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Anybody done this with a stock engine/trans? I saw the one where a guy took pics of keeping the top trans mount when he swapped engine/trans, but I don't see any mention of doing it with a stock trans. I've seen it mentioned that the thing that usually blows the stock trans is wheel hop, or at least that's the root cause however it does eventually go. Guys doing solid/nearly solid cross members to try to fix it when they've got big power and launching hard, but IMO that is the wrong way to tackle it.
So I was thinking and went back to my old Neon in the yard. Instead of an engine cradle like thing, it uses 2 mounting points on top like the later/bigger Mazdas, but on the bottom it has only a mount in front and a torque strut in back. On the later models they even eliminated the front mount and rear strut and used 2 solid struts with the typical soft bushings that come in engine mounts. One top and one bottom on the passenger side, and the 2 motor mounts like before. Reason I use this as an example is the neon guys generally don't have a problem with exploding gears from wheel hop. The diff pin walks out sometimes from too many 1 wheel burnouts or because the gears eat the pin as they spin on it and cause ugly things to happen, but for the most part this seems to be a better way to do it.
I'm thinking 2 top mounts and 1 semi-solid torque strut attaching from the rear trans mount point to the rear cross member mount point would be the way to go.
First issue I see is how to mount the top trans mount. The body end is no big deal, but on the trans it's not so good. Don't know if I'd trust the 2 easily usable bolt holes(the ones for the starter support bracket) to hold up that weight and not rip out of the aluminum.
Just kicking around ideas right now. Too many irons in the fire as it is, but I can't stop dreaming.
So I was thinking and went back to my old Neon in the yard. Instead of an engine cradle like thing, it uses 2 mounting points on top like the later/bigger Mazdas, but on the bottom it has only a mount in front and a torque strut in back. On the later models they even eliminated the front mount and rear strut and used 2 solid struts with the typical soft bushings that come in engine mounts. One top and one bottom on the passenger side, and the 2 motor mounts like before. Reason I use this as an example is the neon guys generally don't have a problem with exploding gears from wheel hop. The diff pin walks out sometimes from too many 1 wheel burnouts or because the gears eat the pin as they spin on it and cause ugly things to happen, but for the most part this seems to be a better way to do it.
I'm thinking 2 top mounts and 1 semi-solid torque strut attaching from the rear trans mount point to the rear cross member mount point would be the way to go.
First issue I see is how to mount the top trans mount. The body end is no big deal, but on the trans it's not so good. Don't know if I'd trust the 2 easily usable bolt holes(the ones for the starter support bracket) to hold up that weight and not rip out of the aluminum.
Just kicking around ideas right now. Too many irons in the fire as it is, but I can't stop dreaming.
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