Engine is "tilted"... and stuck

My 2nd gen hemi is sitting in an e-body on repro stock mounts and a repro Debevic hemi k-frame. The steering box was hard to mount as the holes seemed slightly off kilter. Haven't driven it since I installed the k-frame. I started it last week. Later on the lift I noticed the steering center link was rubbing on the Moroso oil pan, drivers-side only. It wasn't before. And the the passenger side engine mount is at the top of its adjustment range on the k-frame. So I loosened those nutss and remove the driver side engine mount bolt. I tried to jack up the engine a little to level it, but it didn't move. Like it was still bolted in, and the only remaining bolt was in the trans mount. I feel like something is binding as the jack was raising the front end when I tried to lift the engine.
Anybody had similar experiences? I feel this shouldn't be a hard problem, but I'm stumped at the moment.

DS Mount AFTER bolt removed. Prev photo has it still in.

Keep looking, you will find it
It is mechanical, no magic

Moving the pass side mount holes to the top lowered the driver side. Probably the best way to free it is to get a chain on top and use a picker.

I had a similar problem when the trans mount went bad. Lowered the engine enough to drag on the steering.

Just a thought.

you can shim the mount up also... something is either welded wrong, or assembled wrong

Lifted the engine a little with a bar and it helped lower pass side a little. That raised DS a little. Freaking DS mount bolt won't line up now. May try a 1/6 spacer on both mounts. But raising the engine enough to fit some means header collectors loosened, alternator off, etc. This ^%$%$# k-frame was welded on a jig. I swapped the frame with the engine in the car. Shoulda dropped it out the bottom, but tough with a 4-post. May be another season not driving here. I'm probably a top 10 high-mileage Hellcat and a lowest mileage 2nd gen hemi and 71 Barracuda.

recently had a Customers Charger in with Schumacher mounts and a Magnum force front K frame suspension. Took quite a bit of re work on the mounts ( primarily the R side, passenger) to get it centered and level. It was so bad the R valvae cover was jammed against the shock tower.
Welcome to my soon to be ex world. Customers don't always understand that these KITS are kit's to aggravate your bowels LOL.
Keep looking or get another set of competent eyes to help. Sometimes one gets too close to a problem to see the solution , keep us posted

Had something similar happen when I swapped a SB for BB on my M body. I bought the Schumacher mounts and couldn't get the motor sitting correctly in the K. It kept wanting to angle towards the passenger side. Turns out I had bought the incorrect mounts. They had a factory replacement type kit for 70's cars that had a BB from the factory and used the spool mounts, and a retrofit kit to go to BB from SB with the spool mounts. Whoops.

OK, not so Mr. NotSoSmart here assumed the engine mounts were the problem. I decided to check and discovered the engine is quite level. The steering link has an angle to it. Anyone shimmed a steering box before? Looks like I MAY need to pull the top of the steering box out to push the center link down. I'm trying to figure this, 3 bolts; loosen the bottom, shim the top two... but how much?

Are you sure you have the right pitman arm?

I'm assuming it is. I swapped my V8 k-frame for a repop hemi k-frame. All the steering gear was swapped frame to frame. Steering box was tough to bolt on. Seemed a little off.

So you went from a wedge to a hemi.

Wrong K?

E body has a different steering box angle than B body.

I've had that problem before, I think most of it is the way you're holding your mouth.

Some photographic evidence of the crime scene...
Oil pan shows level, center link definitely high on LHS.
Torsion bar clearance differs at leat 1/2 inch side to side.

One more... LH side steering box.

Did you buy this frame direct from Al?

Al Debivic, yes.

Also check the Idler, a mis-match between the two can have one pulling their hair out AMHIK

He did mine and it was perfect. Have you talked to him on the problem.

Keep looking!

Left him a msg on sunday 6/13.

Did he convert your old wedge K-Frame? If you still have your old you could level the K and measure in degrees the gear box mounting and compare it to the Hemi one in the car. That would give you an idea. If every component was on your old wedge k frame and fit fine it has to be in the box mount. How does the steering shaft line up? You should see a severe angle there also.

