AJE K member raises engine

[JacobM03]

I installed an AJE K member in my 92 tbird with the 5.0 and it seemed like it raised the engine quite a bit, I took some mesurements from the frame where the k member sits and the mounts on the engine and it mesures about 2 inches taller than the stock K member!

I wanted to check it out as right now im pretty sure the hood won’t clear my distributor cap nor my 95 mustang alternator upgrade!

I tried contacting AJE about this and of course they aren’t emailing back.

So what should I do about this? Should I space down the k member 2 whole inches? Would this make a big change in the suspension geometry and handling and steering? Right now the lower and upper A arms are about equal.

I have also contacted someone that had the same issue but with a stockish 4.6 that they had to change the stock hood to clear the engine.

 

[racecougar]

That's going to screw up the drive line angles, too. I'd pursue AJE to make it right.

 

[JacobM03]

That's going to screw up the drive line angles, too. I'd pursue AJE to make it right.

I don’t even know how it would even clear the stock engine, it might but not by very much.

 

[JacobM03]

Just mesured with the hood indents and it seems like it might clear but will be very very close, so maybe I will have to shim the K member down a bit and not 2 whole inches but still they should write it somewhere that the K member relocates the engine higher.

 

[XR7-4.6]

This was always a worry I had with the AJE and even non-OEM motor mounts given my DOHC required K member shims. Driveline angle in particular concern me

 

[Zep5.0]

Well this is not the news I wanted today.

 

[JacobM03]

Also if you are running the one set of headers that do fit on the 5.0 and clears the steering shaft (I forgot what brand it is) but are 1 5/8 primaries, they dont fit anymore (on the passenger side, trying the driver side soon) you will have to bang up the floor to clear the collector flange if you want any clearance

 

[JacobM03]

Its hard to tell what the driveline angle looks like but it doesn’t seem too bad, I took a couple pictures but they aren’t very good as I am laying under the car

 

[JacobM03]

Also if you are running the one set of headers that do fit on the 5.0 and clears the steering shaft (I forgot what brand it is) but are 1 5/8 primaries, they dont fit anymore (on the passenger side, trying the driver side soon) you will have to bang up the floor to clear the collector flange if you want any clearance

Driver side clears by about 1/2” so should be good, I guess passenger side is getting the deadblow!

 

[JacobM03]

Driver side clears by about 1/2” so should be good, I guess passenger side is getting the deadblow!

Clears the steering shaft by a few thou though, I won’t be supprised if theres any rubbing.

 

[AdamG]

We just put one in my buddy's cougar and it was within ¼" of where the engine was sitting beforehand. Also did the steering shaft mod and foxbody 1¾" primary longtubes bolt right in. The 1⅜" sway bar clears as well.

 

[JacobM03]

Here are some pictures sowing the difference between where the k member sits and the height of the engine mounts.

 

[JacobM03]

Here are some pictures sowing the difference between where the k member sits and the height of the engine mounts.

Just realised I was mesuring up wrong! There is only about an inch in height difference where the AJE motor mounts make the engine sit higher, I have contacted them and cleared that it does fit with a stock 5.0. They also gave me a part number for motor mounts that sit 5/8 to 3/4 inch lower than the ones provided with the kit, those are AJE 10 R.

So to say there is still an inch in height difference, some aftermarket parts may not clear but stock setup should and they do have an option for lower mounts which im sure you can order when ordering the subframe.

 

[Zep5.0]

Thank you for that. I'll contact them to order the shorter mounts. I may still shim the K down 1/2" to help center of gravity. My Canton oil pan had close to 2" of clearance at the bottom, so no concerns there.

 

[racecougar]

Its hard to tell what the driveline angle looks like but it doesn’t seem too bad, I took a couple pictures but they aren’t very good as I am laying under the car

The transmission output and the pinion need to be parallel. If you don't have an angle finder, you can use an app on your smart phone to at least check to see if you're close (angle finders are plenty cheap though).

 

[Chris_Murder]

James Morrow: jimofajeracing@yahoo.com

Jim/James (he goes by Jim) at AJE, That's who you need to get a hold of, he's been very well informed of the issue.

