Hello Everyone!
Hope you all are being and staying safe!
I just wanted to give an update on the engine and trans mount install. Everything went smoothly!
All engine bolts came out with only one bolt giving a hard time on the passenger side.
I was able to crack it loose using PB blaster, a wrench and pry bar.. I had the headers off so I was able to do this from above.. I applied the pry bar between the wrench and K-member and just applied pressure on and off.. What happened was the mount surface at the bolt was broken in half.. The engine weight was pinching the bolt head.. I jacked up the engine just slightly to relieve the pressure and the bolt finally cracked loose.
Jacking the engine up from the oil pan was scary though a breeze..
Using a 2x4, I drilled and chiseled out a channel to allow the oil pan drain plug to reside.
As I was jacking up the engine, I noticed the whole car was being jacked up, so I thought.
The issue was, since I have the car on ramps, as I was jacking up the engine, the
suspension was just revealing. To counter that, I just used a second jack under the k-member with a block of wood, lifted the car until it was about to lift off the ramps. This created the
suspension to "hang". Once this was done, jacking up the engine was nooo problem at all..
Installing mounts took some time.
Did what you all said.. One side at a time to keep alignment. The issue here was the passenger mount was in such bad shape, the engine was already out of alignment. I did what you said anyway. Worked on the drivers side first, while keeping the nut on the passenger side loose.. Driver mount came out and new one installed without any issues at all.. Took about 20 minutes. Having the headers off really gives you a ton of room to do this, considering I now have two jacks under the car creating no room at all to work. I installed the driver side, bolted it to the engine and k-member keeping them loose. Lowered the engine and tighten the engine bolts, keeping the large nut loose.
The passenger side is a different story and gave the most issue. Since the mount was basically collapsed, The engine had to be raise quite a bit since the old mount was collapsed and the driver mount was in, the engine was greatly tilted. I was then able to get out the mount.. Now the fun part started........ Since the new mount was "not collapsed", the engine now had to be tilted towards the driver side since you can only jack up the engine just so far. I used a 4 foot 2x4, placed it on the head between the spark plugs and levered it from the strut tower. I was able to lift and tilt the engine easily.. The PS mount went in with a little wiggling.. The only other issue I had was aligning the engine to have the DS mount boss nub go in the hole, but i finally got it in. The engine now sits where it should. I placed a level on the lower intake, since I have the upper intake off. The engine is now level left to right..
Trans mount went it successfully with no issues.
All bolts and nuts came off with ease. Since the old trans mount was collapsed and torn, The trans had to be lifted a little more than expected to achieve the correct height to get the new mount in.. The trans now sits level and matched to the engine.
THANK YOU ALL for all your experience, opinions and help with these mounts.
I've had my 87 Vert since 95 and it sat the past 10 - 12 years so I'm finally able to work on it and bring it back to life slowly and surly.
A restoration project on a budget.
