So last blog post tracked the issues relating to the first test fit in the 1600 and a whole bunch of stuff that needed sorting after that test fit.  As you may remember, the lips on the inside of the frame rail was preventing the S14 header and the steering box from clearing and lifting straight into the engine bay.  So while I was waiting for the injectors to arrive from the UK, I decided to use my angle grinder to notch the inside lips of the frame rail.  When you do this procedure, it requires you to weld the top of the frame rail back to the inside of the frame rail to insure a solid structural connection to the front subframe.  I borrowed my brother and his welding equipment to complete this task.  Not pretty, but structurally sound.

The injectors from UK finally arrived and I went to work on removing the old injectors from a motor that has sat for quite a while.  They did come out with some effort, but left some residue in the injector ports that I cleaned up with some Q-tips and acetone.  I bought a new 3 Bar fuel regulator to replace the original one and cleaned and painted the fuel rail.  Re-installing the new injectors was simple and straight forward with a little silicone grease on the o-rings to help slide them in place.  

Now the fun part, lets install the subframe for good.  My brother came over for support.  We installed some guide pins in the back bolt holes on the body, (bolts with the heads cut off and slotted for a screw driver), raised the body up, slid the motor and trans under the car, jacked up the motor and trans on the modified motor cycle jack until it was high enough to work under, and lowered the body down.  The whole assembly passed straight between the notched frame rails and up into the engine compartment as we carefully guided the strut bearings into their holes.  We locked down the strut bearings and continued lowering the body until the guide pins hit their holes in the subframe.   We pulled the guide pins, replaced with bolts and washers and torqued the subframe bolts to 52 ft/lbs.

The transmission mount turned out to be an issue.  The 1600 had been modified by the PO for a Getrag 245, with the original transmission mounts cut out and moved back.  The cross member I was using for the Getrag 245 turned out to be for a 320i and was too short to span the transmission mounts.  I sent my brother home with the dimensions and he with fabricate a new cross member to fix this issue.

Some other issues appeared during the motor install that will require so creative thinking.  First is how the transmission sits in the tunnel.  When you press the transmission up into the tunnel, should it be centered, or does it naturally sit to one side?  Even with the transmission pressed all the way up into the tunnel, there appears to be a clearance issue with the passenger side idler arm and the S14 header.  I also noticed that I have a clearance issue with where I placed the EDIS module on the firewall, it interferes with the vent hose connector on the valve cover, I'm going to need to put it somewhere else.  Lots of work remains to finish the wiring, but with the subframe in I can finally take it off the lift and roll it around.

Thanks for checking in!

Mark92131