Project Garage: Yukon Engine Swap (Part 3) — Fabricating Engine Brackets
By Chuck CageThe Rear Engine Hook/TBI Electronics Pack Bracket
On the original engine, these were separate brackets. Since they’re right next to each other on the new engine — and the new engine is missing one of the “extra” cast threaded holes to hold the bracket part — we decided to combine the two.
First, we made another bracket just like the front engine hanger using the same technique as described above, but matched to the bolt hole pattern of the rear hook. Then, we created a paper template of the top part of the original TBI bracket.
The original TBI bracket featured some 90-degree bent tabs to increase strength, and we wanted to retain those in our new design. To accomplish this, we folded the paper around the sides of the original bracket, then traced it. When folded flat, the tabs look like “wings,” which we’ll fold over last.
This bracket had no curves, so we were able to cut most of it right on the vertical band saw. The AirForce 250A bailed us out again as a couple of the edges in the deep curves of the “tabs” would have been impossible with the band saw. With the AirForce, we just zipped ‘em right off.
A little work with the angle grinder helped clean it up and round the corners a bit. We then marked, punched, and drilled each of the holes for the TBI pack, two to accept plastic locating pins on the back of the pack, and one for the bolt that’ll hold it to the bracket. The original bracket was threaded to accept a machine screw, but we couldn’t quckly find a matching tap in the shop. (We’ve got a pretty extensive tap & die set, but it seems like no matter how many you have, you can never find one to match an existing screw when you need it.) We did, however, have a spare bolt and nut that fit fine, so we just carefully tacked the nut to the back of the bracket.
Hey, laugh if you want, but we’ve seen the exact same thing on the underside of a 2005 Harley Davidson’s rear fender. It works.
Bending the tabs down was a bit of work. We clamped the bracket in our workbench vise, then used a large punch and hammer to get the tab started. Once it was bent a bit, we went at it with the hammer directly.
Next we cleaned up both pieces and MIG welded the new bracket onto the rear engine hook we made first. A little grinding to clean up the welds, and we’re done.
On page 3 we begine the wiring loom bracket and finish up.
August 25th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
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January 17th, 2007 at 10:33 am
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