seem to want to be in exactly the same position as the hoist legs: tried the axle stands inboard first:

Then axle stands wider under the lower wishbones & lengthened the hoist jib to maximum reach:

Rethink & Success

Finally I found the best axle stand position was just one in the middle.
We slowly edged the engine assembly back/down & adjusting the angle as we went:

The final stage I had a couple of bits of scrap under the back of the gearbox casing to guide it back at the right height into its mount. The gearbox slots into its rubber mount at the back, then 2x arms are bolted to the engine sides and sit on the 'card' powder coat protectors:

Engine in place

At this stage I have only bolted the engine mounts to the engine & not to the chassis, I need to check a couple of points where clearances are a little tight & make sure everything is aligned centrally down the car. The fuel lines on the offside currently touch the bell housing & the bottom bolt on the starter is very close to a chassis rail on the nearside:

The padding will come off as soon as everything is fixed in place, its just there to protect the powder-coat finish on the chassis rails underneath.

I still need to check the clearances & drill/fix the engine mountings to the chassis; but its essentially in!