SR20 Engine Mounts

[Wrenchands]

I have finally gotten to the point in my rebuild where I need to figure out how to make my SR20 engine fit on the frame. I have seen many pictures, and read many discussions on installing the SR20, but have never seen blueprints or measurements. I guess I have a couple of questions for you SR20 guys.

1. Are there measurements somewhere that I just haven't came across yet?

2. What year 510 Insulator and motor mount are used? Can you purchase the "simple motor mounts" mentioned, or do they need to be custom made?

3. Are the current motor mounts on the frame in the way, or just in the wrong spot? If they are in the wrong spot only, would it be possible to just develop brackets that mount to them to avoid cutting them off the frame?

Thanks for any information you can provide, and of course I will have many more questions to come as I slowly piece the lady together.

[toolsnob]

Wrenchands,

This is the fun part! Custom fabrication. I have mounted (2) sr's and (1) Ka24E in roadsters and (1) Ka24E in a 510. In each case I have cut the mounting pads off the chassis and made my own. Reason is you need to make the car fit the drivetrain and not the other way. I have seen one roadster that runs a KA24DE that uses the stock mounting points on the chassis but had to relocate his alternator.

For pads I have used stock roadster, 510's and polyurethane from a cj jeep. I had an idea on the next swap to use the circular poly mounts like hondas and the hotrod world uses.

What ever you use is up to you because you cut and make the mounts to fit. There is no real measurement or blue prints (atleast I haven't seen any). Basically I center the drivetrain side to side and use the crank pully bolt for my center, I center the stick shift in the 4spd location. I use a 1 inch block spacer to space the tranny off the x-member, I also leave about 1/2 inch of space for the oil filter above the chassis, I then level out the oil pan and fabricate the mounts while the drivetrain is held in position by jacks.

Post if you have more questions. A real good source for info is spriso motorsports (aka Michael Spreadbury) he gave me all my info and I just use his ideas.

Alexi

[Dave]

1) None that I have seen. All our cars are a bit different since most of them have seen their fair share of fender benders in their lives. Thus a "standard" set of measurements would probably not be worth much.

2) 1968 to 1973 Datsun 510 isolators.

3) No. The OEM mounts won't work at all. Just scrap the whole thing and fabricate the new ones using the 510 isolators.

If you need some pics, PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send some to you.

Dave

[spriso]

The other posters are correct, to do it right, you really need to cut the mounting pads off of the frame and start over, make the chassis fit the engine.

Here is a shot of a typical driver's side motor mount that I build when we do SR conversions into roadsters:



Next time I build a set of mounts, I will take more photos to show the process...

Michael
spriso.motorsports

[toolsnob]

Michael,

That is one clean mount!

Alexi

[Wrenchands]

Thanks for the photos and information. This is a great site with great people. Hopefully one of these days I will post a picture of my finished roadster to show you guys that your time answering questions was time well spent.

[Cherry Blossom]

sorta bringing this thread back. what would you veterans recommend for the people such as myself that have absolutely no cutting/welding skills to do about these custom mounts/pads?
i really underestimated the difficulty of the engine mount fabrication so now im a bit worried if ill be able to do something like this.

also, does anyone know of any shops in socal that could do a sr20de swap into a roadster?
thanks,
cb

[TR]

My recomendation is to jump in there and go for it. There are easier projects to learn on, but with the advice and help from a nearby friend and maybe a professional to help with the welding, you'll have a project you will truly be proud of!

Another thread went by with lots of shops in the socal area listed...

[Cherry Blossom]

thanks for the advice. the main problem i guess would be getting someone to come to my garage and actually fabricate the mount pads.
im gonna look for the thread with the socal shops.

[Datsundude]

Cherry Blossom,

If you really interested let me know, I found a guy here at El Monte CA where hwy 10 and 605 meet.
He done mostly 510 motor swap (KA, SR and L series) and done couple of roadsters swap him self too,
very nice guy and he don’t charge a lot, last time when I spoke with him, he’s asking $1000 to $1,200 for
a KA, SR swap you provide the motor, turbo will cost you more. SR turbo swap I think he is charging $2200
you provide motor.
He don’t have a shop, he does it at his back yard and garage, if you interested you can go and see his work,
I have seen it and it’s decent.

I bought a R16 motor from him that he removed from a KA swap. I will use this motor until I have enough cash and let
him do the swap. Hopefully summer 2006.
So let me know if you interested.

Ben

[Cherry Blossom]

thanks datsundude. i definately let you know if it comes down to it. thats a pretty good price for labor.
i guess first thing is to find an importer in socal that carries sr20de's in stock. all the places i knew seem to not have any right now.

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[Cherry Blossom]

thanks alving. tried marco already.
edit: called tsr too. seems everyone is just stocking the det's as of right now.

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[Cherry Blossom]

hmmm..i wonder if he'll ship