#&%@ - DPO stripped the engine mount bolt

[tdskip]

Good morning and thank you for the post. I tried doing that last night with a Sawzall and I can’t get enough access without taking the engine out to make sure I’m not cutting into the crossmember.

I’ve tried bending the remaining metal disc up to provide a gap to get a blade in but it hasn’t moved and I don’t want to damage the crossmember because I think the opening will bend before the remanent metal mount disk does.

I have not tried a thin bladed Manuel or hacksaw yet, I expect that would take forever in a day because the mount is so firmly attached to the crossmember that I’d be cutting through the base of that remnant metal desk rather than simply getting to the stud.

For the record – I’m not as confident as this thread makes me out to be, I swear. I’ve rescued and put over 15 cars back on the road, I just got unlucky with how many deferred issues and DPO hacks and incorrectly described vendor kits on this one.

I’m sure I’m missing something but if my upper and lower front suspension arms need to be reversed anyway, is it really that much more work to pull off the crossmember if I’d have to disassemble the front suspension to swap out those arms anyway?

I’m trying to figure out that if I know doing that will give me the access I need to fix the mount issue why wouldn’t I direct a couple hours of time at doing that since I’d have a good chunk of time into having to disassemble the front suspension for the a arms anyway?

[RRoller123]

Maybe put a spacer there (to keep the blade up a little way) and cut through a little above the interface, then rip out the remaining rubber and disk, and pound the remnant back down through the crossmember.

[tdskip]

Hello, thanks for sticking with me through this. We’re thinking along the same lines, that’s why I tried to bend the remaining metal plate up a little bit so I could get a better angle on the saw .

No luck on that yet, bit of a calculated risk as well that the mount bends before the crossmember. That sucker was really cranked on tight

[RRoller123]

Hack away at the rubber block until you can get down to some actual metal, and use the remaining rubber as a shield to hold the blade up off the crossmember and go at it? Maybe with a sharp razor knife, or drill it? or burn it away with a soldering iron as has been suggested. I would be worried about an open flame in there, probably be very very careful if doing that. Then once most of it is gone, it probably can be gotten out. Did you take off the engine mount on the side of the block? Getting to the bottom bolts is a pita but it would be a lot easier to get the rubber mount off with the engine block mount removed.

[tdskip]

Hi!

I'm down to metal (bottom of the mount where the stud is integrated into) on metal (crossmember). There is zero gap between those, sounds like I need to keep trying this approach.

Thanks @Rroller123

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Wow, this is one stubborn engine mount...! OK, so as I understand it, the rubber of the mount is gone and you just have the metal bottom of the mount, the stud from that sticking down through the crossmember, and the stripped nut on the end of that stud.

At this point, I would try drilling into the center of the metal mount with progressively larger drill bits. If you drill exactly in the center, and go up to about 3/8" drill bit size, that should weaken the stud enough that it would snap off. You don't need to drill very deep, just the thickness of the bottom plate, so maybe 1/8" or 3/16". Just enough to get through to where the stud is welded to the bottom plate.

Another option would be a cutoff wheel on a Dremel tool or the like. These can be surprisingly effective at going through steel, but you do want to be careful you don't go to far and cut into your crossmember. Just make a bunch of cuts in a criss-cross pattern in the center of the mount, and eventually it will weaken the mount/stud joint enough so that you could snap it off.

-Bryan

[tdskip]

Wow, this is one stubborn engine mount...!

No kidding! I've never dealt with anything quite like this.

OK, so as I understand it, the rubber of the mount is gone and you just have the metal bottom of the mount, the stud from that sticking down through the crossmember, and the stripped nut on the end of that stud.

Exactly where I am at.

At this point, I would try drilling into the center of the metal mount with progressively larger drill bits. If you drill exactly in the center, and go up to about 3/8" drill bit size, that should weaken the stud enough that it would snap off. You don't need to drill very deep, just the thickness of the bottom plate, so maybe 1/8" or 3/16". Just enough to get through to where the stud is welded to the bottom plate.

