Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Shifter adapter, upgraded radiator

Adapter plate:
I have learned that the mounting hole pattern and x-y-z location of the auto shifter is entirely different than that of the manual shifter. Also, some sheet metal cutting in the cavity where the shifter goes will be needed as well.

Turns out Martin Gutkowski in the UK offers a very good looking aluminum adapter plate that locates the shifter to the correct position and height, so I purchased a CAD copy of his design:

 DMCUK shifter adapter plate
The 12 stand-offs are meant to be cut in the same swoop as the plate and stacked three high in each corner in order to raise it 3 x 10 mm = 30 mm. The concept of stacking multiple stand-offs seemed a littly wiggly to me so I opted for purchasing them separately as one-piece 30 mm pieces from McMaster Carr instead. I e-mailed the file to Ed's machinist in Florida and here is how it turned out:
Adapter plate from Decker Machine
Very nice!
 
Now, this does not alleviate the need to cut into the frame but I'll deal with that later when it's time to install it.
 
Upgraded radiator:
The high output engine is going to require more heat rejection, especially here in Texas. I have looked around for a high performance radiator and the best alternative seems to be the radiator offered by Ed Uding at DMC Europe. This aluminum radiator can be found here and was highly recommend to me by another Delorean that had swapped in an LS1 engine.