easy 2 minute floppy motor mount fix, its like a new car!

[Deathshead]

OK, so a few weeks ago i order and install all 3 mounts, the 2 trans mounts and the left side engine mount. the old ones were destroyed,..

I take the car for a ride, (first festiva with all new mounts yay!),.. Well i was NOT impressed!, the engine flopped around almost as bad as with the ripped original mounts!

Downshifting, taking off from lights was soo annoying with the engine rocking back and forth..

Well, I remembered back to when i used to own a Buick grand national & t-type. a company sold a nylon ratchet strap to tighten up the motor mounts for those cars.


All you need is

#1 small ratchet strap, (with small hooks, rubber coated)

left side fender well there is a hole punched in the body, put the hook in there, and then go to the engine pull tab thats bolted to the head, position so nothing touches, and crank it down a bit. WALA!

Its like I got into a different car, it feels like the whole car is tied together, even feels like it handles better, no more clunk when i dump the clutch, even at rev limiter...

This has got to be one of the first mods to do to a festiva.

I was worried that I would pull the hook thru the sheet metal of the body but that hole is reinforced a bit, and the tab bolted to the head would bend before anything.

Of course it dosent look that great since the strap i used was all dirty, but a new one wouldnt look that bad at all.

This should be a sticky, this mod is a must!

[Kraig]

A dirty tie down strap and a Ractive tach .......... what other kool stuff do you have :shock:

[25Horseplay]

Re: easy 2 minute floppy motor mount fix, its like a new car

This has got to be one of the first mods to do to a festiva.

This should be a sticky, this mod is a must!

I'm not sure if it should be a "must" I haven't had this problem, or even heard of others complaining about this happening. Are you sure something else isn't loose? Then again maybe it is a problem and others will say something now.

[Deathshead]

Well i wouldnt call it a "problem" per say, just that the motor moved too much on the stock mounts for me, this gives the car a very solid feel,

And to Kraig, I dont know what to tell you, it works, its alot nicer then welding a friggin chain to engine mounts on a v8 like alot of people do.

Its dirty, so what, I put it there 5 minutes before i left work and it works great, I will get a new clean one if it will make you happy.

Heres what they sell for the turbo buicks, its just as hokey, but it works, just like alot of the v8 GM cars from the 60s, the dealers installed pickup truck tailgate cables to the left side of the motor to stop excess movement when i car came in for warranty work.

[pole120]

Or you send me your stock mounts and have me fill them with poly like i do for the SVT's

~Josh

[B6T]

^ That doesn't work so well with Festivas. And it's not that hard to do either.

[pole120]

That doesn't work so well with Festivas.

Just curious....why not?

~Josh

[skeeters_keeper]

well i read that, went out and put one on... i'll letcha know if i think it makes any difference tomorow... makes sense to me tho, and i love those lil "free" things to do to your car

also this is different than filling your mounts with polly: the mounts can still absorb movement radialy, just the top of the motor doesn't rock back and forth as much. doesn't sacrifice ride quality as much (vibrations) but helps with excess movement... well, just my thoughts.

i'll post what i think of it tomorow after i drive it

[festivaWES]

filled mine with urathane (windshield glue)

IT WORKS!

[25Horseplay]

If more people say this makes a differance I might make try it on the B6T when I install it this winter. Maybe being a B3 w/auto I don't notice it.

[ajb999]

b3 manual and i haven't noticed it either. i could see it helping a heavier engine though. especially w/ a lot of weight up top.

[Kraig]

Hey I was just kidding. If it works what the heck. Doesn't look any worse like you said than a chain or even a turnbuckle.

[5.0zone]

I put a chain on my first 67 Mustang (on the drivers side of the engine).
I left a small amount of slack in it, maybe half a link.
That was the wrong thing to do, after a year or so, I noticed that the shock tower on the passenger side was starting to pull apart :shock:
So the word is keep it tight.

[skeeters_keeper]

well i drove it to school this AM w/ the strap on it... it did make some difference. not like tons and tons but it was noticable... most noticably the engine dosn't move all over while idling w/ the hood up :lol:

when/if i put a B6 in (waiting on news about that head still ? ) i may try urathane-ing the mounts too tho.

my question is: how much worse does that make the ride? *i* don't really care, but i'm not the only one who drives my car, and i don't want my parents to stop driving my car b/c that would mean i'd always have to pay for the gass/parts/insurance instead of spliting it :roll:

any way since the tie-strap is basically free and it DOES help, i'd give it a try... sure doesn't hurt anything!

[Jimmy]

I've seen people do this same thing with nice looking aluminum turn-
buckles (from a hardware store). If you make decent looking brackets it
can be a pretty nice looking and effective modification.

Just make sure you bolt the engine side to something fairly substantial. I
have seen a few bolts pulled out of aluminum mounting bosses from doing
this same thing.