Another DIY mod to save money and make a difference, side engine and transaxle mounts.

[RAAMaudio]

I commend the company coming out with what are needed parts for this car but for those of us serious about DIY I just came up with another idea to save myself money and waiting for parts....

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Drivers side.

I figured this out nearly two years ago and gave the idea to several different manufactures in a row and none even responded

1) 1/8" spacer in front and in back of the rubber that is on the stock aluminum arm coming off the transaxle.

2) 1/4" spacer on top of it.

I even made some out of aluminum and shipped them out to one vendor so they could see what I was doing, they could of CNS, cast, etc the parts and sold them for a very low price. All that would be needed is to remove the air box, battery, tray and top of the mount, put in the inserts, it back together.

If you DIY this you will need to work out the measurements, etc as I had already made a new top mount out of lighter material because I had already moved the battery to the rear so a lower weight mount was all I needed.

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2) Passenger side engine mount.

I should of taken a better look at this a long time ago, embarrassed I had not done so as I have poured many of my own mounts over the years.

1) 2 part urethane to poor into the side hole in the mount, it needs to be two part so it fully cures as it is rather sealed up.

Cost was under $50 shipped, enough to do at least 4 if not 5 or 6 mounts.

I will have to upload the mount pictures, I thought I had already done so.

Updated, lessones learned, etc...:

Tape off the two side holes and then use a screwdriver to pull the mount forward and pour a thin stream of Flexane into the opening, look how floppy these mounts are, my wife could do this with one and and barely straining!

NO WONDER bolts have been breaking!

Then push it back and pour more flexane..

Do not fill completely as you will squish to much out.

Side flex is much less than front to rear.

Tape off the top and lay on the side and pour a thin stream of flexane in to top it off.

When pouring you have to use a thin stream to let the air escape but you have to work fast.

If it starts to get to stiff use a putty knife, etc, to force more material in.

 

[InsTwin]

Nice! I'm very interested as I've also been rather shocked of the lack of other engine mount upgrades available for us.

 

[TempeST]

You know I'm in for this.

 

[RAAMaudio]

When I get the urethane, it is shipping today priority mail, I will mix up what looks like just enough plus a bit more, measure how much I use, poor it, if excess I can see what was left over, if not quite enough mix up a bit more and poor it it. That way I can get a good idea of how many mounts per can and to prevent wasted material.

If anybody wants to do theirs while I am in their area they can use what is needed and pay for that amount, for members outside the area I could ship to them and they use what is needed and pay a share. If 5 can be done that would mean local to where I am at pay $10, if it has to be shipped then pay for what is left in the can and shipping, charge $10 and part of the shipping for any locals, if used up then then the cost would be around $12 per person otherwise if shipped out again $15-20 instead of $50 like I paid to order it.

Another option, somebody could offer a service for a reasonable fee as it does not take much work but there will be down time of at least 2 days but I generally wait a week before using mounts I make. One could find some good used mounts and make up a batch and do a core charge offer.

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I decided to go with the 80 hardness material as I poured some 94 once and it was like solid metal mounts but it might be OK to use it on these mounts since there will still be rubber left for a little vibration damping, I will know when I get mine done.

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For those that want a relatively simple bolt on solution, have time constraints, no place to work on the car, etc...the SITH mounts would be the way to go I am sure but some feedback needs to be posted from the early users of them of course. I was going to order one or both but the idea of the DIY hit me and I have to try it out.

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[Dustys318]

Good write up! Just ordered some cores to do the work. I have the factory RMM laying around somewhere and will do it too just to see if it'll hold up..

 

[RAAMaudio]

Very cool indeed, especially if you do some for our fellow enthusiasts

I would try the 80 but also consider getting some 92 just in case it needs to be stiffer.

The stock mounts I have filled before had quite a bit of rubber in them so I cut out as much as I could, sealed up one side, poured them, let them sit a week to be sure fully cured.

With 92 it felt almost like solid metal mounts, if more of the stock rubber was left, depending on the design, the stiffer material might work out best.

I tried the oven method once, you do not want to stink up your house, it takes some time to go away.

For the RMM (technically REM I do not recall what it even looked like as gave it away when the car had 293 miles on it, if I can look at a picture I can probably make a good recommendation on what might be the best way to go.

For the passenger side mount I would just fill it and see how it turns out, that is what I am going to do.

