Engine in car, oil pan not removed, FD billet engine mount install
02-20-14, 06:16 PM
#1
Engine in car, oil pan not removed, FD billet engine mount install
This past Saturday, Dale Clark graciously accepted my request to help change my OEM motor mounts with FFE mounts without removing the oil pan. After the appropriate prep work (removing the undertray, the nuts/bolts holding the downpipe to the midpipe, the tranny brace and intercooler piping), we hoisted the engine and the OEM mounts were easily removed in under 30 minutes. The left aluminum motor mount puck came out in two pieces so new motor mounts were clearly in order.
Installing the new motor mounts was quite challenging. With the sub-frame brackets attached, installing the mounts directly to the oil pan/motor was straight forward except that we could not get the engine hoisted high enough to insert the supplied hex bit socket to tighten the mount bolts. We were able to tighten them enough with our fingers to insert a hex key which was used to finish tightening the mount bolts. There was no problem tightening the pan mount bolt with a socket. However, there was not enough room to use a torque wrench and tighten to torque any of the bolts.
When we lowered the motor to the sub-frame, neither of the mounting studs lined up with the holes in the sub-frame as the motor was slightly clocked. Our attempt to line up the engine using a pry bar and pushing on the engine was met with little success. Dale then completely removed the shoulder nut/bolts from each mount and moved the sub-frame brackets away from the mount without completely removing them from the bushing. We then coaxed one mounting stud into the sub-frame with the assistance of a pry bar, pushing on the engine and raising/lowering the engine. The same steps were followed and the other mounting stud finally fell in place. All that remained was lining up each mount's sub-frame bracket with the bushing. That too took quite a bit of coaxing utilizing the same techniques we used to get the mounting studs to secure proper alignment. Three and a half hours later and with only one bloody knuckle, sorry about that, Dale, the new mounts were installed.
I have not discussed this with Dale, but I suspect that had we removed the tranny, we would not have had to fight so much to do the install because it would have been easier to clock the engine for purposes of getting everything aligned. An engine in car motor mount installation is possible. It clearly requires two people and liberal use of a pry bar through the sub-frame slots to get the mounts to fall in place at both the sub-frame end and the sub-frame bracket.
Many, many thanks go out to Dale without whom this job would not have happened.
P.S.: FFE's Aaron emailed the following to me in response to my installation feedback: First, thanks for the heads up and the great feedback. We actually made a design change to use a bolt rather than the welded stud to aid in aligning the motor when dropping into the subframe. We'll be digging into the other concerns you brought up further but wanted to make sure you knew that we are working on it.
Thanks,
Aaron
FFFE
Installing the new motor mounts was quite challenging. With the sub-frame brackets attached, installing the mounts directly to the oil pan/motor was straight forward except that we could not get the engine hoisted high enough to insert the supplied hex bit socket to tighten the mount bolts. We were able to tighten them enough with our fingers to insert a hex key which was used to finish tightening the mount bolts. There was no problem tightening the pan mount bolt with a socket. However, there was not enough room to use a torque wrench and tighten to torque any of the bolts.
When we lowered the motor to the sub-frame, neither of the mounting studs lined up with the holes in the sub-frame as the motor was slightly clocked. Our attempt to line up the engine using a pry bar and pushing on the engine was met with little success. Dale then completely removed the shoulder nut/bolts from each mount and moved the sub-frame brackets away from the mount without completely removing them from the bushing. We then coaxed one mounting stud into the sub-frame with the assistance of a pry bar, pushing on the engine and raising/lowering the engine. The same steps were followed and the other mounting stud finally fell in place. All that remained was lining up each mount's sub-frame bracket with the bushing. That too took quite a bit of coaxing utilizing the same techniques we used to get the mounting studs to secure proper alignment. Three and a half hours later and with only one bloody knuckle, sorry about that, Dale, the new mounts were installed.
I have not discussed this with Dale, but I suspect that had we removed the tranny, we would not have had to fight so much to do the install because it would have been easier to clock the engine for purposes of getting everything aligned. An engine in car motor mount installation is possible. It clearly requires two people and liberal use of a pry bar through the sub-frame slots to get the mounts to fall in place at both the sub-frame end and the sub-frame bracket.
Many, many thanks go out to Dale without whom this job would not have happened.
P.S.: FFE's Aaron emailed the following to me in response to my installation feedback: First, thanks for the heads up and the great feedback. We actually made a design change to use a bolt rather than the welded stud to aid in aligning the motor when dropping into the subframe. We'll be digging into the other concerns you brought up further but wanted to make sure you knew that we are working on it.
Thanks,
Aaron
FFFE
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