Body mount questions

[Tori]

I've read thru 2 pages using the search on body mounts, but still have a few questions.

I've never replaced body mounts before so don't have a clue what it entails.

From what i've read, sounds like its fairly common to loose the lower bushing. I think i've seen this under my car, so pretty sure i have at least one missing lower. I've also noticed the others are pretty squished and cracked.

I see some people only replace the lower. Why is this ? Does it do any good to only replace the lower ? Or can you not do the upper without taking the body off or something ?

I also read that a lot of the bolts break, or twist in the frame. If i have that happen, what is the out come of that ? Am i screwed until i pull the body off the frame or can it just be left alone ?

Also, i want to replace them with stock rubber ones. Not Poly. Suggestions for retailer ?

 

[87turbot-type]

At the age of these cars now it all depends on the condition of the underside of the car. The job really isn't that hard "if" everything comes loose. If your car is rough underneath you may find that the welded nuts in the trunk break loose and spin. Also common to find that there is no metal left on the frame where the bushing sits on.

Kirbans will be your best bet for buying the stock style replacement bushings. Once all bolts are removed on each side you can jack the car up a bit and replace both the upper and lower bushings. I believe ther are instructions on gnttype.org on the procedure. Bumpers need to be removed to not damaged God fillers.

Good luck!

Brandon.

 

[Tori]

Thanks Brandon. I guess step one will be penetrating oil, patience, and see if I'm lucky.

 

[87geeinn]

1) Due to the large washers, vertical bolts, and isolated threads, the penetrating oil isn't going to do you any good.
2) Why not poly bushings? You can get the whole she-bang, including the "GNX" bushings for relatively cheap from Energy Suspension.
3) As stated before, the condition of the car (i.e., what environment the car has seen most it's life) will play a large factor in the process. I have a southern car for the most part and when I did bushings a few years ago I only stripped one bolt upon removal. Helicoiled it as a fix.
4) As far as the R&R process goes,...remove bumpers, unbolt power steering reservoir from fender, remove ALL bushing bolts, and then jack up the body one side at a time. You can use a floor jack and some 1" thick wood pieces of just the right size to wedge between your jack and the body...but make sure that shit is sturdy and secure though because if it slips, you could lose fingers or worse. It helps greatly to have a helper watching things as you carefully jack the body up to make sure things aren't binding or getting tweaked.
5) Keep in mind that once you do this, you're car will sit higher than it did before.

 

[chris kirk]

I've read thru 2 pages using the search on body mounts, but still have a few questions.

I've never replaced body mounts before so don't have a clue what it entails.

From what i've read, sounds like its fairly common to loose the lower bushing. I think i've seen this under my car, so pretty sure i have at least one missing lower. I've also noticed the others are pretty squished and cracked.

I see some people only replace the lower. Why is this ? Does it do any good to only replace the lower ? Or can you not do the upper without taking the body off or something ?

I also read that a lot of the bolts break, or twist in the frame. If i have that happen, what is the out come of that ? Am i screwed until i pull the body off the frame or can it just be left alone ?

Also, i want to replace them with stock rubber ones. Not Poly. Suggestions for retailer ?

Tori,

You probably didn't "loose" them. The car came that way from the factory. All the cars did. They would leave a few of the bushings out intentionally to soften up the ride. Once you replace all the bushings and put the GNX bushing in, the car will drive so much nicer. Stiffer, too. Totally worth it. Also, you'll get a good idea what kind of condition the frame and body is in when you get under there. If you break any bolts then you will have to go in through the interior of the car (cut a whole where the mount is, weld in a new nut/washer then close up the whole). What kind of condition is the body in? IMO, if the body is beat up, then that may be a good indication how the car was cared for, and therefore, how difficult it will be to replace the mounts. Was the car kept in a garage? What part of the country did the car spend most of, if not all of its time in? Those questions along with the appearance of the body should give you an idea how hard it will be to get the bolts out. If the car spent most of its time in the SW region of the country it will probably be easier to do. If it came from NE and wasn't garaged, then it may be a little more difficult. Either way it should be done and you won't regret doing it. You could use stock rubber or polly. Unless it's a track car, do not use aluminum! I used stock rubber and I bought a complete set including the GNX mount from Dennis Kirban. I wanted a little more of a softer ride. Regardless, the car is going to be stiffer just from replacing the old mounts and putting ALL new bushings and bolts in. IMO, polly will stiffen the ride up even more. Now, that's not a bad thing, it just depends on what you like and what you're going to do with the car. Here are a couple of pics of my frame where the mount has started to rust away. If that's the case you may want to consult with a body shop. If you listen to 87turbot-type and 87geeinn you'll be fine. Its not really that hard to do.

