Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Anybody who's swapped in a poly motor mount on the driver side of an F-body have any tips or instructions? It sounds like the alternator will have to come out and possibly the header, but I'm not sure what else to expect. I'll be installing the new Prothane poly insert. Thanks.

Andrew Mason

I have a pair waiting to go on, well one actually, on the drivers side. I have heard that the alternator needs to be pulled. If anyone has any suggestions for this I would appreciate it as well.
THanks,
Andrew

slick98ta

I replaced both sides on my car,and on the driver side the alternator does need to come off to pull the bolt out.If you do passenger side the A/C need to come off to pull the bolt out that side.

I was replacing my headers so my headers were removed,and made the job ALOT easier.They say you can do it with them in there but i really don't see how they do it.

If you got the Engery Suspension poly mounts you'll need 3 washers to take up the slack that the new mount has,you'll see what i mean when your try to put the bolt back through.

And to pull the old mount out of the shell you'll need to drill out 2 rivits and 3 holes to pull the shell apart,and on mine the rubber mount was glued into the shell.So keep working with it ,it will come apart.Then i used 2 bolts and nuts,1 on each side of the mount,to hold the new mount and shell together.

Hope this helps
mark

z28man

its not bad at all. i didnt have to take anything out. its a little tight to get in there but once you jack up the motor till you get some play in the motor mount itself you can start to loosen stuff up & taking it out is a little puzzle but its really not that bad. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="gr_images/icons/cool.gif" />

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

That sounds encouraging. The instructions that come with the Prothane inserts deal mainly with getting the old insert out and putting the new one in - not so much with removal of the clamshell from the car. So this helps. I'm climbing under there this weekend to see what there is to see <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

Thanks for the inputs <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" />

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Well, I just got done installing the driver's side mount and thought I would provide some feedback for others doing the same thing. For reference I have a 2000 SS with Grott 1-3/4" LT's, stock K-member, and stock steering rack. This was the Prothane LS1 poly mount p/n 7-512-BL (black) I got from Thunder Racing.

Removal order went like this:
1) Disconnect battery
2) Raise front of vehicle on jack stands
3) Remove serpentine belt
4) Remove alternator (3 bolts, 2x15mm and 1x13mm)
5) Remove engine mount heat shield mounted to motor mount-to-block attach bracket (2 bolts, 10mm)
6) Place jack under oilpan to support engine while motor mount is out
7) Loosen the motor mount through bolt
8) Jack up engine slightly to relieve load on the through bolt.
9) Remove through bolt.
10) Loosen and remove bolts holding "pedestal" bracket onto K-member (4 bolts, 15mm)
11) Loosen and remove bolts holding motor mount to engine block (4 bolts, 13mm)
12) Slide engine mount "clamshell" out.
13) Drill out 2 rivets and 3 press rivets from clamshell and remove the stock rubber insert. As slick98ta mentioned, the rubber insert is bonded to the metal so you have to work at it some. The Prothane instructions say to use a torch to heat the rubber for removal, but I just pried it loose. Make sure you clean up the excess rubber crap that gets left behind. I just used an X-acto knife.
14) Insert the poly mount in the clamshell. The Prothane setup has you install 4 3/8" bolts (included with the mounts) where the rivets used to be to bolt the clamshell back together. Torque those to 30 ft-lb (per instructions).
15) Installation is the reverse order.

Torque specs (from my 2000 Helms Manual) are as follows:

- "pedestal" bracket-to-K-member bolts - 43 ft-lb
- engine mount bracket-to-block bolts - 37 ft-lb
- engine mount through bolt - 70 ft-lb
- engine mount through bolt nut - 59 ft-lb
- engine mount heat shield nuts - 89 in-lbs
- forward alternator mount bolts - 37 ft-lbs
- rear alternator mount bolts - 18 ft-lbs

* Note that I didn't have to remove the Grott header or the steering linkage (although doing so would have made it much easier I think).
** Also the Prothane mount fit perfectly - no washers needed. Just make sure you get the 7-512 part number.
Anyway, I took the car for a test drive and the Y-pipe banging is notably improved. I still get a "tap" on a hard shift with the Ram 910 clutch, but no more banging on clutch chatter, etc., like before. Since I'm running cats too I have almost zero clearance on my Y-pipe. If you have 1/2" clearance or so I imagine this would eliminate any banging. Car idles smoother now too. I feel some more vibration through the chassis, but overall car feels smoother (this is with hotcam idle) and shifter hardly moves now.

Overall I would say a very nice improvement. Figure about 3-4 hours if you take your time. Hope this helps.

Now I'm going to work hard at reducing my supply of Bud Light

EDIT: Updated to add passenger side info

I've been very happy with the driver's side only Prothane mount, but decided I wanted to install the passenger side also. I just got finished doing that this evening and I wanted to update this post. The process for the passenger side is basically the same as the driver's side except that the A/C compressor needs to be removed first. This goes as follows (assuming vehicle is already on jackstands):

1) Remove A/C belt from below.
2) Remove 4 bolts (15mm) attaching A/C compressor to mounting bracket. The top two you'll have to get from above and the bottom two bolts from below. Once the compressor is loose just push it forward as far as you can - the swaybar makes a good resting place. Make sure you unplug the electrical connector to get some additional clearance.
3) Remove 4 bolts (15mm) attaching A/C bracket to engine block. You can get all of these bolts from below once the compressor is out of the way.

At this point you have the necessary access to the motor mount brackets. Just remove and install as noted above for the driver's side. The service manual tells you to remove the starter as well, but I didn't have to do that. Maybe this is necessary with the stock exhaust manifolds or if the motor mount through-bolt is installed from the rear for some reason.

Installation is reverse order.

Torque specs (from my 2000 Helms Manual) are as follows:

- "pedestal" bracket-to-K-member bolts - 43 ft-lb
- engine mount bracket-to-block bolts - 37 ft-lb
- engine mount through bolt - 70 ft-lb
- engine mount through bolt nut - 59 ft-lb
- A/C compressor bracket-to-block bolts - 37ft-lbs
- A/C compressor-to-bracket bolts - 37 ft-lbs

Haven't had a chance to drive it yet (the weather sucks here right now), but will update again with first impressions.

Fulton 1

iTrader: (9)

Okay, just took the car for a test drive with both Prothane motor mounts in and all I can saw is, "what an improvement". The idle is smooth as can be and there is NO additional vibration at all. I was expecting at least some transmission of the engine vibration, but if there is some I am having a hard time feeling it. This should be a mandatory mod IMO - especially if you have any exhaust banging issues. I'm loving these poly engine mounts...