Gaps between engine tin and engine bay gaskets., Trying to figure out how to close them. Options

[Chaznaster]

I put my engine back in today for the first time.

It went pretty well but have a gap between the tin and seals on the left and right towards the front. It is about 1/2" on the L and 3/8" on the right. I installed brand new seals from 914Rubber but they do not bridge the gap. The tin is also pretty far above the lip in the seal where it should contact the tin. Not sure about the metal staples/clips that came with the seals - are they used to close gaps like the ones in the pics?

Or ... another thought: the engine looks like it might be a little too far forward. Moving it back should help close the gap, at least where the curve is. Should/ can I loosen the bolts holding on the crossbar and the big bolts where the transmission attaches to the mounts and pull it all back a bit?

Thanks for your thoughts on this ...

[Chaznaster]

Thanks for all the great insights on this!

I looked into moving the engine back but everything seems to line up right, including the transmission mounts to the car and to the transmission itself. The big bolt is pretty much centered.

So no go there ... although I still think the engine sits a little too far forward because the tin on the other end, over the junction between the engine and transmission, is a bit more into the engine bay than I would have thought it should be. The tabs on that piece of tin were not straddling the transmission housing when I started - the whole thing was pushed backwards - so do not have a mental image of what that is supposed to look like.

The crossbar itself looks fine - the ends are not bent. No damage from hitting a speed bump that I can see. And I cannot see anything wrong with the mount points on the car.

I am chalking it up to the tin being flattened at some point. I might have even added to that problem unintentionally when I prepped it for powder coating. It's pretty much impossible to bend it down when in the car unless I hang from it and I do not want to do that.

For now, I am working with the binder clip approach to keep everything closed. Might switch to some of those semicircular spring steel clips with the pointy ends that are used for gluing up picture frames.

When the engine is next out, I'lll see about bending the tin down.

Again, thanks much for the help.