Rear sub-frame modifications…
This is probably one of the most contentious issues with this conversion. To be honest I was a little worried about this part, but after completing this section I’m happy that the strength of the car has not been compromised. It also means that the conversion is not reversible unless you have a spare rear sub-frame.
Mark and remove the right hand front corner the sub frame as shown.
Drill the corner as its stronger than a filed 90 degree angle.
To fit the rear engine mount, you will need to refit the sub frame and bolt the mount to the engine ‘A’ bracket. Then mark up the bracket and bolt on as shown above. Use locktite blue on all bolts. In my kit, one of the ‘A’ bracket bolts was at least 2-3 cm too short. You will need to source an alternative bolt. Also a number of washers is required to ‘pack out’ between the ‘A’ bracket, rubber bush and the gearbox. See below:
Note: I had to source a longer bolt for the bottom front ‘A’ mount as the supplied bolt was too short.
As you can see, I’ve marked all the blots that have been torqued up. This will save time later when check the final work.
I used a long screwdriver to two in the sub frame mounting holes to hold the sub-frame in place whilst you measure up.
You need to remove the above section from the old Rover engine mount. The sub-frame is upside down in this pic. The area red and green areas shown above provide enough clearance for the manifold.
Cut out an arc to clear the manifold.
After a bit of fettling it will all go together. Don’t forget to paint any exposed steel to prevent rust.
The above pic shows the sub-frame bolted in.
I decided to heat wrap my exhaust from engine to cat. The intermediate shaft bearing runs very close to the exhaust manifold. This is not a trivial task and requires patience.
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