Couple of driveline questions

[EZ$]

OK, so I'm trying to get the trans mount buttoned up. I'm using an S10 tail shaft, and got the hybrid mount from Mike Fortes, and this is an IRS car.
First off I've got about 1-1/2" of the drive shaft exposed where it slides into the tail of the trans. Is that too much? Should the drive shaft be longer? Not sure what I should have at this point.
Second thing is, with the A frame in place under the trans, the bolt holes on the trans mount don't even come close to matching up to the slots/holes in the A frame. The trans is favoring the passenger side by quite a bit. Again, not sure how much is too much, and how to align the bolts with the slots/holes.
One last thing. When I installed the engine/trans, the tail shaft sat on the 4" cross tube. I jacked the trans up to clear the cross tube, but again, I'm not sure how much clearance I need at this point. Obviously, the more clearance I create, the thicker the spacers will need to be between the trans mount and the A frame.
Thanks in advance for your responses.

[EZ$]

I was hoping that someone had an answer. Just don't want this to get totally lost, so a bump to the top.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

How much is actually in the tail shaft? Can't get a measurement without jacking the car up but here is a picture of mine. Its the FFR shaft into a TKO-600 behind a COYOTE.

[EZ$]

Kevin, it looks to be similar. I know that more is in the trans than out. Any idea about the alignment of everything in relation to the A frame? Mine's not lining up to allow the bolts from the trans mount to hit the slot/holes in the A frame. Can't find any info on how to correct this. If they did line up, the transmission would be straight in line with the rear end, and I'd be concerned about the universals not articulating when the drive shaft spins, and ultimately failing.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Kevin, it looks to be similar. I know that more is in the trans than out. Any idea about the alignment of everything in relation to the A frame? Mine's not lining up to allow the bolts from the trans mount to hit the slot/holes in the A frame. Can't find any info on how to correct this. If they did line up, the transmission would be straight in line with the rear end, and I'd be concerned about the universals not articulating when the drive shaft spins, and ultimately failing.

Don't take offence but is the engine straight? Reason I asked is first time I dropped mine in it was not straight. Had to switch my motor mounts to the opposite sides for the proper alignment. Just a thought but the answer to your question is the trans is straight in the chassis & the bolts were a drop in.

Think you can see in the picture the alignment is straight front to back.

[EZ$]

No offence taken. I'm just trying to figure this out. When Gordon sent the engine, they had put the motor mounts on, and although I removed them, I marked which side they were on, cause I knew I'd screw it up otherwise! I'm wondering now if it could be as simple as loosening the motor mount, and trying to shift the entire drive line back over towards the DS to straighten it enough to line up the bolts, etc. I guess I can keep the offset in the drive shaft in the vertical plane instead of the horizontal. I'll check that out tomorrow.
Thanks

[David Williamson]

Remember the engine/trans is offset to the right by about 3/4 of an inch by design. Also maybe temporary mount the side pipes and check the alignment, I had to move my transmission around a little to help with the side pipe alignment.
If the engine mounts are on the wrong side it will move it forward, I would check them as well since it sounds like something is off.
David W

[EZ$]

David, I knew that the trans was going to be offset to the PS, just wasn't sure how much it should be. Since I'm doing an FIA the side pipe situation isn't as critical, since I can adjust with the J pipes, etc. As I mentioned, I think I'll loosen this up, and try to shift everything back over to the DS a bit, and see if I can get things to align. Just one more thing that I have no idea about!
Thanks

[BadAsp427]

I think your original question was about aligning the "A" frame to the trans mounts. Is there any chance that you have the "A" frame flipped upside down? Just a thought, not sure but it would make sense that the "A" frame would be offset as well to match the rest of the design.

[EZ$]

BadAsp, you might be on to something that I hadn't even considered. I didn't check to see if the hole/slot pattern in the A frame is offset to one side or the other. One more thing to check out. Thanks for the idea.