[Shotimes] changed motor mount! *or* If You Haven't Changed It Recently, You Really Really Should

[Jason Hartberger]

My goodness. it makes a difference. It was as easy as everybody said it 
would be. Well, almost. Apparently AAP sells a "solid" mount for like 
$88. It's the cheapest by far, as the next (hydraulic) option is about 
$130. So I got that and off I went to the hobby shop to take it out. I'd 
like to remind everybody to let the car cool down before they take that 
lower radiator hose off, that fluid is HOT. The two 13mm bolts up top 
can be removed with a standard ratchet but it takes a while. A deep-well 
13mm socket helps out tremendously for the bolt in the back. An air gun 
took care of the 21mm bolt on the bottom. The mount comes out easiest 
when rotated and pulled through the side of the subframe where the front 
of the tire would be. As long as the engine is jacked up there's plenty 
of clearance. When I dropped the old mount on the ground it promptly 
exploded and spewed hydraulic fluid everywhere... so I guess it really 
was about time to be replacing it. Putting the new mount is where all 
the problems began. If you get that $88 mount (ATX), expect the bottom 
bolt thingy and the top plate to not be parallel! They're supposed to be 
but on mine it wasn't, and I didn't figure it out until I cross-threaded 
the back bolt hole (oh s*#%). Fortunately, a lucky go with the tap set 
and I was back in business. I ended up widening the holes on the mount 
by rimming the edges of them with a drill bit. Installation was just as 
easy.

My butt-dyno tells me I gained (back) about 10hp. easy. The car no 
longer goes "whump" when I put it in drive or reverse and acceleration 
off the line is so much better that I can now chirp the tires with a 
light throttle tap. Steering, braking, accelerating, and gear shifting 
all feel so much more precise and connected that it's a wonder I managed 
to enjoy driving it at all before. The engine no longer hesitates before 
shifting gears but now shifts like it was pissed at me for waiting so 
long to tell it to. It's so amazing... we're doing my wife's car next 
week. I never knew the old mount was in such bad shape but now driving 
it is a helluva lot more fun. Thank you all for the advice you gave me, 
it allowed me to do the job in 4 hours (~2 without fixing the 
cross-thread) vice the 10 or so I would've done it in had I followed Mr. 
Helms' instructions. So again... Thank you!

Jason