Engine tilting backwards when mounted - possible issues?

[Major Clod]

So I've got a 3SGE Blacktop beams in my RA23. To clear the rack & pinion setup, keep the sump off the ground, fit down the transmission tunnel etc, the engine is tilting rearwards 4-5 degrees.

Now I'm wondering if there might be any potential issues with this, especially in relation to the driveline and angles. I understand some might talk about oil drain issues but surely if the motor can handle being driven up a steep mountain road then the slight tilt won't bother it...

Here are the measurements:

Engine is tilting rearwards approximately 4-5 degrees. This translates to the centre of the crank pulley being approximately 90-100mm higher than the centre of the gearbox yoke - this is over approximately 1250mm distance front to rear.

I'm running a two piece tailshaft. The tailshaft section between the gearbox and center bearing is exactly parallel to the ground, and the end of the gearbox is sitting at the same height as an original gearbox in that car.


I can potentially move the motor down approx 40mm at the front of the car without too much hassel (I will need to cut into the bottom of the sump to clear the steering rack, though this is pretty common) This would get me to around 2-3 degrees of tilt.

The crap thing about this is it will drop the front of the sump about the same distance below the crossmember. Though it shouldn't be crazily low.

I can't raise the gearbox any higher at the rear without tunnel mods, and this would create a sharper angle on the tailshaft anyway.

Thoughts on how to proceed. If I can leave it as it is it would be great because it all fits nicely, but if the current tilt is too much then i'll figure it out.

[Hurricane]

im not sure on the sump layout on these but i normally cut the sump up to make it sit lower or cut the engine x member out for motors ive done.
im not surre how legal cutting of the x member is? and u can only go so far down.
if u do cut the x member down dont forget to make it stronger, something like plating inside the box area of the member so its stronger. like honeycomb.

to make ur sump higher at the front u could cut the bottom off and add to the side to make up the lost volume.