I worked on the shock tower more yesterday. I dropped the engine back into the frame to check the notch I made and of course it wasn't enough for the York to clearance the tower.




The notch was good and made the room I was looking for but I just needed to make it a little taller.





Yep I'm glad I checked before I'd welded anything.




Not the prettiest welds but I was able to box the notch in.




I cut some tabs that fit and boxed the notch off.




I might clean the welds a little more before I paint everything.




There is a little more room now and I think enough but like everything I won't know for sure until it's running and drivable.




I do think I could have gone any higher on the tower with the notch.

 

And since I had the engine sitting in the frame I had to do a little teasing shots of what's to come. Plus a little motivation for myself and I just like looking at it.





This shows how much room I have between the intake and the hood.





Just sexy...




I got my new diff cover from Barnes 4WD so I'll get it installed and see if it clears the trackbar.




Dang Nab it's a great looking cover

 

Looks like it's really coming along!

 

Worked on it more today. I worked on the transmission/oil pan skid plate and am figuring out how to mount the support braces to the motor mounts.

 

Then I swapped out the diff cover on the front axle because the one I had was hitting the trackbar when I was at almost full bump. So I'd ordered a new cover from Barnes 4WD and it's a great looking diff cover. but the best part is that it worked like a charm and I now have a lot of room around the trackbar.





















Everything now clears.

 

As I work on this more and see how much extra room I got by doing the TNT Customs steering rotation/stretch I am more and more happy & tickled pink that I did it. I have so much more room now and I am not fighting to get everything to work together.
The steering I had before was a royal PITA and everything would hit at different times it always seemed.






Frame side trackbar bracket clears now with no issues.



And the tie rod clears just fine.




The axle side trackbar bracket has a little more room with the axle at full bump.




I wasn't sure if I was going to have to notch the frame or not nut I don't think I will.



Looks great

 

Great progress Rick. Everything is looking really good

 

So I went back and looked at things again on how to mount the engine/transmission skid braces and I think I have a plan but need to look at it and ponder a little more. So the idea is to just use some 1" flat stock 1/4" thick to make the mounts with and either weld or bolt those pieces to the motor mounts on the frame. And I'd use 2 pieces so that I captured the skid braces in between them. I hope these pictures make it more clear.

The passenger side is a lot easier OF COURSE since I don't have a upper link to worry about.









The drivers side is a little bit more complicated. My one thought is that if I weld these pieces of to the motor mount it might cause issues when pulling/installing the engine. So the other thought is to bolt flat stock to the motor mounts.

 

What about when the suspension travels up would the link hit the bracket?

 

The pictures of the drivers side are with the axle at what my full bump will be. I wanted to make sure that upper link would clear where ever I put that brace/mount at.