I cut the adapter plate for my EJ22 yesterday (out of a 12.5mm plate of alloy.) I've got the two bottom holes drilled but I wanted to know what people recommened for the top holes. I like the idea of welding up a offset bolt like 91Loyale (?) done. But my brother thinks it would be much easier to just put in some helicoils and use two bolts for each side. What I don't like about this is the room to get the bolts thru the engine side, and I also don't want to drill out those threads on the engine side because I plan to use a EJ trans later. Other option is wait till I have all the parts I need to build my AWD D/R EJ box, but that might be a couple of months.

 

What would you do with the top bolts on the adapter plate?

The threaded and welded is the hardest, but it is the most secure.

 

On mine, i have a set of two threaded rods welded together, theres just the right amount of offset for all the bolt holes to line up. would i do it again this way, not so much.

If you're careful and take your time, you can drill and tap the holes in an aluminum adapter plate to take two bolts without using helicoils.

 

The plates I sell are steel so stripping the threads is not an issue there, but on my personal EJ swapped hatch, I'm running an aluminum prototype plate which was built in the same way, for two bolts and no helicoils. The holes are really really close, but if you punch and drill accurately there's just enough metal between them to cut solid threads.

 

At any rate, I wouldn't worry about drilling out the threads in your engine. Down the road you can always just put that EJ trans on with a nut and a bolt.

 

I've got one of his plates. and had no worries about those 2 holes being too close.

 

my worry with the offset bolt like 91loyale did, is getting it tight enough on the engine side.

 

it wasn't that hard to get at the bolts on the engine. especially if you put the plate on the engine before dropping the engine in.

 

and yea, if you go to an EJ trans down the road. just get longer bolts, and slip a nut on the back. there's room.

id really like to do this swap, im just not too keen on me making an adapter plate..... was it hard at all? or was it a walk in the park?

id really like to do this swap, im just not too keen on me making an adapter plate..... was it hard at all? or was it a walk in the park?

Pretty easy with a good jig saw and almost a full can of WD40. Gotta keep the alloy cool other wise it sticks to the blade.. Trust me, the wiring was much, much, much, much harder. But after I got the hang of the wiring it wasn't so hard (I just hope it works:lol:)

 

I'll have a write up on most of the stuff I'm doing before the end of the year on my site.

im looking into going the other way with it... i want a d/r tranny in an ej car, so im not going to worry about wiring.... just everything else....

Just make sure you get the mounting points perfect. If the bellhousings are not perfectly aligned, it'll put lateral pressure on the pilot bearing, and the input shaft of the tranny. Just be sure to get things lined up right.

so how do you make sure everything is lined up right?

 

I have an EJ22, and I have a ECU(don't have wiring harness

 

But at the same time the adapter plate is expensive when I need to save up for other things SJR lift among those as well as college:eek:

my worry with the offset bolt like 91loyale did, is getting it tight enough on the engine side.

 

#1 don't use threaded rod. The stuff sucks. I used the bolts that used to hold the crossmember in, if you lifted the car, you don't need them anyway. Cut them to length, weld them together with a bit of space in between, and you're good. You have to adjust them a bit with a grinder so that they are "clocked" right when you thread them into the block. They do not need to be tight when they go in to the block, and the adapter plate holds them from turning. When you tighten down the nut on the tranny side, it preloads those threads plenty.

 

I'm looking into having the CAD students at my school convert the plans that my dad made up for the machining. The plans he made are perfect, I mean the plate clicks into place on top of the dowel pins and bolts.

 

The dowel pins are pretty crucial to the line up. Without them, you will always have some sort of preload on the tranny input shaft. Will the rest of the car last long enought that the tranny would become a problem though?