[earossi]

Since I have the area around the motor mounts cleared out for resealing of the balance shaft housings, I would like to replace the motor mounts while I'm in there.



I have read several postings that reference the Clarks Garage procedure, but they talk in terms of removing the suspension cross member in order to do the job. Oddly enough, the Clark's procedure does not mention dropping the cross member.



In looking at my car, it appears that the motor mount bottom nut is blocked from removal by the A-arm lower suspension piece. And even if the A-arm were removed, there would appear to be a clearance problem getting the new mount into place. I already have the motor mount bracket off the car, so there is nothing above the motor mount to prevent it from moving upward; so, getting the old mount out should not be difficult, if I can access the bottom nut that holds it in place on the crossmember. Since the new mounts are taller than the old collapsed mount, how do you get the motor mount bracket into place on top of the motor mount and aligned with the mounting bolts on the side of the engine?



If, as it would appear, the cross memeber has to be lowered, can I just lower it on its existing mounting bolts, without removing the cross member from the car? Will this give me enough clearance to get that mount in place? And, if I can just lower it by just loosening the mounting bolts, will I need to remove anything from the cross member other than the sway bar? Some of the writeups talk about breaking the rack and pinion steering box loose and about having to mark and remove the steering column knuckle.



I'm trying to prevent a situation where I would have to fight and wrestle the cross member into place when things don't line up perfectly when going back together.....as they seldom do!



Any help from those who have done this job would be appreciated.

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[Cloud9...68]

It's been many years since I replaced my motor mounts, but I followed the procedure I posted on one of your threads pretty much verbatim. A few things stand out in my memory of the job:



- The hardest part was getting the engine to line up on the motor mounts, particularly the left one. It was several hours of grunting and sweating, even with the help of a neighbor. I was following the instruction to not remove the cross-member completely, but I remember telling myself that if I had it to do over again, I'd completely remove the cross-member, and attach the mounts to the cross-member, and then to the motor, and then maneuver the cross-member into place, rather than try to get the engine to land on the mounts which are attached to the cross-member, which is still loosely attached to the chassis. But I haven't had the opportunity to try this yet, though I will when I finally put the engine back in. It seems that the best strategy would be to keep as many of the pieces as loosely connected as possible, giving yourself the maximum degrees of freedom to allow things to line up close enough to get everything attached. But I have a feeling there's no easy way.



- Putting the front sway bar back on was a pain, because the weight of the car needed to be on the tires to do it, and of course the car is extremely low.



- I didn't have to un-attach the steering box. Avoid that if you can - it's not a fun task.



You're smart to replace the engine mounts while you've got things taken apart to this extent. I can't remember if you said you were replacing the rod bearings; this would probably be a good idea, particularly if your oil pressure reads less than 2 fully warmed up on a hot day.



Have you thought about getting the three-piece cross-member from Lindsey Racing? Although I'm sure you'd like to think you're never going to do a job like this again, the thought of removing a few bolts to get the the oil pan, without having to remove the A-arms, support the engine, remove the rear bumper (OK, kidding about that one) to get to the oil pan is pretty appealing. But it is $300, plus shipping to and from.

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[egebhard]

I would be interested in doing this as well. A nice write-up would be great.

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[Cloud9...68]

Here's the procedure I followed:





Parts Required:

Floor Jack

4 Jack Stands

13mm, 19mm open and closed end wrench

10mm, 13mm, 17mm, 19mm Deep end sockets.

3/8 inch ratchet

3/8 inch torque wrench

3/8 extension

Phillips Screwdriver

Prybar

Lug Wrench for Wheels

Start by jacking car up all around by lifting car at middle jacking point. This will lift the car at both ends on the same side of the car. Install floor jacks under the front mounting point and under the Torque Tube Bracket by the trailing arm. Do this procedure for both sides and jack your car enough to provide yourself enough space to slide under the car to perform this task.



Remove front Wheels

Remove Underbody cover using 10mm socket

Undo sway bar nuts holding it to Control Arm using 17mm socket

Undo 13mm nuts and bolts holding the inner sway bar bushing brackets

Lower brackets by removing 13mm bolts to body and remove sway bar

Remove 19mm nuts and bolts holding the control arm to the crossmember

Remove 17mm bolts holding the Caster Blocks to the body and Control Arms and move Control Arms out of the way.

Loosen 19mm bolts holding crossmember to the body. Do not undo them completely.

Remove nut holding the engine mount to crossmember using 17mm socket

Remove any heat shields covering engine mounts using 10mm socket

Remove bolts holding the engine mounts to motor mounts using stubby 13mm wrench

Place jack with suitable padding/wooden block under oil pan and lift engine slightly.

Pry motormounts off and install new motor mounts.

Lower engine and install 13mm bolts back on between motormounts and engine mounts.

Tighten nut holding motormount.

Installation is reverse.

Tightening torques:

Control Arm to Cross Member: 48 lb-ft

Control Arm to Body: 34 lb-ft

Cross Member to Body: 63 lb-ft

Swaybar to Control Arm: 18 lb-ft

Wheels: 96lb-ft



Although, as I said above, I'm not sure I agree with the instruction to not completely remove the bolts holding the cross-member to the chassis. Maybe the smartest approach would be to buy a set of bolts that match the existing cross-member-to-chassis bolts, but that are at least an inch longer. Remove one of the existing bolts completely, replace it with one of the longer bolts, and then repeat for the others. This way, you won't lose the alignment of the cross-member bolts, but will have additional room to maneuver everything.

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