RRC engine installation question

[bhoult]

Hi All,

We were putting the 3.9 in the '88 RRC today. We ran into resistance between the nose of the torque converter and the receiver in the center of the drive plate assembly. After fighting it for awhile, I pulled the engine up and measured the OD and ID of each piece. It's a tight fit, but it should go. I'm going to clean and grease the parts up and try the mating dance once again. Any pointers on getting these beasts to pair up?

[Gromit Dog]

It's pretty tight I know, but the best advice I would have would be angles.

Use a jack under the trans (with wood between) to get the mating surfaces of engine and bell housing as close as possible. Then take your time lining up the dowels/bolts etc.

Have fun wityh the "Mating dance"

[bhoult]

It's pretty tight I know, but the best advice I would have would be angles.

Use a jack under the trans (with wood between) to get the mating surfaces of engine and bell housing as close as possible. Then take your time lining up the dowels/bolts etc.

Have fun wityh the "Mating dance"

Thanks for the reply! I have a floor jack and a nice thick rubber block, that came with my 62 series IIa 88 from Victoria 15 years ago, under the transmission so we were able to achieve near perfect alignment. If I had an adjustable cradle I'd be a rocket surgeon. I didn't get a chance to try again last night, so I may try to borrow a cradle before I try it again. I can get a couple of bolts started because I end up with only 1/2" gap all the way 'round - so I was tempted just to cinch the motor back. But then I realize I'm dealing with a lot of aluminum structures here, so I'll try jostling first. Below you can see my favorite engine hoist accessory to date. (daughter)

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[exmod110]

make sure the torque converter is fully seated in the pump....

[bhoult]

make sure the torque converter is fully seated in the pump....

This is very timely advice. I took measurements from the back of the block to the plane where the drive plate adapter meets the torque converter - then measured from the front of the bell housing back to the mounting boss(es) on the torque converter and when netted, came up with an extra 17MM. (see I do speak Canadian).

In the Rave thingy it says that from the front of the torque converter housing back to the mounting boss should be 50MM, and I get 33, so I must not have seated the TC all the way when I took it out to replace the pump seal. It seemed to slip "home" when I put it over the input shaft, but there must be another phase of teeth matching up inside I've missed. I'll put some long bolts in the front tonight and run it back and forth, side to side, to see if I can get it to slip back another 11/16".....er I mean 17MM.

[bhoult]

I made a little seat out of plywood tonight and got comfortable in the engine bay. After about 5 minutes of back and forth wrangling with the torque converter I achieved another 7mm of backward movement, then boom - another 10mm and she was home! There is a definite "correctness" to how it feels when the TC is truly seated. The specified 50mm gap has been achieved. Directly after sobering up from the celebration we'll get the engine back in the bay and mounted:)