newbie question: engine is mounted forward?

[jetboy]

So again with the mongrel fiat:

here is my engine bay a 1976/77 1800 engine in a 69 :



and here is a stock 1976 engine in a 76:



it seems like my engine is either way too far forward, or .. somehow longer. or is the engine bay of a 69 shorter?
I did not do this swap and wondering if they messed it up somehow or is this something a person might do on purpose?

it seems like a stock 76 car has a good 6+ inches between the water hose Tee connector and the radiator, and I have about 1 inch. look at the crazy curve my water hose has to make. but I also only have a 2 inches before i hit the firewall in the back. not enough to make up the difference. is the engine suppose to be angled down in the back? mine sits very flat..

my fan is in front of the radiator- i assume because they could not fit it in back.

[azruss]

As these car progressed with bigger and bigger motors, the amount of room between the engine and radiator shrank. It necessitated offsetting the fan for clearance. The only major difference in the engine compartment is the battery location, and your car has a flat plate below the radiator that the newer models did not have.

[So Cal Mark]

if the engine mount brackets are reversed from side-to-side the motor will move forward about an inch

[GeorgeT]

Is the radiator placement the same in both cars? Fiat may have moved the radiator slightly forward to meet collision standards so if there were a low speed collision (<5mph) the radiator wouldn't be pushed into the fan.

[jetboy]

Is the radiator placement the same in both cars? Fiat may have moved the radiator slightly forward to meet collision standards so if there were a low speed collision (<5mph) the radiator wouldn't be pushed into the fan.

thats it! it was cut off in the pic i took so i did not notice- but looking again reveals a straight brace:



where the
the 76 pictured above has a bend in the front bay brace.