Motor mounts in my 87 turbo 2 are shot. How hard are they to do? and what should i replace them with? OEM? Is there a nice set for cheap, the motor is only staying in untill end of winter.

 

Mazda competition mounts are nice, and they don't cost too much ($82 a pair). They're stiffer than stock, so you'll feel the engine a little more, but nothing like solid or poly mounts. The added stiffness keeps the engine from flexing so much in the bay as well. http://www.mazdatrix.com/mounts.htm

You can replace the mounts with the engine still in the car, but there are some tricks you'll need to know. Remove all 4 nuts from the top/bottom of the mounts where they connect to the brackets & subframe, then jack the engine up from the oil pan. If you use a piece of wood to spread the load, you won't risk denting the pan. A small 2x4 works. It gets a little tight as the engine tilts back towards the firewall, but go as far as you can without smashing anything. I'd pull the intercooler and undo anything you're afraid of damaging. I just did this recently and managed to not smash/bend anything.

The driver-side mount will fall out pretty easily, but the passenger-side may not be so easy. It may have been I jacked it up a little off-center, but I had to work harder to do the passenger-side. I had to loosen the 3 bolts that attach the bracket to the center iron, which meant oil started to drip out on me. But it gave me some room to get the old mount out, and the new one in. Lowering the engine back down can be a challenge too, since the studs don't always want to go back into the subframe slots properly. It might take a few tries and a prybar, but they'll both eventually go in.

 

I'd recommend jacking it up on the transmission rather then the oil pan. But aside from that, it's a straightforward job.

 

^ I was going to try it from the transmission bell housing, but I quickly realized that's not possible in a convertible. The extra cross-member blocks access with a jack. But on a coupe you can definitely give that location a shot. I tried a little further back on the transmission case, but it just tried to raise the transmission instead. The engine wouldn't tilt.

I also forgot the mention that removing the intake piping and airbox is also very necessary. If you have a stock TID (turbo inlet duct), it will probably rip in half despite being made of rubberized plastic.

 

I use hockey pucks, one and a half pucks per side.

 

Thanks a lot rotaryrocket, im ganna order them up this weekend and get it done with probably same way you did.

 

I have a BRAND new set of MMR solid motor mounts for sale if your interested. I'll sell them exactly for what they go for minus shipping from their website. They suck complete *** in customer support. I ordered them when I needed them for my build; had to use stock mounts b/c they took too long to arrive. So yeah... they are yours for $60 shipped if your interested.

-Allen G.