Sprint Engine mounts

[Mahesh]

Been searching through the forum, but not had any joy on a definite supplier of engine mounts.

Has anyone bought any in recent years that are Goldilocks (not too hard, not too soft, just right,
etc, etc).

[tonybsa]

All the ones I have bought are crap,one set lasted 800 miles,before the rh one sheared.I think(but not sure)all the suppliers are getting them from the same manufacturer,so shopping around may make no difference other than the price.If you do find a source of good ones please let me know.

[Mahesh]

Change of tact,

What about a pair of NOS mounts ?

[tonybsa]

Rubber does not age well unfortunantly.Thats why you are supposed to change tyres about every 5 years,as it begins to break itself down.Nice idea tho.

[gmsclassics]

I have replaced mine on both the race car and one of the road cars and I have used those from the large supplier in Lincoln. Had no issues whatsoever.

However you have to replace the gearbox mount (along with the front nearside brace on a Sprint) all at the same time as the engine mounts. I have also found that wrapping the gearbox mount in a thick plastic bag before installing keeps the oil away from the rubber and extends the life of all the mounts by stopping the rubber going soft. A worn/soft gearbox mount will allow continued movement in the engine mounts and then they need replacing.

I've also replaced the transmission mount on my auto with one that Chris Witor is selling (also now covered in plastic) and am amazed how much of a difference that has made - the old one was like a lump of jelly by comparison. I think Chris is the only source of these.

I do have an additional mount on the race car - a brace from the back of the head to a rubber mount on the rear of the nearside suspension turret. It almost stops the engine twisting when dropping the clutch from standstill but realistically would be a complete overkill on a road car.

Geoff

[xvivalve]

Engine mounts, carb mounts, timing chain tensioners...all have the same intrinsic problem; the ability to stick rubber to metal appears to have been lost!

[Galileo]

That does seem to be the case with imported clones, that and the rubber hardness being incorrect as I hear that the engine mounts suffer the same vibration issues that the gearbox one does, so has anyone considered approaching a UK manufacturer?

There are a few that specialise in engine mounts including bespoke mounts. You could also always adapt a different off the shelf mount, simple engineering as long as you get your compression/shear directions and supported weight sorted. Modern engine mounts always seem a bit more sophisticated than the large lump of rubber in between two metal sheets, they have varying resistance depending on the direction of movement for example.

Just a random idea from me, I haven't tried anything.

http://www.gmt-rubber.com/
http://www.avindustrialproducts.co.uk/engineering.htm
http://www.fibet.co.uk/

Edit: Major dyslexic episode.

[SprintMWU773V]

At work we've had some gearbox and engine mounts made by Polybush, they seem to be pretty good. Assuming you choose an appropriate grade there's no reason why they couldn't be made or indeed be suitable get the grade wrong and there will be vibrational issues. You could probably refurbish the old mounts but with poly bushes assuming they could find a satisfactory way of bonding the bush to the metal.

[Pippin]

Are SAAB mounts available for the slant engines and are they the same as for our cars, or could they be adapted?

[Mahesh]

It's the simple items that are harder to reproduce.

Pretty sure rubber tech has moved on greatly since production days, it's the bonding
adhesives which have probably been banned !

Will have to have the mounts in hand and then see if the rubber parts can be obtained,
and then if any countries still produce the correct glue, or a bespoke amount made.

Looking on the net, a lot of MG owners are having probs with solid mounts and the repro
stuff.

Can't be an easy fix to get it right, may have to settle for whatever is available.

[Galileo]

Are SAAB mounts available for the slant engines and are they the same as for our cars, or could they be adapted?

SAAB ones are bobbin types, just like an old Ford Escort rather than a rubber sandwich.

Think you're right Mahesh, harder to produce right, which on a quick read seems to be quite a precise process with the use of a primer and adhesive that has a low tolerance to misapplication. Even possibly the much harder rubber exerting more force on the bonding agent cannot be too useful.

When mine need doing, I'll be fabricating something that's for sure.

[sprint95m]

Chris Witor has successfully commissioned subframe mounts for some T2000 mark one cars using Superflex polyurethane.

It may be viable to do Sprint engine mounts in Superflex but this needs to be viable, that is there needs to be enough folk willing
to pay for a quality part.
As an example, would you baulk at having to pay £50 for a gearbox mount?
Chris sells these for the T2000 range even though there a cheap repros available. I bet there a fair few who went for the cheap,
only to quickly realise the error of their way and then buy from Chris .



Another option is to convert to Jaguar style bobbin mounts…this will involve subframe alteration and bespoke engine brackets,
which is probably what Triumph should have done in the first place.




Ian.

[MIG Wielder]

I have recently replaced the engine mounts on my MGB after 40 odd years and the new ones were just fine. I got them from Moss. One thing that MG (and also Lotus) got right was that the mounts are used in compression; rather than in tension like the 1850 . But one thing that MG did get wrong on the later ones was to run the steering rack tube through the offside engine mount support bracket .

[Flyfisherman]

There are modified mounts out there like these - I did enquire about them but had no reply - third picture down.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=22223&start=150#p283268

Paul

[cliftyhanger]

All the talk of rubber/adhesives etc being banned is nonsense.
How many new cars have mounts fail quickly, if ever? So if OEM can produce decent stuff, the only thing stopping repro being is good is costs.

My solution was to buy OEM jag mounts, and use the std engine mount plates, bolt the jam mount to teh subframes, and attach a bit of angle iron. Cut a length of box section steel to join plate to angle iron, tack weld in position. Remove from car and weld up properly.

Actually, I only had one engine plate, so made the other (OS) one. Thickness was teh same as teh original one from the other side, but it has bent slightly on the RBRR. So I need to remake that in thicker steel (5mm I reckon, but I may have something thicker laying about)

http://www.jagspares.co.uk/Manners/part ... tno=C18556