I've gotten quite a bit of work done on the Tercel lately. The adaptor plate is back from the shop, and I'm currently in the process of drilling it for the transmission. The picture above shows (sort of) the setup for marking the holes. The motor is stood up on end, the adaptor plate, hub, clutch and flywheel are assembled onto it, and then the transmission is placed on top. The transmission centers itself by means of the shaft in the clutch disk. The holes are then marked with transfer punches, and any other necessary mods are also marked. I have to make a cut out for the clutch slave cylinder, and also one for the CV axle. Packaging is kind of tight in this thing!

And of course, check out the cool paint job I've applied to the motor. Rattle cans rock! Due to the transverse layout of this car, the motor is going to be a lot more visible than in my truck, so I might as well make it look cool!

The picture below shows the adaptor plate as received from the machine shop. You can see the countersunk holes for the motor mounting bolts, and the hub. The hub contains a bronze bearing stock insert that replaces the pilot bearing in the engine and centers the flywheel. A pretty slick setup, if I do say so myself!

I've been working on my truck, too. I've been trying all sorts of aerodynamic mods, with varying degrees of success. The current mod consists of a bumper cover that lowers the bottom edge of the car, deflecting a lot of air that would otherwise pass underneath to the sides and upward. I think I may have picked up a couple mph with this mod.

Anyway, that's about all for now. Stay tuned!