markjw Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I picked up this EJ/EA adapter plate today in Portland. I bought it from a board member who won it as a door prize at the Stevenson, Wash. WCSS a couple years ago. It's a SJR brand plate. The plate is all I got. My concern is, shouldn't there be some bolts or some kind of off-set fasteners that go with this plate? The "pairs" of holes at 2 o'clock and 11 o'clock are threaded. Maybe I'm just suppose to simply bolt into those sets of holes? I have my d/r tranny sitting on my bench, and I even put the plate up to the bell housing, but still couldn't figure it all out. My EJ motor is still in the legacy w/ a dead auto tranny hooked to it. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Also, shouldn't there be some locating pins in the mating surface of this bell housing? Should I get some? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capn_r Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Yes, get some dowels. The adapter plate has both the ea and ej dowel locations drilled and they ensure alignment. On your bolts,find out what thread pitch they are (could be sae or uss treads although they are probably metric) and measure the length you need for sufficient engagement and you should be good. IIRC you will need to drill the threads out of the engine case in one position for the bolt to pass through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Thanks for the reply....I'm gonna pull the single range out of this Loyale tonight. I'll probably find some dowels there. If I had the ej motor handy, I could probably figure it out easily enough. Mostly, I just want to know if the fasteners are something I may have in the bolt box or, can be bought at the hardware store. (I don't wanna get hung up in the middle of the install). Sounds like I just need some correct length and pitch bolts. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capn_r Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Scott may see your question and reply with pitch and length. If you do source bolts you will want to make sure they don't protrude past flush on the plate so they won't try to act like a jack bolt against the transaxle or engine case. A little bolt end trimming and a flat washer or two should suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Might want to talk with "Scott in Bellingham" (aka SJR). He could tell you exactly what is needed for his adapter plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 There are studs in the engine block for the bottom 2 holes. The 4 in the middle are just for dowels. Re-use the stockers. The top 4 should have bolts, they have to be a pretty precise length to get full engagement but not bottom out. You'll have to drill out the threads on the engine bellhousing so you can bolt the plate to the engine block, and then install like normal. My MRose adapter plates used fairly standard threads, so the hardware could easily bought at a hardware store. I would assume SJR did the same, but I'm not sure. I do know a couple guys with unused SJR plates....I could see if they have any more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 You guys have pretty much cleared it all up for me. I have a good handle on it now. Thread pitch and bolt dia. I can figure out on my own. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 holes are 5/16 course thread and 3/8 course thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 You'll have to drill out the threads on the engine bellhousing so you can bolt the plate to the engine block, and then install like normal. He won't need to drill out the threads in his engine. SJR plate uses smaller bolts (5/16) that fit through the M10 threads in the block. Personally, I don't like using smaller than stock bolts to hold the engine to trans, but that's how some people make their plates. (SJR, and I think Rguyver's aluminum plates?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 never had a issue with smaller studs, even on my offroader , no ones ever complained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallwelder81 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 how does the whole "pitchstopper" rig work? is that totally fabricated? or does it ummm-----tie into the spare tire mount, maybe>? anyone have pics? i know this is a somewhat dated thread. and i realize that its not specifically about the pitchstopper. but they are at least semi-related. also, does anyone have SPECIFIC and exact lengths of the studs to the plates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 The pitch stopper is always a fabricated beast. And it depends highly on what body the adaptor plate will be used on. The studs don't need to be any specific length - just measure how thick the bell-housing of the engine or tranny (whichever is applicable for the hole) is at that point and make it about 1.25" to 1.5" longer to account for the thickness of the adaptor plate and enough extra to thread on a washer/nut combo. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Use a pitch stopper bracket from a phase 1 (pre 99) EJ 5mt. It bolts to the top of the d/r EA transmission just fine. You will need a shorter pitch stopper rod if you're stock height, if you have a 3" crossmember drop the EJ pitch stopper will work too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyeights Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 The adapter plate in addition to providing a bolt in no-drilling solution also has locations for both EA and EJ dowels to lock the engine and trans in proper alignment. Your solution of 4 nuts might work but it does not guarantee proper alignment, not to mention the lost surface area when clamping the 2 together. If it works for you then by all means keep doing it. I wouldn't knock SJR's products though. They are top quality and well respected here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Your method does not guarantee proper input shaft alignment. You may choose to do it that way and it may work for you. That's fine. Many of us prefer to have more precise and immutable alignment between the two entities using the dowel pin locations provided on each. That is our choice. You have made your point clear. But it is the *opinion* of myself and probably many of the mods here as well as the members that your method is dangerous to preace to others as they may not utilize the concept correctly or with enough degree of accuracy based on your small, single sentance description to effectively accomplish a mating of EA and EJ components that will not result in damage to one or both. It is very likely that your poor communication skill and your personal attacks will in fact get your banned (again). Perhaps you can create a post or a web page somewhere that details this concept more fully - the how's and the why's - in order to show that it works and is safe - if it is and if that's possible to do so. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I'm annoyed to find that my post was deleted along with the garbage that spliff was spewing, seeing as I gave some good information. Baby getting chucked with the bathwater ect. So I'll repeat it: The dowel pins are not there to stop the engine and transmission from shifting once it's all put together. The static friction between the surfaces of the bellhousing halfs where they're clamped together by the bolts is what does that. What the dowel pins do is align the crankshaft and the transmission input shaft so they are spinning on the same centerline. If that alignment isn't set by the dowel pins, then the crank bearings and transmission input bearings are running under a side load all the time. They aren't built for that, and the splash lubricated transmission bearings will fail first. While running without dowel pins will work at first, the transmission will soon begin to howl/whirr/growl while being driven and when in neutral with you foot off the clutch. If you want to build an adapter plate on the cheap, go to a local tech college and talk to the machining department. They're often willing to do small simple projects like that, and punching 10 holes in the right place in a 1/2 plate is easy with a milling machine. I have a printout of the coordinates and sizes of the holes needed from when I did my adapter plate. Take it home and cut out the plate to match the bellhousings and you have your precise adapter plate for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.