Is this how I'm supposed to build it? [LONG]

[tim at unrealexpectations.ath.cx (stetson)]

K then......

Since I have _2_ engine swaps to complete now I decided it was time to
make the magical mythical engine swap brace.

I have seen them mentioned as the INDESPENSIBLE tool for a swap and saw
one in Anson's "Let's kill the engine from sustained 8K RPM" movie
but can not find anything that addresses PLANS for said device.

Well if that's the way it's gonna be I'll just fab my own!

The pics (you knew they were coming, right?) are @:

http://unrealexpectations.ath.cx/drupal/?q=image/tid/67

And that's what I have done. Looks damn good too! But I would like to
troll for suggestions as now that it's together I already see areas for
improvement, most notably where the all thread comes through the spanning
2x4's. It should probably go through a block of 2x4 so that the weight is
distributed over a wider area and the washers don't dig into the spanning
2x4's when supporting the engine.

The other area I'm wondering about is the "feet" on either side and if
they should be longer? They are at 8-9" ATM and I'm thinking maybe 1'
would be a better "footprint" to spread the weight out.
What do you think?


But so the next person looking to build one of these can find a rough
outline of materials needed, I will list the materials used.

They be:

1.)  2 - 5' 2x4's
2.)  2 - 3/4" x 3 1/2" blocks cut lengthwise from a 2x4
3.)  2 - 9-12" long 2x4's for the feet
4.)  2 - 6-9" long 2x4's for all thread anchor area (tentative, but can't
hurt)
5.)  2 - 1/2" all thread 2'-3' long (I went w/ 2')
6.)  2 - 1/2" x 13 (approx. 1 3/4" long) couplers (look like REALLY long
nuts)
7.)  2 - 1/2" x 8" long carriage bolts
8.)  2 - 1/2" x 7" (approx.) hooks w/ threaded ends
9.)  4 - 2" x 1/2" I.D. washers
10.) 4 - 1 1/2" x 1/2" I.D. washers
11.) 4 - 1/2" nuts
12.) 4 - 1/4" x 4 1/2" long carriage bolts
13.) 4 - 1/4" washers (standard size)
14.) 4 - 1/4" nuts
15.) 1 - 1/4" drill bit 4-5" long (drilling area, not entire length)
16.) 1 - 1/2" drill bit 4" long (drilling area, not entire length)
17.) 1 - 1 1/4" to 1 3/8" spade drill bit ( I didn't have/use this but I
looked for it, and not finding it i used the 1/2" bit to hack out a
countersinking area for the carriage bolt head.)

A.) Take the 2 5' 2x4's the line up and sandwich the 3/4' x 3 1/2" blocks
at the ends and hold in place by using masking tape from outside 2x4 to
opposite 2x4.

B.) Drill 4 - 1/4" holes through the sandwiched boards (try to make them
straight), put the 1/4" x 4 1/2" carriage bolts through holes, washer and
nut the other side, and tighten.

C.) Take the 9-12" 2x4's and measure/mark 1/2 the length and width of the
2x4 while it's standing on it's 1 1/2" side. (OPTIONAL! Use the spade
bit and drill on your center marked area 1/2 - 3/4" deep. Then...) Drill
center marked areas through 3 1/2" width of the 2x4 (trying to keep it
straight again) using the 1/2" bit.

D.) Put the 1/2" carriage bolt through the 2x4's w/ the rounded "head" end
resting in the countersunk area. Whack the bolts w/ a hammer a couple of
times to make sure they are seated and out of your way.

E.) (OPTIONAL! But I'm going to do this) Take the 6-9" 2x4's and
measure/mark the 1/2 width and length while they are laying on their 3
1/2" side and drill through the center marked area w/ the 1/2" drill bit.

F.) Stand the 9-12" 2x4's on their 1 1/2" edge w/ the threads of the
carriage bolts on top and then put the threads through the middle of the
3/4" spaced center of the 5' assembly. Using 1 - 2" washer, 1 - 1 1/2"
washer, and 1 - 1/2" nut per side, put them on each side in that order and
tighten (loosely).

G.) Take the 2 - 2' x 1/2" pieces of all-thread and put a nut 6-9" from
one side, Follow w/ 1 - 1 1/2" and 1 - 2" washer in that order and then
the "optional" 6-9" 2x4 and finally the 1/2" x 13 coupler threaded on
until there is approx. 1/2" of I.D. threaded area left to screw something
into.

H.) Insert the above assemblies, coupler end first, through the 3/4" space
in the 5' assembly (which hopefully by this time is set up on the fender
rails of the machine under the knife).

I.) Take the 2 - 1/2" threaded hooks and hook them through the hoist holes
of the engine and join to the coupler end of the assembly above it turning
ONLY the coupler to thread it on.

J.) Now you should be ready to hoist the engine enough to loosen and
remove the mounts and then drop the puppy (figuratively of course, I'm not
QUITE as bad as Anson.  ;^} )

I apologize to our metric members as I'm NOT going to invest the time
necessary to do all the conversions and notation of such. I'm in a SAE
land and so think SAE.

I'm probably re-inventing the wheel (again) here but I thought that it
would be nice to have a spec'ed out listing of materials and methods to
craft this puppy.

As you can see from the pics I have not yet implemented a few of the steps
listed above (the 6-9" 2x4 piece) in my design but now it's all together I
think I will as it's a good idea. This is why nails were expressly ignored
for construction purposes. Another reason is that I may wish to use this
on another VW or (god forbid!) car. The sizes for engine compartment width
were different between the Golf and the Roc so I made it adjustable.

Materials costs were approx. $50 (I got the wood for free from my
bro-in-law for doing the Chicago PC fixit run) for hardware & wood (I'm
guess-timating here).

You'll notice 2 other pics lumped in w/ the brace pics. There is a story
here.

Did you ever move into a new apartment, get married, have a baby, etc. and
amongst the well wisher gifts is the obligatory toaster oven that you find
is absolutely useless for cooking and NOT something you want running in
your kitchen during the summer? It usually gets relegated to a space
like the garage or basement when you finally come to the above
realizations.

I have found a use for this Moby Dick of appliances.

Do you like painting car parts? Do you hate the drying time of the paint
products being extremely long and not always accurate? I have w/ the wheel
pimping project and so have found a way to accelerate the drying
(it's actually baking now) process.

In the pics you can see the center inserts for the wheels being "cured"
after an early morning painting session for at least 1/2 day @ 250F. After
cooling, this should make sure that I don't encounter any more wrinkling
of prior coats when applying a new one.

The wheels will be treated to this process. But how?

By using the humongous box that the new air compressor came in (a large
box on top of a smaller "sleeve" box bottom) that is large enough for the
wheels not to touch the edges. The toaster oven will be on the floor w/ 1
of Eric's front engine mount braces being used as a stand to hold 1 wheel
above the oven (I'm VERY sorry Eric, but I was going to put it in w/ the
3A swap and since that's indefinitely postponed due to rassle-frassin'
83-84mm PISTONS I have yet to install it and it's construction material
is PERFECT for this application.) then place the big compressor box over
the whole she-bang and let them roast for @ least 1/2 day @ 300-350F.

How's that for a cheap-ass painting auto clave?
(Or at least a recyclable use of worthless appliance?)

Groovin' on a new batch of paint fumes,

Tim


Uh-oh -- I've let the cat out of the bag.
Let me, then, straightforwardly state the thesis I shall now elaborate:
Making variations on a theme is really the crux of creativity.
		-- Douglas R. Hofstadter, "Metamagical Themas"