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Making Motor Mounts


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Looking for idea's on how you guys go about making new motor mounts to fit a different engine in a car or truck.  How would you go about holding the engine in place while fabing up some new mounts, what to use for new motor mounts, etc.  Pics would be nice.  Thank's fellows.  

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I doubt this will help.

I set the engine in its intended location and use silly putty to hold it up and in place while I measure.

Then I will turn to the Evergreen bags and find either some square or round tubing... or even some flat stock depending on the type of vehicle.

Then basically measure, cut, file and fit.

Sorry I'm at work, so no pics...

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This is what I did on my Willys. I made an entire crossmember from cardboard to fit under the motor and up against the motor mount locations. Then I trimmed the width to fit between the frame rails and then transferred it to styrene.3B2AE0DC-875B-48A4-8234-CCDD89A07BDC.jpeg.33e033886ef0e0eb1ac826f0a9d327a4.jpeg

On my Jeepster, I was able to attach a strip of heavy styrene to the top of the intake manifold and lay it across the top of the fenders. I managed to cobble together some mounts but it was tough since the mounting tabs were at different locations and heights  on each side of the motor. I would file them off and start fresh next time.

025D8461-39B7-4567-96BF-1C439048C5CA.jpeg.5a7cccde69071eab3cfb30e79cff5856.jpeg
 

Every one will be different, and these two both challenged me. I hope to see some other ideas.

Edited by NOBLNG
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38 minutes ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

I doubt this will help.

I set the engine in its intended location and use silly putty to hold it up and in place while I measure.

Then I will turn to the Evergreen bags and find either some square or round tubing... or even some flat stock depending on the type of vehicle.

Then basically measure, cut, file and fit.

Sorry I'm at work, so no pics...

 

37 minutes ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

Also, don't make the mistake I did once and make your engine too high where the hood won't fit...🤣

 

Thank's for the info Leroy.

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16 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

This is what I did on my Willys. I made an entire crossmember from cardboard to fit under the motor and up against the motor mount locations. Then I trimmed the width to fit between the frame rails and then transferred it to styrene.3B2AE0DC-875B-48A4-8234-CCDD89A07BDC.jpeg.33e033886ef0e0eb1ac826f0a9d327a4.jpeg

On my Jeepster, I was able to attach a strip of heavy styrene to the top of the intake manifold and lay it across the top of the fenders.

025D8461-39B7-4567-96BF-1C439048C5CA.jpeg.5a7cccde69071eab3cfb30e79cff5856.jpeg
 

Every one will be different, and these two both challenged me. I hope to see some other ideas.

That's a nice way of doinig it Greg.

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9 hours ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

...I set the engine in its intended location and use silly putty to hold it up and in place while I measure.

Then I will turn to the Evergreen bags and find either some square or round tubing... or even some flat stock depending on the type of vehicle.

Then basically measure, cut, file and fit.

This is the hot setup, and pretty much exactly how you do it in a real car...except for the Silly Putty.  :D

Mocking up the engine exactly where you want it to go is critical, taking into consideration things like overall height, hood and firewall clearance, the eventual angle the trans tailshaft will make so you can hit the diff with the driveshaft (and a reasonable pinion angle), etc.

On cars with open hood sides, I'll usually try to get the bottoms of the heads parallel with the tops of the frame rails too, for aesthetic reasons.

I also find it's helpful, on real cars as well as models, to mock up the mounts in cardboard first, get them to fit dead-on, then just copy the mockups in styrene or steel. Saves time and material.

 

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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1 minute ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

This is the hot setup, and pretty much exactly how you do it in a real car...except for the Silly Putty.

Mocking up the engine exactly where you want it to go is critical, taking into consideration things like overall height, hood and firewall clearance, the eventual angle the trans tailshaft will make so you can hit the diff with the driveshaft (and a reasonable pinion angle), etc.

On cars with open hood sides, I'll usually try to get the bottoms of the heads parallel with the tops of the frame rails too, for aesthetic reasons.

I also find it's helpful, on real cars as well as models, to mock up the mounts in cardboard first, get them to fit dead-on, then just copy the mockups in styrene or steel.

 

Yup, and that is exactly how I've done it 1:1.

The silly putty is cheap and effective at taking a shape around an oil pan and holding it in position and leaves no residue. Admittedly there's other options, but it just works.

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Smallblock Chebbys can use a variety of mounts too, like this example...

Engine Mounts 1955-94 SBC Small Block Chevy Engine Cradle Front Motor ...

...or this fabbed crossmember that picks up the block-side style mounts...

Motor Mounts - 1956 Conversion engine crossmember frame mount for V8 ...

...or another option for mounting to the front face of the block...

Front motor mounts 55 283 - TriFive.com, 1955 Chevy 1956 chevy 1957 ...

...or the SBC mount that goes under the water pump on some early Corvettes...

55-62 C1 Corvette SBC 265/283/327 Front Upper Engine Mount--Survivor ...

 

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

This is the hot setup, and pretty much exactly how you do it in a real car...except for the Silly Putty.  :D

Mocking up the engine exactly where you want it to go is critical, taking into consideration things like overall height, hood and firewall clearance, the eventual angle the trans tailshaft will make so you can hit the diff with the driveshaft (and a reasonable pinion angle), etc.

On cars with open hood sides, I'll usually try to get the bottoms of the heads parallel with the tops of the frame rails too, for aesthetic reasons.

I also find it's helpful, on real cars as well as models, to mock up the mounts in cardboard first, get them to fit dead-on, then just copy the mockups in styrene or steel. Saves time and material.

 

Thanks for the info.  Much appreciated.

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2 hours ago, LL3 Model Worx said:

Yup, and that is exactly how I've done it 1:1.

The silly putty is cheap and effective at taking a shape around an oil pan and holding it in position and leaves no residue. Admittedly there's other options, but it just works.

Gotcha.  Thanks man.

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2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Smallblock Chebbys can use a variety of mounts too, like this example...

Engine Mounts 1955-94 SBC Small Block Chevy Engine Cradle Front Motor ...

...or this fabbed crossmember that picks up the block-side style mounts...

Motor Mounts - 1956 Conversion engine crossmember frame mount for V8 ...

...or another option for mounting to the front face of the block...

Front motor mounts 55 283 - TriFive.com, 1955 Chevy 1956 chevy 1957 ...

...or the SBC mount that goes under the water pump on some early Corvettes...

55-62 C1 Corvette SBC 265/283/327 Front Upper Engine Mount--Survivor ...

 

I appreciate all the help.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just made these ones. First I drilled a 1/16 hole clear through the block and added a steel rod that I will later replace with styrene. Then I drilled a hole in the end of some .100”x.156” evergreen and trimmed it to fit each side. A touch of glue and it’s mounted. I plan to drill and pin them through the side of the frame yet and file them to shape a bit.

649BD030-878F-46B3-AD20-1E849804D28E.jpeg

0A608DCB-F54D-419C-A265-69E81AAE16BB.jpeg

F4C50350-BB07-4FCF-BE4B-FA8A1B692CDA.jpeg

C393EBAE-456E-455D-A0C2-90AB46D3E184.jpeg

2906B771-EDF2-4657-8D19-F8C338FB8D91.jpeg

Edited by NOBLNG
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