Poly engine mounts melted

I have been noticing some new vibrations, noises and general harshness to the car recently. Finally started looking around and found my drivers side poly mount has melted. The steering shaft is touching a header primary and the oil pan on the passenger side is touching the steering rack (manual rack). I think this has been going on for a while. I have been driving this car daily for around 6 years.

Is it worth it to upgrade to the new style mounts? I noticed on TPC website they have solid bushings for the mounts as an extra, what are the normal bushings made from?

Has anyone used both new and old style mounts that can give some feedback on pro's/con's.

Thanks, for any feedback. If someone has a set for sale contact me.

The solid bushings will give you the same feel you are getting now. The poly bushings dampen some of the vibrations and noise. Check with Kent at TPC. I think he has better bushings now.

Hotrodz of Dallas wrote:The solid bushings will give you the same feel you are getting now. The poly bushings dampen some of the vibrations and noise. Check with Kent at TPC. I think he has better bushings now.

So, the bushings in the new style mounts are poly. No issues with them melting like my old style mounts have?

Not had a single problem with any of them at this point.

Melted?! I thought polyurethane was a thermoset.

The mounts I use currently are from energy suspension and are rough. Id like to go to 4 inch thick silicone rubber.

944-LT1 wrote:Melted?! I thought polyurethane was a thermoset.

Deformed, not dripping plastic. I would guess the heat from the headers made it soft and then deformed.

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I had to us my cigar lighter to burn the plastic away from the upper two nuts to get a socket on them.

mine dont look like that at all ...

That's the Renegade mounts. Need to upgrade to TPC mounts

No, they were from TPC, I bought them around 2009, that is why I said "old style" in the original post. If this one fails I may upgrade ,or not, I can buy 5 of these inserts for the cost of new style mounts.

Arthropraxis wrote:No, they were from TPC, I bought them around 2009, that is why I said "old style" in the original post. If this one fails I may upgrade ,or not, I can buy 5 of these inserts for the cost of new style mounts.

I forgot they did that in the beginning. The mounts you have are made by energy suspension. They are late 60's Chevrolet motor mounts. I buy them from Summit Racing.

Honestly, if they lasted several years, I would replace with the same thing you already have. Like you said, they can be replaced several times for the cost of upgrading.

I replaced it yesterday. Feels much better now. It looks like the upright may have been twisted so I made sure everything was sitting happy before I tightened the bolts.

Anthro, I just saw that I'm in much of the same situation, except both of my mounts are broken.

The poly (or whatever) has delaminated from the metal.

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Does anyone know where I can replace the broken mounts? Do they look familiar?

I did not build the car, so I don't know where the mounts came from.

Andy

They look like a different brand of the type I have. Not sure if the energy suspension mounts would work with your uprights. You would have to take some measurements of the mounts and compare to the specs on the energy suspension mounts.
Or, you could order the new style uprights that get rid of the mounts and avoid the headaches.

those are a rubber version of the above energy suspension mount. those thing are literally cost $5. they are a common small and big block chevy engine mount used from the 60s through the late 80s.

Thanks guys.

Well, I think I figured out what caused everything to fail...the stud that should be sticking out from the center of the flange has sheared off.

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Andy

I went through 3 sets of the TPC motor mounts in the time I owned the car. They kept collapsing on me. Considering I didn't put very many miles on the car, not so good for longevity. When I sold the car 2 years ago I had the latest TPC mounts in it and they were fine...

Thanks Doc, I ordered a set of the new TPC mounts yesterday.

Andy