Hey Trentie! We can't wait for you to hook in and get it on the road! Sounds like a ripper of a conversion, especially with the MX6 Turbo added. ;)

Hey guys,
Sorry about the lack of updates, but I haven't been anywhere near Esther until yesterday, so yesterday I decided to hook in and get some stuff done.
Starting off with getting rid of the courier.

Gettin' my minitrucker on.


Loading the courier onto the truck to be taken away.


Cya, Courier! Glad to have the space back.


I decided to get stuck into the brakes:
Caliper off.


Rotor off.


Backing plate off.


So now I'm left with the enviable task of finding suitable bearings, machining stuff and whatnot, which I couldn't get done at 6pm, so I opted for some fun motor stuff.

Radiator support's gotta go.


Tadaa!


Dummy fitted the motor and radiator.


Almost looks like it's meant to be there.


The motor's coming down and forward with a World Cup crossmember with lowered rack mounts. It's just sitting there for mockup.


Enough clearance to run the factory mechanical fan.


Threw the exhaust and intake on to see how they go.


Again, almost looks factory.


Put the stock courier air cleaner on to see how it'd go.


Again, looks factory.


But it didn't fit under the bonnet, so I'll probably just go for a foam filter.

If anyone has any constructive input, I'm more than glad to hear it. :D

The motor still sits too high, so I've just ordered this world cup crossmember with lowered rack mounts from Burton Power over in the UK.

I thought it was a steal for around $220 delivered to my door.

Anyone used these before? I've only ever heard good things about Burton Power, but better safe than sorry, eh?

At long last, some progress:
Had to cut half of this channel out to fit the 'box in properly. It's the neatest job I could do while lying underneath the car and it'll be boxed in later:


The 'box is snug up in the trans tunnel:


Where the 'box mount sits compared to the crossmember mounts:


It's a poofteenth off using the factory crossmemeber:


I need to move the hole in the floor back:


This is pretty much where the motor will sit:

I then dropped the radiator in to check some clearances:


Dummy fitted the factory escort radiator fan. It just needs a little bit of love and it'll fit perfectly. The courier fan stuck out too much and fouled on the radiator:


How the shed looked around midnight last night when I headed to bed:


I'm curious to know as to what the general concensus is on using the factory gearbox crossmember. Is it strong enough?

Remember with World Cup cross members and in particular with lowered rack mounts it doesn't put the suspension back to the same geometry as standard as they were designed more for rally cars with +1" travel etc. And allowed for the change in steering geometry of these cars.
 
If your planning on having the car lowered or near standard you really need cranked steering arms to get the geometry back to something decent otherwise you could encounter some serious problems like bump steer etc. (not good!)
eg: http://www.motorsport-too...ear-side-p-268441.html
 
Also, as your using a lowered rack i can't recall if you need to use a group4 type extended steering coupling or not..? (someone might want to confirm this)
eg: http://www.motorsport-too...eel-long-p-267977.html

Nice work on the conversion.
Before you finish the engine & gearbox mounts be sure to check your prop shaft to gearbox angle (pinion angle) . Less angle the better. Too much angle will result in prop shaft vibration, premeture wear and possible failure - so pretty important to get this right.
Keep the photos coming - looking good.
http://www.justanswer.com/gm/4s1xy-gmc-sierra-2500-hd-check-pinion-aangle.html 

evobda2

Remember with World Cup cross members and in particular with lowered rack mounts it doesn't put the suspension back to the same geometry as standard as they were designed more for rally cars with +1" travel etc. And allowed for the change in steering geometry of these cars.

If your planning on having the car lowered or near standard you really need cranked steering arms to get the geometry back to something decent otherwise you could encounter some serious problems like bump steer etc. (not good!)
eg: http://www.motorsport-too...ear-side-p-268441.html

Also, as your using a lowered rack i can't recall if you need to use a group4 type extended steering coupling or not..? (someone might want to confirm this)
eg: http://www.motorsport-too...eel-long-p-267977.html

Brett

Nice work on the conversion.
Before you finish the engine & gearbox mounts be sure to check your prop shaft to gearbox angle (pinion angle) . Less angle the better. Too much angle will result in prop shaft vibration, premeture wear and possible failure - so pretty important to get this right.
Keep the photos coming - looking good.
http://www.justanswer.com/gm/4s1xy-gmc-sierra-2500-hd-check-pinion-aangle.html

Thanks for the input, guys.

Evobda2, I've heard of bump steer problems with the lowered rack mounts, but I didn't even know that those steering arms existed. Thank you very much for that.

And Brett, I already knew about the yoke angles having to match, but thanks anyway. Once the motor and 'box is fully set up, I'll set the car on the ground and get the angles with a magnetic 'devil's level', and match the angles on the modified courier diff mounts to that.

There's some good reading on suspension geo and bump steer etc on this page..
http://oldschool.co.nz/ph...rt&start=280