I have been looking through the threads lately and am trying to decide how to stop engine torquing. I see there are allot of options out there (solid mounts, urathane mounts, torque braces and even a shock to dampen movement). I have a moderately modified (415 whp) FD and wanted to see what you guys have tried and liked/disliked. I am leaning towards the solid mounts I saw in one of the threads (can't remember where) but am concerned that it could crack the frame over time due to vibration?

 

I have urethane mounts and it is def one of my favorite mods.. I make similar power 426whp and I also highly recommend Garfinkle's engine torque brace!

 

thanks for an easy question

our engines stock make 184 foot pounds of torque at the rear wheels. generally you can subtract 100 from your rwhp to get rear wheel torque... or just look at your dyno sheet.

so you are making over 300 ft pounds at the rear wheels. that's 63% more twist.

it is no surprise that the rubber-ish motor mounts fail on occasion.

it isn't the motor mounts fault of course.

i really like the stock motor mounts. the motor sits on them and is isolated from the frame which makes things comfortable.

of course there is a problem and you are correct to ask the question... how do you take the twist out of the powertrain. the Power Plant Frame works well but starts to lack the juice as torque rises. it needs help along w the mounts.

fortunately there is an easy fix. i have run it since 99. i highly recommend David Garfinkle's Engine Torque Brace (EBT).

the Garfinkle EBT is correctly designed in that it transfers all of the twist to the chassis in the same longitudinal plane as the motor mounts.

problem solved... happy motor mounts and PPF, non-vibrating chassis..

David is a forum member.

howard coleman

 

Stick with the OEM motor mounts and the garfinkle brace. You'll be just fine.



LAter

 

Or the noltec motormounts since they are of the isolated design like the stock mounts, coupled with the garfinkle etb.

 

I think that for normal power levels (under 400hp) good condition mounts in the stock locations are enough. (Whether the drivetrain parts can handle it is up to you and how you drive...).

Solid mounts are a bit extreme. For your car I would go with Nylon or Urethane for the motor and diff mounts if you're concerned with flex. Then add a diff brace and/or engine torque brace.

Dave

 

non OEM motor mounts are redundant w an ETB. they serve no purpose.

howard

 

I was always under the impression that the ETB was a bandaide and that upgrading the mounts, then stabilizing the drivetrain/rear end was the best way to protect the car where it was weakest.

Is this not correct?

 

I believe with proper engine mounts and diff mounts the ETB is overkill. However for some out there with plenty of torque it's nice to have the extra layer of protection.

Dave

 

For stock or near stock power levels, Noltecs. An ETB is redundant and would serve no purpose IMO.
For the kind of power the OP is tallking about, I'd go with both. And +1 on Garfinkle's products. Good stuff. You can PM me to find out how to contact him. He's no longer on this forum.

 

I don’t have any real data, but I have had two 400whp FDs with slightly different set-ups.

My current FD has solid engine mounts (Delrin mounts from Defined Autoworks), solid diff mounts, and a diff brace. I love this set-up . The drivetrain is very tight and the shifting is crisp and accurate. Hardly any vibrations and they are only at low RPMs. My old FD had polyurethane mounts with an ETB and a diff brace. Vibration was worse from the ETB and overall the car felt less solid. For me, the solid motor and diff mounts made a big difference to the overall feel of the car.

 

David's brace is awesome...that and urethane motor mounts and you're good to go

 

I had some so so stock mounts that were repaired with a more rigid rubber, but i still had drivetrain issues with wheel hop and clunking, also broke my PPF. I made some poly mounts for the differential and that helped the clunking, i also made a very rigid tranny brace and that took care of everything at the engine and tranny. my motor/tranny are completely solid. No missed shifts, no more wheel hop, no clunking, and no bad vibration. I also reinforced the PPF, but with the braces i have its barely even used anymore, just more or less lines things up.

 

since the engine is the source of the torque, it makes sense to isolate it there, although the trans brace can't hurt

 

That is true. I originally added the trans brace to help protect the ppf from breaking again. The engine, shifter, and the rest of the driveline being rigid was a welcomed by product that i hadn't considered at the time when i put it in.

 

so where might i find one of the garfinkle braces?

 

So you bought Max's old FD out of Canada, nice car

Are ya coming to the Carlisi event at Gordon's place in PA in August?

I agree with your assessment, I am a big fan of the poly motor mounts/diff brace/ diff bushings with no ETB. The ones I've run induced mucho vibration but I hear the Garfinkle brace is designed to minimize this.

 

Yeah, I bought Max's FD, it's a great car . I'll be at the Carlisi meet... should be a great meet! Looking forward to seeing everyone.

 

Ive seen a couple of you mention trans braces, what options are out there for that?

 

There aren't many in the American market. However, there is a shop in the UK (Dragon Performance) which makes one. They also make a Differential brace which is very similar to the one offered by Banzai.

http://www.dragonperformance.co.uk/products_rx7.htm

 

I made my own

 

GARCO MOTORWORKS ?
i was doing a search he might have been banned ....

 

I had read through some older threads on the brace, but nothing I could find was current. So, anyone have any new information for a source?

 

I'm on stock turbos so Im nowhere near your power level, but here are my finding with the braces, mounts.

Last year, I had Mazdaspeed engine and differential mounts, plus the Banzai Racing diff brace installed at the same time. I have a 50K mile car, but I was able to notice the car being "tighter". The only problem I noticed was when deaccelerating(no matter the gear) down to from about 2K-1.5K rpms, the car would start to buck. The lower the revs got, the worse the bucking. I installed the ETB from Gotham Racing, and BINGO, it got rid of it.

 

I know he's on the other forum quite a bit.

Also he'll be at deals gap again this year, he always brings goodies for sale.