The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I am having an absolute mare trying to fit my engine mountings.....no matter what I do I just can't get them to fit between the subframe mounting points. It is like they are too wide to fit....I'm pretty sure the brkts are on the correct way round.....have a look at these pics and then please tell me that they're on backwards/upside down/back to front/ are off a Messerschmitt bubble car.

And I've scratched my subframe

Not a good day, and it has been all day as well.

According the workshop manual, the driver's side engine mount should be fitted first.
having said that I have fitted mine according the WM but I am still having trouble getting the other mount to line up.

Jon Tilson recommends using oil between the sub-frame and the mouint to help alignment.

best or luck

malcolm

Tried fitting the rhs first and couldn't get the lhs to line up and then tried what you see now Malcolm.

As far as you're concerned then, they're the correct ones on the correct sides etc. then?

I'll have a go with the oil tomorrow....

The general guidelines are that the semi circular cutouts go at the top. You have that.
Looking at your pics it seems to me that the nearside bracket is too deep and not tapered.
Are you sure its the one that came with the car?

These are not much fun to get in place. It always takes me a while to get them in...so a bit of grease on the rubber to subframe helps
and a long screwdriver helps to line the holes up poking through holes in the subframe on the n/s.


Jonners

I feel your pain..you are not alone! I too had this utter nightmare many years ago, and it still lives with me (shudder)..

I had bought remanufactured mounts, but after two days of trying, put my original mounts back on.

The rubber on the remanufactured ones were way, way too hard..hardly any movement and they were slightly oversize.

I ended up throwing or giving them away (can't remember, but good riddance), the original mounts were fine..it turned out that it was the gearbox mount (in my case) that was past it's best.

Best of luck.

I have just measured a few mounts and they vary between 45-47mm. that's just the mounts not the brackets. Bearing in mind these are old ones so may have compressed a bit. Your brackets are in the correct locations.

Phew, done it! That was traumatic!

It was comparatively easy in the end as once the off side was in I 'just' used the clamp to push the nearside rear bolt hole down until it lined up and then popped the bolt in.

To get the forward bolt in was trickier as the top of the bush needs to be slightly lower than the top of the subframe so I had to put a special aligning tool (a kitchen spatula) in which pushed the top slightly lower.

Took about an hour and a half from start to finish this morning as opposed to about 6 hours of failure yesterday.

Apologies for the crap pictures....

Thank you one and all by the way for all your help and advice....It was the difference between perseverance and giving up!

Cheers!

Ah it must have been a perspective thing in your earlier photo. That one shows the bracket tapering.
Glad it went in ok in the end.

Not a nice job as Reg says.

Jonners

Fitted the front ARB and gearbox tonight, and looking from the front of the engine, the engine seems to be canted over to the offside....is this normal? Should the engine sit parallel to the subframe?

Any takers?

That all looks pretty okay to me.

I have gone back through my photos to see what I can find and here is one of the engine and subframe assembly as I rolled it back under the bodyshell during its installation. You will see that the engine has a definite cant over to one side, that the sump pan does not sit "level". I can assure you that everything just drops into place when the body is lowered although it is very tight around the bolts which hold the exhaust manifold onto the side of the cylinder head.

I have removed and reinstalled my engine on numerous occasions since this photo was taken and on subsequent installations I found it was possible to lower the body shell over the subframe assembly with the radiator in place and with the alternator and fan also fitted.

Robert

Mine engine is also at a similar angle to yours..looks fab.

Gentlemen, thank you very much indeed: that has definitely set my mind at rest!

Because of the trouble I had fitting the mountings, I was convinced there was something wrong with the rubber, like it was manufactured incorrectly or I'd got them on wrong.

The last time I did this was 1989 and I don't remember ever having this much hassle.

Cheers once again!

Stuff nailed together......

Looks fantastic that well done
good time to fill the gearbox with oil too

Tony