If the 80 is not quite stiff enough, BT, LSD, suspension bushings, 225 sticky tires, I will get another mount and fill it with 92, unless you do this before I can get to it

 

[RAAMaudio]

Got the Flexane in yesterday so a great seller on Ebay

To busy to work on it today, dealing with a mod to my 11.75" BBK under 15x8 wheels which looks like it will become a BBK option before to long for others, not for money by me, for what I want to achieve and help others share the fun.

 

[RAAMaudio]

First attempt to pour the mount yesterday ended up not fun, just to thick for a small side opening, seemed it would be fine but kept trapping the air and not allowing the urethane to flow into the mount. I ended up forcing it in with a stir stick and it was hardening up and a very physically demanding task, I still have as very stiff neck from it this morning.

I recommend drilling 4 holes in the top to be able fill the mount much better, should just pour in and settle really well as this product always has in the past.

I got most all of it in if not fully filled and it has just enough to reduce the flex to barely move and that little bit should help with vibration noise.

I have some very interesting pictures to post on just how much the stock mount flexes, crazy amount, kind of stupid amount for this car, really.

I also drilled a bunch of metal out of the top half of the mount to make it lighter, several fun hours using a hand drill and holding it down, would of been great if I had access to one of my drill presses. It looks way cooler and I am not at all concerned with it breaking as have modded parts to remove weight since I built slot cars back in early to mid 60's

Sorry no pics yet, forgot to post some, have new ones to upload, sure would be easier if I could just load them from the computer like most sites I have been on

 

[RAAMaudio]

Somebody please weight their stock mount top and bottom sections separately, I forgot to do so before working on them

The lightened top section is just 19.5 oz now.

I will weight the filled bottom, it does not add much to the unit.

It will be interesting to see how it compares to the aftermarket mount in weight and performance.

 

[Sourskittle]

The aftermarket passenger mount is 6.3LBS with the large bolt. Basically the whole unit.

Like this


Cyborg turbo, TBE, panda TR6 intercooler, drop in green filter.
245whp 293Tq V-dyno
13.3@104mph

 

[RAAMaudio]

That is a pretty beefy part.

Stock but lightned upper section, 19.5 oz

Stock urethane filled lower section, with mounting bolt, 2lbs, 15.7 oz

Total is 4lbs 3.2 oz.

The amount of weight removed from the top is not a great deal, at the very most .4lbs or so would be my guess.

Thanks
Rick

 

[RAAMaudio]

Installed and it will be great I am sure but still waiting on the new turbo from DHM to be able to test it out.

With my wife pulling on the screwdiver with more force than when unfilled, 2 days is enough time to wait for it to cure but full cure takes about a week easy to see how much less it moves!

Some of the movement is just the tool fitment into the mount being a bit loose, not sure I would want a stiffer mount than this, I have had solid engine mounts or nearly solid mounts and not fun on a street driven car and noisy as hell in a race car but great response to the throttle!

Side to side movement is even less than front to back but it was less to start with as well.

 

[Dustys318]

Was this with 80 or 92 mix?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[RAAMaudio]

80

Until I get to drive the car I will not know if this is best or the 92 might be needed but I am pretty sure from others I have made the 92 might be to stiff.

I was quite concerned it would not work out to well due to the material stiffening up while I was forcing it into the hole in the side, sure which I had thought of pouring from the top then the side first, but it hardened up very nicely.

If I had another mount I would pour it from the top and then the side, a great deal less work, and test them both and then sell the first one for a good deal for a member here

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Note:

The gray material around the top is silicone sealer I applied there and on the little back hole to keep the resign from escaping while I poured into the bigger hole on the front.

If I do another one I will tape the small holes well, pour all I can from the top, clean it quickly, tape it up, pour the rest into the bigger side hole.

 

[RAAMaudio]

GREAT success, so far, barely more noise or vibration than stock yet I can barely move the engine

I am sure to have much less torque steer and the less the power is spent moving parts around, the more it makes to car move more quickly.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Finally getting the Quick Spool tuned, 309WHP on VD and 91 Octane this morning, much smoother power build that starts earlier than the later spooling hard hitting EFR which I had huge torque steer with, exciting, dangerous at times, made mountain runs very intense. Torque steer reduced about 90%, easy to deal with and point the car where I want it to go instead of correcting where it was trying to go, right, left, back and forth, it was quite a handful at times.

Mounts are breaking in, more noise and vibration that without but not that bad at all, I deem this a MUST DO MOD, buy mounts or fill your own

Rick