Engine Off-Center

[mtalley69type1]

In addressing various cooling issues, I was inspecting the engine seal and noticed that there is a noticeable gap on the driver's side, next to the 3/4 cylinder head. In looking at the other side, the engine tin is pushed up against the seal on that side, almost to the metal surrounding the engine compartment.

I have a header and single quiet pack on the engine now, but when the stock muffler and pea shooters were on the car, the tailpipes were only slightly off-center of the openings at the bottom of the apron.

Give me some ideas on where to look. I'll grab some pics later if it will help. I've already checked the rear tranny mounts (closest to the engine) and both are in good shape and the tranny seems to be roughly centered in the cradle. Edited to add: Yes, I already checked all the engine mounting bolts and they are tight.

I think I'll jack up the car and check the rear body mounts here in a minute and see if I see anything further.

[mtalley69type1]

Update - The rear body mounts look to be centered. There seems to be no collision damage to the quarter panels under the fender, etc.

Wondering out loud if maybe the front transmission mount is a little off skew, thus rotating the whole assembly about the axis created by the rear-most tranny mounts. Guess I'll crawl up under at some point and check.

[bigvwfan]

Have someone drive behind you to see if your car looks straight going down the road.

Then I would try to loosen the transmission mounting bolts and move your engine back in to place. It would be the gap letting in heat that you need to worry about most.

[mtalley69type1]

That all makes sense. Yeah, that gap next to 3/4 is what I figured is not helping my engine heat, so I was looking to address that when I noticed how tight the other side was.

Next time my wife is behind me in another vehicle, I'll have her see if it looks like the car is "crabbing" sideways.

May be that the vehicle has been in a collision at some point but it is not evident from any bodywork or filler.

To be honest, I don't remember the engine being crooked before, say, a few months ago. I have recently had it out and back in, but like I said, I made sure all the bolts are tight. The clutch and throwout bearing don't seem to be binding.

With our typical summer well on its way (90's to 100's and humid), I really want to keep the engine as cool as possible. I have a line on a vented engine lid ('71 up with two rows of slots) that I'm going to replace my solid lid with (since I'm doing bodywork right now anyway).

[Pfc J]

I noticed this on my 67 bug.

The drivers side valve cover is gapped farther away than the passenger side from the rear engine seal. The passenger side seal is tight and the valve cover is a bit tricky to remove.

I've had the engine in and out a few times, so far I can't come up with a good explanation.

[propflux01]

I believe it is just a result of 'torque twist' over time. I see it on Firewalls of Jet engines that I work on, where the constant rotational torque of the engine actually 'bends' the nacelle after many hours of use, resulting in the engine being closer on one side of the nacelle than the other.

[Dusty1]

If the car has been run with broken transmission mounts both the engine and transmission will hop around as a unit. That's hell on the frame horns in the back. Maybe it ran with ONE broken transmission mount and bent one frame horn, it didn't bend symmetrical so now the engine is off center.

I've seen at least one Rust Belt Special that managed to break both rear frame horns. The previous owner's improvised engine hanger (he never bothered to fix the broken frame horns) was even scarier than the broken frame horns. Apparently the only material he had on hand was hand-me-down cyclone fence...