Engine mountings.

[Alec]

Hello all,

I seem to replace front engine mounts more regularly than I would expect. Not exactly every other month but I don't remember other cars being quite so heavy on them?

I know that there is a lot of torque from a 2.5 engine, so how do others fare? If you have had a similar experience then have you used a different type of mounting?

I believe that modern replacements are not as well made as the originals were and I recently had a new rear mount that was terribly made, such that one mounting hole was right at the edge of the upper steel attachment. (The steel looked flame cut and roughly ground to shape) I contacted the well known Linconshire supplier who immediately refunded my payment. I sourced another from a more local supplier, which looked to be identical to the first but a better proportion to the mounting.

Alec

[Alan Chatterton]

The Repro engine mountings are not so good to be honest.......... I had several sets which lasted between 1 hour and 1 month!!

I then bought e very expensive set of new old stock originals from Chris Witor, and never had another problem.

I would suggest you bite the bullet and buy the expensive ones, or even find a set of second hand originals!.......... either way it will sort the problem.

Gearbox mountings had the same issue..... the metal was in the wrong place and the rubber to metal bond was not as strong as it should be.

Earlparts now do a good quality gearbox mount.... you should have no problems with that.......... having said that, original "metalastic" mounts secondhand are sometimes a better bet!

I have often thought of converting the gearbox crossmember to a Stag unit which uses 2 cotton-reel type mounts in compression, a much better solution but as yet I don't know if this can be done...........

[Alec]

Hello Alan,

I wasn't aware that there was an option with regard to new stock these days. I am going to the spares day at Stoneleigh so I will keep my eye open. I wonder if the works rally cars used standard engine mountings?

I have used industrial mounts in the past on another project which are like the old metalastic leaf spring mount with attachment points. With this type, even if the bond fails the concentric metal sleeves retains the engine movement.
I have experienced the top radiator hose outlet leak due to the force on it with a failed engine mount on my car. The soldered joint gave way under the strain.

Alec

[Alan Chatterton]

Stoneleigh would be a good place to start..... see you there, I'll be on the Register stand so come and say hello!

Failing that, just checked CW's advert, still lists them under "block & various", 1st item "Engine mounting rubber 124734 OE Spec"........ £19.98 each.

[Alec]

Hello Alan,

thanks for that.

I have used Chris for parts for a great many years, (including what I would assume to be very rare now, a cross drilled crank some time back) but do prefer to buy directly online as I find it much easier.

Alec

[David Withers]

Hello Alec.

I find it easy to buy from CW electronically. He has my credit card number and I simply drop him an email when I want something.

I'm quite surprised that someone of your expertise should go to Lincolnshire for parts, on-line or by any other means!

David.

[Alec]

Hello David,

OK, I didn't realise that he retains card numbers as that is rather unusual, although I suppose his trade is specialised.

I think that I wrote a couple of years ago about engine mountings and the information I got from other suppliers was that they all bought from the same supplier\manufacturer? I used the 'notorious' supplier for many parts a long time ago and their service was very good then, and few if any problems with quality. Most of my requirements these days are for service parts. (Recent ongoing gearbox overhaul excepted)

Alec

[Steve Knight]

I only broke one original / OE in 10 years stage rally. But that was enough to explore the alternatives. We've always heard of the "world cup" Xmember ( for Escorts ) The engine mounts were a cylindrical bush ( with a bolt through ) If the bush went soft the engine was still held in place - on the metal bolt ! I never made one but did do a steady bar. made from a Vitesse rear arm. bolted from the alternator bracket, to a welded bracket on the n/s suspension turret. ( Battery was in the boot ) I think it would be easy to fix a big cotton reel type mounting ( V6 Ford being one ) Nearly all remanufactured rubber stuff is practically useless. Why cant they make it like they could 50 years ago - I will never understand.

[David Withers]

I wonder how important it is with Triumph mountings to get the right shore hardness etc?

At Perkins we went to great lengths in 'advising' Austin-Rover on engine mountings for the Prima diesel engine. They fitted the simple bonded rubber/metal type to the test installations but we found that refinement was massively improved with fluid-filled mountings and insisted on these being used for production power units. They fought against this for cost reasons but eventually succumbed, though I've an inkling they fitted them only to the front, keeping to the bonded type for the rear.

We didn't design our own fluid-filled mountings for the test installations, we nipped 1/2 mile up the road to the local Citroen-Peugeot dealer!

[stag estate man]

The Repro engine mountings are not so good to be honest.......... I had several sets which lasted between 1 hour and 1 month!!

I then bought e very expensive set of new old stock originals from Chris Witor, and never had another problem.

I would suggest you bite the bullet and buy the expensive ones, or even find a set of second hand originals!.......... either way it will sort the problem.

Gearbox mountings had the same issue..... the metal was in the wrong place and the rubber to metal bond was not as strong as it should be.

Earlparts now do a good quality gearbox mount.... you should have no problems with that.......... having said that, original "metalastic" mounts secondhand are sometimes a better bet!

I have often thought of converting the gearbox crossmember to a Stag unit which uses 2 cotton-reel type mounts in compression, a much better solution but as yet I don't know if this can be done...........

hi alan
i have a stag which has a 2.5 engine and gearbox and uses the 2.5 gearbox crossmember and mountings with no problems as i didnt have the stag crossmember. so there should be no problem the other way round in fact if i find two stag ones i will fit one to the estate and the stag as the cotton reel type mounts are cheaper and hopefully better quality
cheers grahame