Good idea, access an issue for that with the engine in place.

Another option would be a cutoff wheel on a Dremel tool or the like. These can be surprisingly effective at going through steel, but you do want to be careful you don't go to far and cut into your crossmember. Just make a bunch of cuts in a criss-cross pattern in the center of the mount, and eventually it will weaken the mount/stud joint enough so that you could snap it off.

I think this is the last gasp, let me see if I can do that.

Thanks!

[18Fiatsandcounting]

At this point, I would try drilling into the center of the metal mount with progressively larger drill bits. If you drill exactly in the center, and go up to about 3/8" drill bit size, that should weaken the stud enough that it would snap off. You don't need to drill very deep, just the thickness of the bottom plate, so maybe 1/8" or 3/16". Just enough to get through to where the stud is welded to the bottom plate.

Good idea, access an issue for that with the engine in place.

I realized access would be an issue, but I was thinking either: A) rent a compact sideways drill (if you don't have one), or B) drill at an angle from the front facing towards the rear, but put some substantial dimples in your metal with a centerpunch to prevent the drill bit from skating across the surface.

Again, not an ideal approach, but this isn't an ideal situation... Quick work with a cutting torch would get that thing off, but I would use that only as a last resort.

-Bryan

[tdskip]

Got it off - finally.

Exactly 46 minutes with a cutting disk on a Dremel used as a grinder. I just kept removing material on the center button where the stud would be held in place and periodically tried hammering up from below with a punch on the metal circle that I could access from below.

At minute 46 and the another hammer effort the metal circle rotated, and then after more effort allowed me to move it up and down in the slotted opening in the crossmember. That allowed me to get a universal socket on the nut from below and it gradually came off. The threads and the nut were both buggered up - I can only imagine that he messed those up on install and then as the mount deteriorated it slipped or got misaligned in the slotted opening making it impossible to cleanly get a socket on it.

What a pig of a job. THANK YOU for the ideas and support - I really appreciate you hanging in there with me.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

What a pig of a job. THANK YOU for the ideas and support - I really appreciate you hanging in there with me.

Good on you, Skip, and now you can put away those chicken bones and shade-grown, fair-trade, sustainably-sourced, growers-get-a-living-wage, venti lattes with a shot of kombucha. All is good now. A Dremel tool (or angle grinder) always levels the playing field...

-Bryan

[tdskip]

So the good news is I can put it back together properly, bad news is that I don't think it going to solve by end being too far back issue.

[RRoller123]

Is it possible that if the engine mount brackets were swapped left for right, it would explain the far back positioning of the block? Not sure it is even possible, but might be worth taking a look at. They are not symmetric on this 2L engine. Obviously positions the block a little forward.

My '80 FI 2L looks like this:

[tdskip]

Good morning and thank you for the picture. The driver side that I removed had the sweep of the bracket towards the rear of the car.

Edit: I just checked and the orientation of the motor mount on the passenger side, exactly as shown in your picture, is reversed on my car.

In your picture it shows the mount with the angled bracket towards the front of the car and in my car the angle is on the rear.

Not sure if 1968’s are different, but if the motor mount set up is the same and it looks like my DPO reversed the side of the car that the brackets go on.

[RRoller123]

I have no idea about the older cars, but if that is true, it sure would move the engine back, by quite a bit!

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Sounds like you're on to something here, and yes, reversed motor mount brackets would cause an issue. Not the motor mounts themselves, as they are identical.

But, from your description, it kinda sounded like the driver side had its bracket oriented correctly, while the passenger side bracket was reversed? Is it possible that you have two identical bracket (they should be mirror images of each other)? Or are the passenger and driver sides just reversed?

Both brackets should look like an airplane wing with the engine being the airplane "tube", and the brackets' leading edges sweep rearward as you move outward from the engine.

-Bryan