Well here we go folks,...I actually started making............................... progress.
As I stated this morning, the plan was to strip the engine compartment, and trial fit the 250. While that sounds like a few hours,...it actually ended up being all day.
As usual for me, I took the long road to get to short cut town,...starting with one of the struts.
Of all the damn tools I have,... the one thing I do not have is a 20mm anything. I think the nut on top of the strut is 20mm,..and since I didn't have it, I looked for the equivalent SAE size (7/8"). The deep well, 6 pt. 7/8 Craftsman socket I have gave it up on some other project, and was hiding a crack that managed to reveal itself as soon as I pulled the impact trigger. Effectively rounding the nut, and jamming itself on at the same time. After I got it off, could I find a stinkin' 1/2" drive 7/8 anything to replace my broke ass socket?...... Nope.
Ended up trying to loosen it w/ a wrench.
Now you know as well as I that trying to turn that nut w/ a wrench will only manage to turn the strut shaft,...and sure enough,..it did. Since I was replacing that strut, and I didn't care about damaging it,..I looked for a large vise grip to lock that dude in place.
Could I find a large pair of vise grips?.....Nope.
I got out a pipe wrench.
That hardened, shiny smooth strut piston just laughed at my pipe wrench. It spun, and spun.
Am I getting p issed off now? Yep.
So, I decided to end my frustration and cut that shaft completely in two w/ a cut off blade on my grinder,...which I do.
**Are you sharp enough to figure that by now, I am taking the long road to short cut town...since I am replacing all of the front end stuff, INCLUDING the struts, and the strut mounts?
Not me. I didn't figure that out until AFTER I cut the old strut out w/ a cut off wheel,...and immediately after the third nut that held said strut mount was removed where in the strut mount fell through to the floor,..w/ the other half of the cut off strut piston still attached.
DUURRRR!!
I moved on past that.
While removing the 200/C-3, the worthless C-3 auto trans managed to up chuck about a qt of trans fluid despite the fact that I dropped the pan, and drained it.....I had my own little Exxon Valdeez incident going on under my car w/o my knowledge.
Did I have something to stop the Tsunami of red from covering all of the tools, bolts, nuts, and dirt I had laying on the floor?....Nope.
I used the Saturday newspaper to sop up the red fungue.
I moved on past that.
I drug the C-3, and the old 200 out into the driveway, and bolted my 250 bare block to my 4R70w and swung thatpair over into my now bare engine compartment.
Does it go right in, and settle into the factory mount pads that the 200 used to occupy?....Nope.
I have to modify the factory mounts to allow the wider 250 to fit.
Ordinarily, I'd at least use the trans mount to "locate" the combination, so I could concentrate on the getting the monts right.
Do I have a trans mount that will allow me to "locate" the combination?....Nope.
This transmission hangs 2 full inches past the factory trans mount. Besides,.... in all the time, and with all the cars I've dealt with, I've never seen a trans mount so badly mangled as the one under this car. It appears the little old lady that owned it before, must've ran over a boulder,..as the trans mount was badly bent, and distorted, literally torn.
I spent the next hour beating, prying, and bending the trans mount back to a state where the crossmember ( which was also bent to hell) could fit again. After all of that, the trans mount was so far to the rear of the factory location,...I just put a jack stand to hold it there, until after I figured out the motor mounts.
I had to cut the motor mounts, to allow the engine to drop,..but by the time I tackled that,..I could only manage one before the wife started "reminding" me that it was 5:00. So I did one.
I don't care what anybody thinks,.....This thing will be so damn cool.
Sorry for the blurry pic,..that is supposed to show the difference between how low I had to redo the mount.
compare to this: