27 replies to this topic

[Rog46]

I've always found it to be a pain! I remember telling my son when we had been 3 hours doing his with no success that the manual said it was possible, not that it was easy. Persevere !

[Cooperman]

If those mounts are 'non-genuine', then that will be the problem.

Always use genuine ones and never, ever, use the ones with the captive nuts - they are a b****y nightmare. If a bolt get's slightly crossed when going in, then the bolt head has to be ground off and another new mount bought. Welding 5/16" UNF nuts onto new genuine mounts is the thing to do.

You can safely open up the holes in the sub-frame sides to 3/8" or 10 mm diameter so long as slightly bigger washers are used and that helps a lot.

Grease the faces of the mounts before lowering the engine.

[Rog46]

never, ever, use the ones with the captive nuts - they are a b****y nightmare. If a bolt get's slightly crossed when going in, then the bolt head has to be ground off and another new mount bought. Welding 5/16" UNF nuts onto new genuine mounts is the thing to do

I'll second that. Also if you keep the car and change them again in the future the bolts may well have seized in the nuts and when you try to undo them the nuts rip the cage and rotate, out with the angle grinder to get them out!

[Vipernoir]

http://www.minispare...|Back to search

 

As good as the originals - never had a problem and never faffed about trying to get these to fit properly.

 

Captive nut mounts are a very bad idea - as soon as you show a podger or screwdriver to them to line them up the thread is knackered...
Bolts should point downwards as well with the nut underneath. 
If a nut & bolt work loose (which they shouldn't, but these things can happen) then with an upward facing bolt it will fall out.  If the bolt is facing downwards it will at least still hold the mount in about the right place instead of letting it wander free.

[Cooperman]

I always put the bolts in facing upwards as it is then easier to fit the nuts.

In over 50 years of building & rallying Minis I have never had an engine mounting bolt come loose, although I have had mountings fail due to the shock loading of competition.

Usually I weld the nuts to the mountings and open out the sub-frame holes to 3/8" dia.

[tom1]

Any comments on the poly type solid mounts ? or should I just order a set of http://www.minispare...|Back to search ?

[Vipernoir]

Poly, especially the "quick release" variety, are utter cack.

[cal844]

I use them, so much easier than standard, especially the quick relese type!

[tiger99]

Maybe when the fail you will not be expressing that particular view. They are incompetently designed, and completely unsatisfactory, like several other poly gimmicks.

 

As fro welding nuts on to the standard mounts, I explained how I do that, avoiding all risk of burning the rubber, a month or two back, using water cooling with elementary precautions to keep water and molten metal apart, and in no case have I ever had a nut break loose, or be damaged by the use of a tapered tool to help line the holes up. But I was using the proper grade of nut, grade S way back in 1969, or 8.8 on later models (no real difference). A mild steel nut is inadequate and can be chewed up that way. I actually used Philidas all steel self-locking nuts, when available, or normal nuts, with a spring washer on the bolt head, and like Cooperman I never had a bolt fall out or work loose, although I was not usually stressing them as highly as I imagine Cooperman does on occasion.

 

I would point out that the fit of the mounts MUST be tight, because the rubber really needs to be in a partly compressed state with the engine sitting correctly. As has been suggested by Cooperman, there is leeway to enlarge the bolt holes slightly, but also, when fitting, the clutch end can go in first, and at the radiator end one of the two long fore and aft bolts is removed and the other loosened slightly, so by jacking the engine and allowing the radiator bracket to pivot on the loose bolt, plus having some clearance on the subframe holes, things can be wiggled into place, bolts nipped up loosely, the engine height adjusted, and the final fore and aft bolt wiggled in. It isn't rocket science, and I suspect that the fore and aft bolts were introduced because the previous arrangement was really difficult to assemble, even in the factory.

[Captain Mainwaring]

I think it's fair to say that if you can't work out that the bolts need to be tight and how to weld a nut on without setting fire to the mount then you really should let someone else do it.

 

Regarding the nuts and grades and all that waffle, after they'have had a load of nosh splodged around them with the TIG set, I doubt that they'll be quite the same as GKN made them. 

 

As for using podgers....well yes, fine, no one flies in it after all.

[Captain Mainwaring]

 

never, ever, use the ones with the captive nuts - they are a b****y nightmare. If a bolt get's slightly crossed when going in, then the bolt head has to be ground off and another new mount bought. Welding 5/16" UNF nuts onto new genuine mounts is the thing to do

I'll second that. Also if you keep the car and change them again in the future the bolts may well have seized in the nuts and when you try to undo them the nuts rip the cage and rotate, out with the angle grinder to get them out!

 

 

 

Little bit of copperslip or better still anti fire compound for SS.

[Earwax]

when greasing the faces, use rubber grease,  as some conventional ones seem to accelerate rubber deterioration.. giving another reason to  keep your engine bay clean .. I agree with Cooperman, original parts for this job

[Rog46]

Looking at your pictures and thinking about it I suspect the nearside (radiator end) has dropped a little. Try slackening the bolts on the rad end, I know they are only finger tight) and then raising that side SLIGHTLY with a trolly jack and hopefully that will allow the clutch end to drop!