Sunday, August 10, 2008

Motor Coupler Pt. 1

The motor arrived earlier in the week, but there is still quite a bit of work before it can be put in the car. I actually need 3 pieces manufactured:
1. Coupler to link transmission shaft to motor shaft.
2. Adapter plate to link motor to transmission housing. (The motor and transmission must be linked solid with no play between them.)
3. Motor mount.

Yesterday and today was spent making item #1. Matt, one of his friends, and I were in the machine shop for quite a few hours to get a start on it. Although I won't be using the clutch in my conversion, we decided to use the inner piece of the clutch assembly for our coupler. It has a series of teeth to match with the transmission shaft that we didn't want to manufacture.

To dismantle the clutch assembly, Matt ground down the four spacers then popped it open with a flat-head screwdriver.


The piece on the far right is what we'll use for part of our coupler.

The design will consist of a steel collar around the motor shaft with a key inset into the motor shaft. A flange will then be welded to the collar with bolt holes. Holes will also be drilled into the toothed plate salvaged from the clutch. Bolt the salvaged plate to the newly created flange and we have our coupler. An additional bolt will hold the coupler onto the end of the motor shaft. Clear as mud right?

Creating the steel collar for the motor shaft...


Room for the key...


The clean motor shaft...


With part of our new coupler...


My help...


In other news, the removed engine parts have found new homes! Some have been sent to Texas while the rest took a drive to Los Angeles.


Good luck on your restorations guys!

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