<VV> Motor mounting

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/13/2010 6:23:09 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
kaczmarek at charter.net writes:

Writing  this because AFAIK Steele Rubber is the only company that rebuilds 
Corvair  mounts.  By the amount of cores we get from the vendors and from  
individual owners I can see no other alternative.

>From Charles'  story we find another way that our car can become unsafe at 
any  speed.   So check your mounts.  And pretty please, with sugar  on 
top---DON'T JACK YOUR CAR UP BY THE MOTOR MOUNT!!!!! There are jacking  
points on the car----use them!!!  Doing the above guarantees  premature 
failure of the  LM  mount.

Hank



I agree, Hank, that the motor mount is a place where a small  inspection 
goes a long way. That said, Charles mount did not fail. A  catastrophic 
internal failure of the rubber in either the early design 65-  or the later design 
66-69 mount will not allow the motor to drop out of the  chassis. There are 
internal steel mechanisms to prevent that in both designs. On  the late 
models, there are a pair of crimp-design lock nuts holding the rear  engine 
bracket to the mount. There are four regular hex-head bolts holding  the other 
portion of the mount to the rear frame rail. ONLY if all four bolts  fall 
out or both nuts fall off, will the mount will depart it's designed  position 
and the engine (usually) drop down. Charles mentioned, in his  note, that 
the nuts had fallen off. So the important "take-away" from this  discussion, 
is to inspect the four bolts in the engine compartment and, somewhat  tougher 
to do, check your nuts! By the way, if you find yourself lifting the  
engine into place and you can't find a pair of the original design lock nuts to  
fit over the "figure-8" washer, the Corvair rocker-arm adjuster nuts will 
work  fine in this application. They are also a locking design. The late-late 
mount  can also be inspected, visually. A perky one, in good condition, 
should  stick up in the middle. If it is flat across when installed, it is  time 
to start looking for a replacement.  
 
I hate to admit this - But I drove a complete, 3-lap run at an autocross  
(Not at a Corvair-Convention) with my 140 linkage stuck to the floor, wide  
open. I used the ignition switch as an engine brake. I also had good metallic 
 brakes.  Stupid? Yes. But the rules were you got one, three-lap run,  and 
once you went on course, no re-runs. And I was running for a  championship. 
PS - I took the class, and the championship. That was when I was  young and 
foolish - I am no longer young!
 
Seth  Emerson

C's the Day! - Corvair, Camaro,  Corvette