Good luck

 

[Tori]

Thanks Chris, what is the GNX mount ? I forgot to ask about that in my first post. My car started life in TN, then lived a considerable amount of time in MN. It's rusty underneath, but doesn't look quite as bad as your pics. I definitely am not going with poly bushings. Comfort is what i'm after. If i wanted a Corvette, i'd buy a Corvette.

 

[DavidM]

Few photos that helped me.

 

[BEATAV8]

87geeinn nailed it.

I've done this 3 times. When the bolts break, you just have to deal with it. Cut a hole in the body (ie... the trunk floor typically) and get the broken rusty junk out. If you have some that are stuck, you could drill a small hole on the top side and soak it with penetrating oil that way. Worth a shot.

The polyurethane bushings from energy suspension work great. No reason not to use them. The car rides quite nicely with them. It's the control arm bushings that can affect the ride / handling tradeoff, much more so than the body bushings.

 

[Tori]

Those pictures are great. Worth a thousand words like they say! Thank you.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

few tips from a guy/company that sells the bushing kits the correct grade 8 bolts and the GNX bushing. First its not an easy project to do on your own. Risk is too great of something going wrong. have a helper. also the car is not on the frame straight originally so you got a good chance of getting it straighter on the frame. GNX bushing is a upper bushing that pops on a exact position which helps show you if the body and frame is in alignment.

Keep your fingers crossed all the bolts come out otherwise it gets costly to fix any that do not come out. I would stick with the correct rubber like bushings. replacing the bottom ones or 'missing ones as they are referred to won't do much now on a 25 plus year old car.

good luck

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[huntsg]

If you have stock bumper fillers be very careful with them. I ended up trashing mine when I upgraded my bushings to the poly. I would also characterize this as a fairly involved effort if you haven't done it before. Doing it on a lift helps.

 

[Tori]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'll try my hand and loosening the bolts first before i get to excited, and we'll see where that leads.

 

[TurboSmart]

i did all the bushings, used rubber mounts.
but didnt find the gnx bushing location.
does that bushing similar or is just placed there and pinched between body and frame?

 

[huntsg]

i did all the bushings, used rubber mounts.
but didnt find the gnx bushing location.
does that bushing similar or is just placed there and pinched between body and frame?

Just placed there. No bolt. You can see it in the pictures above. Those are easy to put in.

 

[Tori]

Had some luck today. Thought i'd put a wrench to the mount bolts today and see what i was in for. All 8 that i layed my impact gun to came right out. Just did the easy ones down the frame rails, and tried one of the front ones. It loosened, but then the nut started to spin. I can get my hand on the nut thru the core support so it shouldn't be an issue. I do these while i have the front end apart for SpoolFool filler replacement.

 

[buddy]

Had some luck today. Thought i'd put a wrench to the mount bolts today and see what i was in for. All 8 that i layed my impact gun to came right out. Just did the easy ones down the frame rails, and tried one of the front ones. It loosened, but then the nut started to spin. I can get my hand on the nut thru the core support so it shouldn't be an issue. I do these while i have the front end apart for SpoolFool filler replacement.

Cool dude I'm working on mine too. Which ones did you end up buying?

 

[Tori]

Haven't bought yet.. Wanted to see what kinda job i was getting myself into first. Now that i know they wont be an issue, i am shopping. I want to buy the Kirban kit but they are more $ than i was expecting......

 

[87turbot-type]

Front ones are just loose nuts very easy to get to. I actually decided to loosen all the bolts on my limited today to see how it would be. Got all the bolts out of it. Canadian car ad well.

The hardest bolts to get to not to spin are the second ones in from the rear on each side. One of mine was scary tight but it came working it back and fourth. I wouldn't recommend an impact on these ones but if your lucky...

Brandon.

 

[DavidM]

Did mine about a month or 2 ago.
The core support bushing is just a regular nut.

I bought the Prothane kit from Jegs and it included every bushing to include the lowers and GNX bushing.

I purchased the body bolts from Kirbans.

Used Anti-Seize on the new bolts and used a ratchet not an impact.

Cant say I notice a stiffer difference from the old worn out rubber bushings to the new Polyurethane bushings but it just feels tighter over bumps or railroad tracks. Before it felt like the car was glued together.

 

[DavidM]

Oh also remove the front and rear bumper and remove the two bolts holding the PS resevoir so the resevoir can move as you jack the body up/down.