I like the idea of the balance bar attachment to the furthest forward pair of bumper bolts in the trunk. It keeps the lift elements far from the bodywork and you are lifting a bit more forward than the far rear.
I would make the engine the mobile element at a set height, leveled the way you would want (with some minor adjustability) and then set the front of the X at the height you need it to be to get the engine and body level when the body is dropped down.
It may take a couple of trials to get it right.
Did you ever make use of the engine bay hulk to discern the initial placement and cuts or did I miss you dumping that approach?
Thanks for the input, Karl. I made the Hoist tool today, pics below.
I still have the go-cart X1/9. I'm kinda feeling I should just cut mine & be done with it, rather than spending what may turn into a week or more futzing with the shell. My plan is just to cut on the cautious side following the various examples, & then see how it looks.
It is pretty much just as it looks in the photos. When we did Rodgers we had the 3 of us so we lowered the chassis right onto the subframe and aligning it by moving the engine, jostling etc. When I do it at my small garage, I have an advantage of an overhead beam in the perfect place to lift the tail up in the air with a chain pulley connected to the rotisserie cross bar.
Remove your passenger side A-arm - that'll free up a lot of space to both remove the FIAT drivetrain and put in the K20 thru the passenger wheel well. You might as well remove the right-side A-arm or at least have it unbolted and bolts slid out to accept the subframe. Have the engine bolted to the subframe of course.
Make sure you've slotted your rear tunnel cover that houses the handbrake redirection wheels - mine didn't fit with the subframe and neither did Rodger's (he used some bad-ass dental tool to grind it then/there).
I've put the K20 in and out of my car some 3 times now but haven't hooked anything up to the drivetrain (hoses, drivelines etc) so that's probably all the hints I have. I'm sure Rodger and others have more to add.
Good luck and take your time!
Thanks Darius. I was going to drop the entire suspension, just to get everything out the way. The way the car is situated in my driveway, I have to go in from the rear or the passenger side, so that's good that you suggest that path.
I couldn't find any reference to 'slotting the tunnel cover' in the MWB literature - I did see Rodger's mention of it, but I don't know what you mean by that. Do you have a pic you can share? I also have to holesaw the vertical rear post as you did for the shifter cable pass-through, I want that as neat as possible also.
Got the top of the engine disconnected today, and then jacked it up with ramps in the front, so I can drain the fluids & drop the drivetrain tomorrow, assuming the weather doesn't go as bad as predicted. I put my canopy back up in the driveway, but it's really more of a sunshade than a foul weather cover.
This morning I spent a couple hours figuring out the hoist brackets. I went through all my misc piles of stuff to find something appropriate. I settled on sections cut from a collapsible bed frame I picked on one bulk-pickup weekend in the neighborhood, I figured the angle iron would come in handy at some point.
Put two sections back-to back to make a U-channel (was cut in half after this pic). It already had a pair of keyed slots that match the OD of the bumper shock bolt (14mm?) Then I cut two short sections, that will prevent the hoist from pulling the bracket rearward when lifted.
Stitched some welds to unite the U channels. Welded the cross brace, then painted an ugly orange to make it easy for me to find them when I put them somewhere safe for storage.
Ready for test fitting
Left
Right
Balance beam will go approximately thus.. with trunk lid removed of course. I think I'm all good here.