Trial run - motor in

Okay, so we put the motor -adapterplate-gearbox in the X7, coupled up the driveshaft to the diff. We will now take measurements for the motor mounting bracket in the front.

However, we got to thinking ... should we connect up a 12v battery and see if the rear wheel turns? It became a family event, I think it was in 4th gear and away she went! The rear left wheel turned (quickly!!!) and yes we got very, very excited!

Looking at the photos there seems like a lot of room but being a sporty sort of car the area is quite narrow height wise. I feel that we'll have a bit of fun later when we try to get the extra batteries in the front. I know that the batts height is ok but there are the batt monitors that attach to the top of them that increase their height.

Another thing, the engine hoist is the bloody bees knees, makes it soooo much easier to drop the motor/gearbox in.

We are coming up to Xmas and New Year so we'll put the project aside and make room for family time but come end of January we'll be back in to it again.

I'd like to thank everybody for the comments they have been leaving. I'm not up to protocol and if I'm supposed to reply in the comments section please tell me as I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to computer savvy. The comments have actually helped in encouraging the project. Thanks!

The Green Machine

When we started this project the family discussed what colour the X7 was going to be. Well, the boys wanted orange with black roof ("Too fast, too furious" ring a bell?) but the boss (wife) came up with apple green (she is either a greenie or likes Kermit the frog ... I suspect the frog) so apple green it is (the boys will get over it ... one day). I have these photos from a while back when I was searching the web so this is what it will look like.


I'm trying to keep it pretty much original but looking at the photos, the larger mag wheels do look good. So, I've done some calculations courtesy of the web and using low profile tyres I can go from 13" to 15" wheels without changing the 13" wheel specs. So we will go with 15" wheels.

Adapter Plate

It's been over a month now since our last blog. We finally have the adapter plate made.

Went and saw a few local engineering firms but everybody was too busy for a small project like mine, I also wanted a small engineering workshop who would be interested in the project, somebody who cares. I was put on to Fastweld Engineering, I believe they are used to fabricating weird one off jobs. They quickly understood what I wanted.


It took a few weeks to manufacture as it was done in between priority jobs. We discussed if it should be made out of steel or aluminium. Steel is easier and cheaper to get but would take longer to mill, aluminium is a bit dearer but lighter and quicker to mill (which means less labour). We went for aluminium.

As you can see by the photos they have done an exceptional job. I was going to have the edges squared off but they have ground it to match the gearbox. Also the openings for the clutch and starter motor have been closed off with inspection plates, handy.

I think I need to go back a couple of weeks to show how the coupling and the plate looked. The coupling I got from Blackwoods and is in 2 pieces, each having a taper lock. I only use one taperlock onto the motor shaft (the rear half) as I can access it from the front when I unbolt the front half, the other I don't use but have had the center turned down and the spline part of a clutch welded into it. The whole process is all about centering everything, anything that is out of wack will show up later down the track as you put all the parts together. All the bloggs and articles I've read keep stressing the need for minimum tolerances when going for a clutchless setup. If we don't get this right I suspect that the spline on the gearbox will go west first. The coupling that I'm using will probably do the job but if I was to do another conversion I may look at other products.

This is a photo of the plate half done and fitted to the gearbox, nice work aye!!

The guys at Fastweld have done a great job and are really easy to work with. Thanks Dave and Chris!