He worked on the jig and revised the height and he sent me a new set of mounts for my supercoupe that are at least 1" shorter. This allowed everything to fit as intended. It's hard to say 100% on whether it's still a touch tall or not, (maybe within a 1/4-1/2 max) but everything fits now including my magnum powers raised blower top. My plenum no longer contacts the wiper cowling. Best of all even with the new shorter mounts my Kooks headers still don't touch the steering shaft at all.

There's a lot of variables with these cars and I'm happy that he was receptive and got the issue corrected for me.

I will admit that I brought it to his attention back in late May, almost June and there were plenty of big car events between then and now, the replacement mounts arrived in hand on the 22nd of August.

So he worked on revisions for about 3 months, I know these kits aren't flying off the shelves the MN12 crowd isn't that big. I'll also admit it took me at least until the 2nd of September before I was able to get around to swapping them, labor day weekend helped stretch my timeline. It's also 110+ degrees out here and I did the swap on my back with the car on drive up ramps and a floor jack under the engine, less than ideal circumstances.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that it appears to be resolved and if not Jim is the guy to talk to.

 

[JacobM03]

James Morrow: jimofajeracing@yahoo.com

Jim/James (he goes by Jim) at AJE, That's who you need to get a hold of, he's been very well informed of the issue.

He worked on the jig and revised the height and he sent me a new set of mounts for my supercoupe that are at least 1" shorter. This allowed everything to fit as intended. It's hard to say 100% on whether it's still a touch tall or not, (maybe within a 1/4-1/2 max) but everything fits now including my magnum powers raised blower top. My plenum no longer contacts the wiper cowling. Best of all even with the new shorter mounts my Kooks headers still don't touch the steering shaft at all.

There's a lot of variables with these cars and I'm happy that he was receptive and got the issue corrected for me.

I will admit that I brought it to his attention back in late May, almost June and there were plenty of big car events between then and now, the replacement mounts arrived in hand on the 22nd of August.

So he worked on revisions for about 3 months, I know these kits aren't flying off the shelves the MN12 crowd isn't that big. I'll also admit it took me at least until the 2nd of September before I was able to get around to swapping them, labor day weekend helped stretch my timeline. It's also 110+ degrees out here and I did the swap on my back with the car on drive up ramps and a floor jack under the engine, less than ideal circumstances.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that it appears to be resolved and if not Jim is the guy to talk to.

Will I be able to exhange my current ones with the shorter ones? My current setup I ended up having to cut out a chunk of the hood frame to make it clear but thats probably irrelevant to a stock setup as I have a carb and carb filter.

 

[Zep5.0]

Will I be able to exhange my current ones with the shorter ones? My current setup I ended up having to cut out a chunk of the hood frame to make it clear but thats probably irrelevant to a stock setup as I have a carb and carb filter.

I just sent an email to find that out. I'd sure hope they make it right...

 

[Chris_Murder]

I would assume they would make it right. Jim took care of me and knows there's an issue

 

[Zep5.0]

He wasn't very forthcoming with a solution:
From: James Morrow <jimofajeracing@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2024 10:13:04 AM
To: Seth Koenen <st_koenen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: MN12 K member motor mounts

We have a red series mount that has a drop. Details on the fitment of the drop still raises issues for clearances in other areas.
Sent from my iPhone

While he's not wrong in a modified car, there shouldn't be any clearance issues if the motor is where it was in a stock position. At least not if there was not before. I sent a follow up email but didn't hear back. Obviously not going to let $80 mounts stop my build, but BS if I need to pay for them after paying for the wrong ones.

I'm not an engineer, or a chassis builder, but motor mounts should be pretty damn close to where they were stock unless you're selling them to specifically move the motor in a certain direction.

 

[Mtncat]

Its hard to tell what the driveline angle looks like but it doesn’t seem too bad, I took a couple pictures but they aren’t very good as I am laying under the car

I've not checked the driveline in my car other than visually and it gets run hard at the track with no noticeable difference. I saw no noticeable difference on install height either but with some combos there may be. I do have the 4.6L 4V. No clearance issues anywhere. I do have a cowl hood. I do know there are specific mounts for specific applications that should be supplied with the order.

 

[Chris_Murder]

At least that's promising. I haven't installed my second AJE subframe in my 96 4v car. I hope that engine is not sitting tall, but everyone I've heard from on the 4.6 has had no issues.