murphinator
Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2008
I just had a member pm me about how you flip the mounts.
first off I didnt come up with this procedure its been around long before my time with w body cars , and I surely didnt name it as flipping is really the wrong term and confuses people , what you are really doing is indexing the rubber inside the mounts 1/4 turn (90 degrees )
so here was my reply , hope it helps some people:
look at the mounts at the top of the radiator support, specifically look at the square rubber inserts inside the mounts.
you will see of the 4 sides of the square rubber 2 sides are solid and 2 sides are pleated/hollow looking
the factory has the pleated/hollow sides doing the work of dampening the engine torque which happens forward and backward while the solid 2 sides are oriented up and down what you want to do is index these rubber inserts 90* ( 1/4 turn) so that the solid portions are forward and backward oriented
if you disconnect the bolts that hold the end of the mount that contains these square rubber inserts I am describing then reinstall the nut & bolt tightly just onto the rubber inserts not in the engine side mounts then use a pair of tools such as closed end wrench , ratchet and socket , breaker bar and socket ( pick 2)
the longer the tools you use the better for leverage sake it can take some effort to get them to "pop" from their current orientation to the new desired orientation , its been a while but I think they are 15mm
Heres the key to doing this easily vs fighting , cussing,swearing - lubrication !
if you spray some lube like wd 40 around the outside edges of the rubber inserts in the metal enclosure they are trapped in so there is lube on the rubber to metal contact areas it will make it much easier.
To effectively get lube into that area prying the rubber to make access for the spray lube with a large flat blade screwdriver or other prying device is what yu want to do all around both sides of each mount
the more lube you can get to penetrate the easier the actual indexing of the rubber inserts will be.
The length of my explanation makes it sound like it may be difficult its really not , 10 minute job max if done right I just tried to get enough explanation in this reply that you could print this off , gather your tools , read this while looking at the mounts and hopefully go AH HA I get it !
What you should notice different after indexing the rubber is as soon as you begin moving the car after doing it it should move initially with less effort from the gas pedal as your losing less torque to compressing the rubber now that the loading of the engine against the mounts is much more solid. Will it drop your et a noticeable amount ? I doubt it but by the initial feel of it its giving you back some useable torque.
One of my cars has been this way for 130,000 miles with no ill effects and I have done this free mod on all of them , on occasion it may feel a bit "jouncy" because the up and down movement at the front supports over bumps is now riding on the more forgiving 2 sides of the insert
good luck !
first off I didnt come up with this procedure its been around long before my time with w body cars , and I surely didnt name it as flipping is really the wrong term and confuses people , what you are really doing is indexing the rubber inside the mounts 1/4 turn (90 degrees )
so here was my reply , hope it helps some people:
look at the mounts at the top of the radiator support, specifically look at the square rubber inserts inside the mounts.
you will see of the 4 sides of the square rubber 2 sides are solid and 2 sides are pleated/hollow looking
the factory has the pleated/hollow sides doing the work of dampening the engine torque which happens forward and backward while the solid 2 sides are oriented up and down what you want to do is index these rubber inserts 90* ( 1/4 turn) so that the solid portions are forward and backward oriented
if you disconnect the bolts that hold the end of the mount that contains these square rubber inserts I am describing then reinstall the nut & bolt tightly just onto the rubber inserts not in the engine side mounts then use a pair of tools such as closed end wrench , ratchet and socket , breaker bar and socket ( pick 2)
the longer the tools you use the better for leverage sake it can take some effort to get them to "pop" from their current orientation to the new desired orientation , its been a while but I think they are 15mm
Heres the key to doing this easily vs fighting , cussing,swearing - lubrication !
if you spray some lube like wd 40 around the outside edges of the rubber inserts in the metal enclosure they are trapped in so there is lube on the rubber to metal contact areas it will make it much easier.
To effectively get lube into that area prying the rubber to make access for the spray lube with a large flat blade screwdriver or other prying device is what yu want to do all around both sides of each mount
the more lube you can get to penetrate the easier the actual indexing of the rubber inserts will be.
The length of my explanation makes it sound like it may be difficult its really not , 10 minute job max if done right I just tried to get enough explanation in this reply that you could print this off , gather your tools , read this while looking at the mounts and hopefully go AH HA I get it !
What you should notice different after indexing the rubber is as soon as you begin moving the car after doing it it should move initially with less effort from the gas pedal as your losing less torque to compressing the rubber now that the loading of the engine against the mounts is much more solid. Will it drop your et a noticeable amount ? I doubt it but by the initial feel of it its giving you back some useable torque.
One of my cars has been this way for 130,000 miles with no ill effects and I have done this free mod on all of them , on occasion it may feel a bit "jouncy" because the up and down movement at the front supports over bumps is now riding on the more forgiving 2 sides of the insert
good luck !
