My front subframe is going together. I intend to attach all the driveline, brakes, suspension and drop the engine into it before the whole lot goes into my car as
an entire assembly. At the moment the frame is going together on milk crates (you can never have enough, eh? ) but when the engine is ready to go in I want to be able to have the whole lot on wheels so I can move it round.
Anyone done anything similar? I'm trying to work out the basis for it and a suitable height off the ground to set the whole lot to.
Suggestions, ideas, contraptions?
Thanks.

how do people go about wheeling around for the tower studs

But I would Gte some wood and packing wood under all four's of the subfame.
Lower body over the Studs...Just so you can swing the studs into the holes.
Pack to adust under the Subbyt strsighten the Stubs up the hole
And lower in pregretion
Bolt up and raise shell with subby then lower again and that should settle subby with Shell
Could use old tyre for some give also

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Leave the alternator, oil filter AND oil filter fitting off the engine if installing the whole lot from underneath.......or else you will scratch and / or slightly bend the panel right behind the grille (its a tight fit)

Its usually easiest to have the body on a hoist and lower it down over the subframe (so it goes STRAIGHT down..... ) but not everybody has a hoist

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[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

I think it's easier to build the frame up, then put it in and install the engine from the top.

It would be bloody hard to line up the tower studs with all that weight...

Then again we dropped the moke body over the complete assembly, but it was a pain..and we needed a few of us at the back to lift the rear end of the moke up so that it was level as we lowered the crane...it'd be harder with a mini.



As the engine is already out of the frame, i would put it in after..

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

It can be done without lifting the rear of the car..... as Gafmo said, just pack the subframe with blocks of wood, and tilt it to the required angle..... or fit tyres to the brakes and use them to roll the subframe to the required angle.


OR you could leave the tower studs OFF.... and put em in after. Not an easy job either, the factory studs dont have much exposed length for tightening after fitment....... unless you make some custom longer studs......

Hmmmm...... that reminds me.... I was looking at a friends race car which is getting built..... he has replaced his tower studs with long hex-drive (allen key) bolts. Looked VERY impressive. I think he had to enlarge the stud holes in the bulkhead marginally to do it though....

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[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

The bolt idea instead of tower studs is good. Hydro frames here in Oz had bolts, my wife and I wheeled 2 out of cars (motors fitted) and swapped them in a couple of hours. Just block them up level and drop the body over.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Ive always prefered to pull the engine out from the top with an engine crane, then take the subframe out from under the car... Dont have to lift the body so high into the air then!

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

I "liberated" a shopping trolley from infront of a house in the commission area, then cut the basket off - it's the best thing in the world for moving stuff like built subframes around - including car bodies

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

[quote="
Hmmmm...... that reminds me.... I was looking at a friends race car which is getting built..... he has replaced his tower studs with long hex-drive (allen key) bolts. Looked VERY impressive. I think he had to enlarge the stud holes in the bulkhead marginally to do it though....[/quote]

I Want Pic's

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I still intend dropping the car over the lot
(I have a rover subframe, which has one massive bolt at each end, not two studs),
but it shouldn't be too hard to remove the engine if it gets in the way.

One of the problems I had was that after dropping an engineless subframe to change a rack was that the front was just not quite square. It sprung a few millimetres once the subframe was down and it was hell to get back in. Ultimately it meant relieving some of the front box with an angle grinder and many trial fits. Would have been impossible with the engine in the subbie.