How to Tell a 6cyl Chassis from a 4cyl

**Series3 GT** · 27th August 2012, 07:23 PM

Hi all, I've been looking at my IIA and looking at the engine bay. It has a 4cyl engine but there's a couple of inches of clearance between the back of the engine and the bulkhead and the front crossmember is miles away from the engine and it has a lot of room between the sides of the engine.
If anyone has some way of telling the difference between the two that'd be great.

d@rk51d3 · 27th August 2012, 07:58 PM

Straight(ish) gearstick, or kinked?

Gearboxes on the 6 had straight levers, the 4's were kinked.
Firewall was different too.

Doesn't directly answer your question about the chassis, but could point in a direction.

Edit to add - Other than engine mounts, I didn't think there were any differences between the chassis.

**langy** · 27th August 2012, 08:00 PM

In the absence of others -

this is a photo of my series III 6 cyl. I had started to convert it to v8 by cutting the 6 engine mounts and I was about to weld in v8 mounts.

You can see where the 6 cyl mounts were on the right - about the same spot on the chassis as the shock mount. I was going to weld in the v8 mounts behind them - the flat area I hit with the grinder. The 4 cyl has mounts roughly in the same place ( you can drop a v8 into a 4cyl without having to mod the chassis)

**Series3 GT** · 27th August 2012, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by d@rk51d3

Straight(ish) gearstick, or kinked?

Gearboxes on the 6 had straight levers, the 4's were kinked.
Firewall was different too.

Doesn't directly answer your question about the chassis, but could point in a direction.

Edit to add - Other than engine mounts, I didn't think there were any differences between the chassis.

Unfortunately my IIA didn't have a gearstick when I bought it so I got one of a 4cyl, can you describe what the firewall looks like.

**JDNSW** · 27th August 2012, 08:31 PM

On the four, the gearbox crossmember is about 42" behind the centreline of the front axle, on the six it is about four inches further back (but the manual I have in front of me does not have the dimensions for the six).

Thebulkhead for the four has the "engine bulge" about six inches forward of the instrument panel, the six has it only about two.

Hope this helps.

John

**Jeff** · 27th August 2012, 08:36 PM

Edit: Post deleted. JDNSW said the same before I hit go.

Jeff

**Lotz-A-Landies** · 27th August 2012, 09:05 PM

A 6cyl SIII chassis will have a (~~943 or 948~~ SIII) prefix!

A six cyl SIIa will have a 345, 346, 347, 348 or 349 prefix

**Series3 GT** · 29th August 2012, 10:32 PM

Thanks for all the replies, I'll check the "engine bulge" tomorrow and let you know. I might also measure the distance between the gearbox crossmember and the centre line of the axle. The IIA's came in a 6cyl didn't they?

**JDNSW** · 30th August 2012, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by Series3 GT

.... The IIA's came in a 6cyl didn't they?

From 1967.

John

**Series3 GT** · 30th August 2012, 08:05 PM

Well my ones a 1970 any way so it could be, I didn't get time to check. Just read something interesting, someone said that a IIA six had a different grille. The grille they described as on that runs side to side. My IIA has this and it's been played around with before I bought it as in a different gearbox and a few other bits and pieces.

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