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Pictures and Description of my Energy Suspension Motor Mount Inserts |
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As mentioned in the head swap section, I was getting a clunk in center of the car. I thought
that it might be the exhaust hitting something, so I jacked up all four wheels off the
ground, and while a friend engaged and dis-engaged the clutched I looked for what was
hitting. I noticed while I was under the car that the whole motor shifted on the mounts
by almost 1/2 an inch. Sometimes it almost looked like more. I thought I might have broke
a motor mount, or maybe cracked one. I decided that I needed to stiffen the mounts. I
spoke to Mike at RRE and asked if he recommended the inserts or filling them with the
poli-urithane. He recommended the inserts because they can be removed if the idle causes too
much vibration. - Got the mounts inserted and they made a big difference. I do feel a lot more
vibration with both mounts in. I also noticed my clunk is gone. It is strange but the car
almost feels like handles a little better because there is less weight transfer in the
engine compartment. It will be interesting to see how it feels when launching the car at
the track. I have included pictures and a description of how to add the inserts.
Picture of the front motor mount. You can see how the weight of the engine and tranny
are pushing down on the stock rubber mount.
Another view from the other side. (center of the car)
Looking down from the top.
Before I removed the motor mounts, I needed to support the tranny.
To pull the front mount out, you need to remove the (2) 14mm bolts from the bottom of the
mount and then the 14mm bolt and nut through the center. Here is a picture of it removed
and next to the Energy Suspension inserts. It takes about 5-10 mins. to pull the front mount
I bought these inserts from RRE.
Here I inserted the inserts. You can see which ones I used. It was a little miss leading
because the metal washers were under the back inserts. I found out after I installed the
front mount back into the car, the washers needed to be put on. It was easy to add them.
Here is a picture of the removed rear motor mount. To remove the rear motor mount, it was
not as difficult as some make it sound. I did almost everything from the top. The first
thing I did was to remove the 14mm bolt and nut and lock washer from the center. Expect
to get a few scratches on your arms from the throttle body. After the bolt is removed, I
took a 24 in. extension which was long enough to be able to remove the 3 bolt from the
top. Once you have removed all of the bolts, I jacked the tranny up a little higher and
rotated (spun) the mount so the mounting plate was on the top. This is not too easy, and
you might want to remove the (2) 12mm bolts holding the fuel filter in. You will have to
fight the shifter cables a little. I got it free and when I tried to pull the mount out
I needed to pull the battery out. To make it easier on yourself, you might as well pull
the battery from the start. I think this might have been a little easier for me because
I have the 1G intake manifold on, which has shorter runners.
Another look at the rear mount.
Picture with the inserts in the rear mount.
This is a picture of the rear motor mount location. The view is straight down. You can see
two of the three mounting holes, and the outline of the plate. You can also see that I removed
the two bolts on the fuel filter.
Here is the front motor mount. I had to add the metal washers.