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Engine Mount replacement

Joe_Pinehill

Jedi Hopeful
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I have a '78 Spit, can i jack the engine from underneath and remove / replace the engine mounts? thanks
 
Hey, Joe, I've done this in a TR3, but I loosened the exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifold first; I didn't want something on either end cracking and breaking from the strain. Don't forget a piece of wood under the pan...
 
Joe- yes and don't forget the wood as kevin suggest.
don
 
All you really want to do is take the pressure off the engine to get to the engine mount. I put a bunch of rags on top of the jack. You are really not "lifting" the engine so much as taking the weight off the mount, maybe 1/2". No need to undo the exhausts. Really pretty straightforward.




Bill
 
What would amke a person think that the motor mounts need changing. Age?? I don't see my engine moving so I'm pretty sure they aren't broken but then again they are probably 33 years old.
 
Jerry,
If indeed your motor mounts are the original, by all means, change them! They are rubber and take a bunch of stress. I actually changed mine to a set that I bought from a popular vendor and they failed within one year. The engine dropped one inch!The next set I bought from TRF and they have theirs made up. Super quality. The others were hollow! TRF's were solid rubber bonded to steel plates. Also, change the nuts and bolts while you are at it. Takes about 1 hour max.

Bill
 
Not only do these mounts take a lot of stress, but they tend to deteriorate over time due to...ahem...petroleum product contamination.

As for jacking on the oil pan? Not to worry, so long as you do use a piece of wood or other "insulation" between jack and pan. After all, one can sit an engine on the garage floor for many, many years without any harm to the pan at all (save a scratch or two in the paint). I'm actually less sure about doing this with an alloy pan, but there's more danger of cosmetic damage there.
 
Addressing the issue of why one would need to change engine mounts, reminded me of a story . . .

Many years ago, while in college, I was driving my Triunph TR3a on a long, highway trip. It was very early in the morning (about one, or two) and with only about 200, or so, miles to my destination, I pulled over to the side of the highway and caught some shut-eye. When the sun came up a few hours later, I felt refreshed and excited to complete the journey. I started the TR and lit it up in an aggressive departure from my rest stop. Unfortunately, I was a bit too aggressive and the engine broke it’s engine mounts and leapt forward and inch, or so, causing the fan blades to take out the bottom two inches of the radiator. With water flowing everywhere, I immediately pulled over to take an accounting of my situation. I was literally in the middle of nowhere (rural Illinois farm country and the nearest house looked to be a mile away) and I was stuck. I had to get creative. I pulled out my tools and yanked out the radiator—-it looked pretty bad. Then, I remembered. I had a gallon can of Bondo in the trunk of the TR. I pulled it out, mixed up a big batch, and packed the lower half of the radiator with half-a gallon of Bondo. I let the unit dry for a couple of hours and put the whole thing back together and filled up the radiator with water using a discarded soda can and water from a nearby runoff trench.

I still own a TR3 (not the same one), but when I sold my first TR3a, several years later, it still had that Bondo’d radiator in it and it ran, under pressure, as cool and as leak-free as if it were the original unit. I like to look back on that incident with a feeling of accomplishment, and fondly remember it as one of my finest hours.

Thanks for letting me remember.
 
Ktemkin, Macgyver's got nothing on you! Ingenious!
 
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