Update #24 - syncofs tuning and CAD #

2021-08-28

Today was syncofs tuning day. I was able to dial it in suspiciously quickly. Unfortunately, I managed to leave my multimeter turned on for the past few days so the battery ran flat. This meant I couldn’t figure out the wiring of the BMW e60 throttle pedal I’m planning to use. So, I’ll need to come back to this to confirm that I have the right syncofs value.

Next, I tried to do a quick test to determine how much of the Lexus CVT will fit into the transmission tunnel. Apparently the mustang tunnel is notoriously narrow. The original transmission mount point is a piece of U-shaped steel welded to the floor pan. It links into both of the frame rails. I don’t want to touch this as it’s helping to strengthen the body. The lower part is just bolted on, so this can be removed.

Next I did a little CAD work (cardboard aided design). I trimmed an A4 piece of paper until it matched the curve of the transmission mount. This is the most narrow part of the transmission tunnel. I then traced this on to a piece of card to cut out the negative version of this. The distance from the face of the firewall back to the transmission mount is around 400mm. Ideally all of the CVT would go into the tunnel to leave the entire engine bay free for batteries and other parts. I measured 400mm back from the front face of the CVT and placed my cut out over this area.

It’s a little tight, but it looks like it could fit OK. One concern is the shifter arm. You can see it on the right of the picture above. I want to keep this and link it into the original shifter control from the car. It’s a little tight, but I think it’s doable.

I also measured the height of the CVT at this point to see how close to the ground it would reach. From my rough measurement it would be about in line with the underside of the frame rails.

But really, the limiting factor might be how much the tunnel flairs out. It looks like the CVT might be wider at the front than the tunnel. I need to be sure the CVT is far enough back that it won’t interfere with the steering rack.

This is all just speculation anyway. I just need to crane the CVT into the engine bay and check it for fit directly!