More motor mount musings

After I found the chassis height and fore/ aft position of the engine, I needed to load the front of the chassis with the engine weight. I purchased the engine mounts from Mac's Antique Auto for the Mercury, and bolted them fast to the engine (they bolt into the waterpumps). Then I took a piece of strap steel and bent it into a profile to fit the engine mount studs, and come close to the side rails of the frame. Bolting this all in place and letting the engine down on it, I found that my concerns about the engine being too high for the hood were unfounded. Lots of room. Plus I had about 5" of clearance under the pan.

Trouble was I still felt the torsion bars placed the front of the chassis too high. So last night I shifted both torsion bar levers one spline done (this amounts to about 1.5" of height at the front of the frame. Unfortunately, that means the engine is about 1.5" lower which is not enough pan clearance. So I'll have to reattach my mock up motor mounts at a higher point. Getting this part right is important since there are a lot of other items that depend on this.

Once I get the engine just right, I'll replicate my mock up in tube, then weld strong angle pieces to it for the engine mounts.