regarding the angle of the engine and trans:
carmakers do indedd tilt the engine all over place in order to squeak
them under the hoods, so in some cars you have a large rearward drop
in the motor, and in some, the motor is dead flat. The manufacturer's
don't really care what the angle of the motor/trans is, but eh critical
thing is *if it is parallel to the differential*. I won't attempt
an ascii drawing (have a hard time doing stick figures!)- but if you tilt
your engine a certain level from stock, then you would want to move your
differential accordingly. You want to make sure that the output of the
trans is parallel to the input of the axle, else all sorts of noises
of over-stressed u-joints will happen.
Greg Tobin
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