Solid Motor Mounts

[tcrist]

I know that I would not trust that thin bracket to hold much. I would rather over engineer a bracket then take a chance. But what do I know, I've only been in the sheetmetal fabrication business for 40+ years.

[scottj]

Originally Posted by tcrist

I know that I would not trust that thin bracket to hold much. I would rather over engineer a bracket then take a chance. But what do I know, I've only been in the sheetmetal fabrication business for 40+ years.

I did over-engineer it... I bought the ones made of steel rather than the ones made of aluminum.

[tcrist]

Originally Posted by scottj

I did over-engineer it... I bought the ones made of steel rather than the ones made of aluminum.

I like that.

The brackets will probably work fine, just not my cup of tea, so to speak.
I guess that you have never had them work harden from flexing. That is good. Whod a thunk it?

[scottj]

To be fair, I’ll say that these mounts are for circle track applications designed to be used with a mid-plate or mid-mounts. In practice, they are often used in a 3-point mounting system by unbolting the mid-plate and adding a trans mount. The idea with a 3-point system is to eliminate the engine as a stressed member of the chassis… a way of tuning using chassis flex.

Below, on the left, is the same mount pictured (along with the grade 5 bolt) in the mock-up in a previous post. I ran this set for ten years in the circle track application previously described without a problem. On the right is a new mount that was installed in the Cobra for final assembly. It is identical to the set I’ve been running in the Cobra with previous engines and was chosen because of the additional cross-sectional area.
I actually posted these pics because my mounts look like they should bend or break, yet it’s the factory engineered cars with the problems. I can’t bend them in ten years of trying. Being the worrywart that I am though, I keep an extra set on the shelf and plan to change them out every 10 years.