[DeTomaso] engine bay lower X-member
JDeRyke at aol.com
JDeRyke at aol.com
Mon Mar 21 13:52:11 EDT 2011
Chopping the oem crossmember out with the engine in place is a dirty,
miserable and difficult job, as the pan is only an inch or so away. Wear old
clothes and send the kids out of earshot of curses. With the engine out, its
much simpler. Two things: do NOT cut into the frame rails in your efforts to
get the old unit out and the rails clean of fragments. And after its out, each
car will be slightly different in the dimensions between the rails. So
don't expect a pre-fabricated assembly to slip up in place without either shims
or some jacking. Also, the removeable ones are held in place by the lower
front a-arm clevise nuts, so those will need to be unfastened on each side,
too.
Once its out, much the same needs to be done with the e-brake bellcrank
bracket just in front of the pan. The pan drops down, then moves forawrd about
6" to clear the oil pump pickup inside. Once the bracket is cut out, a short
piece of angle-iron can be welded or bolted to the oem piece, and holes
drilled to screw it to the frame rail where it was originally welded. Good
luck- J DeRyke
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