I had a similar problem a few years ago with a re-pop B-Body k-member. Went crazy trying to fit the GenII Hemi into it. I used re-pop mounts and brackets. I thought maybe they were bad so I Then I bought a set of schmucker mounts. Same problem. Finally I took the K-member out, set it upside down on a flat table. I put four 6-8 inch blocks under each corner where the K-member mount bolt go. WELL, guess what,one corner had 3/8- 1/2" gap. The k-member was twisted!! But beside that, it seemed the distance between the passenger K-member side mount plate and the driver side mount were was too short. If they were farther apart then I could lower the passenger side down some more and level out the motor. Then I found a hemi K-member drawing in Jim Schilds 1968 Dart & Barracuda Authenticity Guide. I had it blown up to to 5 foot square so I could read all the number. The drawing shows a dimension of (22.22 +.12 -.00) between the mounts. Mine measured .360 to much. That's almost 3/8". So I got a JUNK repop K-member. So in the end I decided not to put the Hemi in my 65 sedan but put it in my 65 AWB as it doesn't use the factory K-member mounts. I probably could have fixed it by cutting off the passenger side mount and rewelding it farther out. As for the twist, I rigged up some super strong fixtures on my welding table to hold the k-member.and using heat and hydraulic cylinders I got the twist out.

Talked to him today. He wants pics. But we both think bending the pitman arm 1/8th in (big end) in a press will solve this.

While bending the pitman could help that is not correcting the root problem. What angle is the column at where it goes to the gear box? If that is also off the K should come out and be corrected.

maybe silly questions or maybe not.
1. I noticed the car is on a drive on lift +++++
2. Have you verified the lift is level. Bubble levels are nice but digital ones are readily available, inexpensive and much more accurate. Once you know the lift is level or how far off level it is, you can then proceed to step 3

3. One can assume but I would also verify that the car is level to the lift. If it is not something under the tire or a bottle jack along with the digital level reading obtained in step 2 will assure you are spot on.
4. # 2 & 3 have to be known and or corrected before identifying the problem.
5. Recheck your tie rod and oil pan
6. Before bending (band-aiding IMO) anything verify that the pitman and idler arm are matched for the application. It is not uncommon for these parts to get mis-boxed any where from the factory to the parts supplier.
7. If they are matched be aware that bending either will affect the steering linkage geometry

Car looks level according to the window frame, center link looks off.

Lift is level, car is level, engine is level. Center link hits oil pan on drivers side. Is also over 1/2in closer to LH torsion bar.

Fun stuff now. Unbolting Pitman arm from center link, burred thread captured nut, shaft spins with nut, can't unscrew. Solution: cracked the nut off.
Pitman arm on steering shaft, soaked with PBBlaster, puller engaged, hard knocks with hammer. More puller tension, more hammer, more PB. Resting overnight under tension.

** verify that the pitman arm is correct.. judging by photos, thats where i would be looking...

. [/quote] ** verify that the pitman arm is correct.. judging by photos, thats where i would be looking... [/quote]

Read what he said. All these components were on his other K-Frame with no supposed issues.

I saw another thread on this issue and the poster had noticed that with the center link in backwards they had clearance problems. I can't see from the photos if the bend is the same on both sides...

Scroll back to page one. There is a pic showing the entire center link. Its not backward on my car.

in my opinion, based on the photos, the steering box has to be moved or the arm changed..... maybe the holes in the new k member is off? bending it may get you there ...

Seems to me that I would look at the K frame as the UN-common denominator???

Joe

All you need to do is lower the engine down on the passenger side mount. Your photo shows it's all the way to the top in the slotted holes. If you can't do that without messing up the bolt alignment on the driver side then you have a junk K-member.

LH side has 1 bolt, no adjustment for insulator, and one thru bolt for mount. RH side "finds" it's own position, adjustment slots let it float to the place it should be.

Al has seen the photos. He's bending the Pitman arm approx 1/8th inch which should drop the other end approx 1/2 inch. I'll report back when I've put it on.

While that may make it work it is not what I would be doing. In my opinion bending parts that have to do with steering is a NO-NO.

There may be more variability than that in stock parts. It this works vs dropping the k-frame, its a huge win. You seem to think these are precision machines. Yet completely stock and never modified cars using the same wheels and tires have significant differences in rear wheel clearance. I'd prefer "perfect fit", but thats more of an engine thing. Except my Gen 2 Mopar hemi block has the fuel pump opening machined off center. Not a problem until I put a stock mechanical pump on... and the fuel pump rod didn't meet up with the mopar fuel pump. An electric pump, while more trouble, fixed the issue. Would you rather I pull and dis-assemble the engine, weld up the openings, and re-mill the block and bore a new pushrod hole? Or use a cost-effective fix? This isn't a funny car. It hasn't driven 500 miles in 18 years. I want it to be driven. I'm old enough it may need to go to a younger steward to care for, for some years, and again. I don't own it so much as take care of it. its a privilege to do so, but sad when I can't keep it driveable. Its also a 318 car, so I'm not guilty enough to keep it stock. Just looking to improve it while in my care.