Raising engine to get at motor mounts?

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: Oldbag2924  (Original Message)
Sent: 4/18/2005 12:49 AM

I have a 73 Brave with a 318 in it. A mechanic told me that my engine mounts were deteriorated and needed to be replaced. I went down to the local NAPA, and brought home a set, but when I got under the rig, they looked a lot differfent than the old ones. Anyway, I want to take an old one in to match it up, so what is the best way to raise the engine off of the mounts for removal? Any help would be appreciated.



From: denison
Sent: 4/18/2005 5:19 AM

I put a 12 inch length of 2 inch by 2 inch angle iron where the pan mounting flange bolts to the block bottom, on the side of the long dimension of the pan, and jacked up the engine, using a bottle jack pushing up on the middle of the angle iron. The jack was sitting on a sturdy stack of lumber including a 6 by 6. I unbolted one motor mount at a time, and jacked up that side of the engine till I could wiggle it out. If you raise the engine too far you might bend the fan blades against the radiator fan shroud, or other obstruction. You might have to unbolt the transmission cooler lines to lift the one side of the engine.
I got the piece of angle iron at a sheet metal/welding shop, from their stack of cut-offs aka "drops".
My motor mounts had sagged to where there seemed to be metal to metal contact, and I thought new motor mounts might make an otherwise smooth-enough operation even smoother.
I was not able to tell any difference at all however. I dont know about the 318 motor mounts; but on the 413s and 440s, if the motor mounts sag, nothing bad is going to happen to the motor.



From: Oldbag2924
Sent: 4/18/2005 11:57 PM

Thanks, Dennison, for your advice. Sounds like maybe the replacing of these mounts is not such a crucial thing-or is it?
What I did last year to use the Old Bag was to surround the sluffing craked rubber with hose clamps. I wonder how long I could go with this temporary fix, as the ground is still wet and cold here in Alaska.



From: denison
Sent: 4/19/2005 7:24 AM

The parts catalog covering 69 through 74 lists the same part number for the 318,413 and 440 motor mounts. "Insulator, Front Support, 2264675". So I would guess it is mounted the same way. If the rubber part of the motor mount fell away completely, it would just mean the engine was sitting on the metal part of the mount, it wouldnt go anywhere. I would wait for a warm day. Although mine was allowing some metal to metal contact, the fan blades were not in danger of hitting the fan shroud.
I wouldnt have changed mine when I did, but I won a pair of the mounts on ebay for $20....and it was warm dry weather.