[Francis]

Hello,

An idea just occured to me and I thought I'd put it out for criticism.

Has anyone tried to use Manta motor mounts on the GT and weld up the front crossmember to make this work. Seems like it is possible and would give much more room for exhaust header and possible turbo installation.

Curious on the opinions especially if anyone has tried this and what peoples thoughts are on how it would affect the rigidity of the unibody. Also, you could then use a larger oil pan.

Francis

 

[Killer Texas GT]

Won't Work

Both the Manta and GT engine supports attach at the same location on the block. The engine in the Manta is supported off the first member (suspension), The GT first member (suspension) is in front of the engine and the engine is supported off of a separate cross member.
It may be possible to attach the motor supports from a Manta to the frame rails of a GT but no additional room will be gained and I am not sure that the engine elevation would remain the same, also there will be added forces and stress to the rails. Thats my 2 cents.

 

[baz]

you would just about have to graft a manta front end (inner wings/fenders and chassis rails)into the gt to get a manta x member to fit and by then you would still need the engine x memeber to carry the engine and no where to put it
remember the manta is front engine and the gt is front mid engine(engine within axels)

 

[jeff denton]

Oh, Baz, please don't confuse us!!! I went through hell getting my competitors to stop complaining that my GT was not a front engine car!! A tech inspector all but demanded (and then was invited) to look at Speedway GT when it first went on the chassis jig. He was amazed at how far back the engine sits, agreed that it was the stock location on stock mounts, and was gonna go around a corner like crazy!!
Francis, I think what you are getting at is how do you mount the engine in such a way that motor mounts are not so obtrusive. It's easy. It's called a motor plate. Mounts across the front of the block and bolts into the frame rails on the same bolts that hold the suspension in. Simple! Study how they do it in drag racing, and apply that to the GT. I did the V8-S10 swap that way back in '84 when there was no such thing as a mail order kit. Anybody who did it the kit way likes mine better!! Very soon I'll be doing it to my C30 six man pickup, also.
Good luck, holler if you need any help.

 

[Francis]

The motor plate is a good idea - I don't know why it didn't come to mind. Has anyone done this? any pics? how did it work out?

does anyone have templates for this?

 

[RallyBob]

I'm not sure where you'd attach a motor plate to the front of an Opel engine, the timing cover takes up pretty much the entire front of the engine and is a fairly thin aluminum casting...certainly not up to the task of handling the entire engine's weight under load. The attachment bolts up there aren't any stronger, they're only 7mm bolts.

I think you'd have to make offset motor mount brackets mounting to perhaps both the OEM mounting ears and the A/C bracket ears on the passenger side, and on the driver's side you could use the OEM mounting ears and the lower alternator mounting ears. You'd have to move the alternator up and out a bit, but if you used a smaller modern high output alternator you should have plenty of room.

I was planning on making offset engine mounts for one of my Mantas for more exhaust clearance, so there's no reason it wouldn't be possible for you to make them for a GT too.

Bob

 

[v6transplant]

I would agree with Bob on this one.

Even though your not talking about an engine swap; with my V6 project, I basically placed the motor where I wanted it by fabricating my own engine brackets (perches). The I took the stock GT cross member, took off the towers, and re-welded my on square tubing on it. Then placed my motor mounts of choice on it.

Just my .02¢