Transmission mounts: To upgrade, or not to upgrade.......

I have been slowly reaching the point where I can say I'm almost done. But thanks to Mike (87-944), I took a second look at my drivetrain and the transmission mounts. Up until recently I disregarded thinking about going to solid mounts as something excessive. But after thinking about future upgrades, I went on ahead and made the investment - I'm glad I did!. After removing the drivers side, I noticed the rubber insert was starting to tear from the metal mount. The passenger side mount was a little better, but was showing its age.
Unless you are the original owner and/or have documentation saying that your transmission mounts have been replaced at least once, I highly recommend replacing them. Most of the cars we are converting are over 20 years old - rubber components are brittle and may fail, especially with the power adder we're installing. Trasmission mounts should be a mandatory (Obama approved) upgrade!!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Skywalker - what type of transmission do you have, Stock NA, Turbo,....

IF DAWG sends me a set, I will be making them with POLY Bushings also. One things for sure, if you start the V8 swap with a fragged tranny mount(s) you will be tweeking on the block positioning, mainly front to back because of the rubber sag.

I have '83 N/A tranmission - added a picture to the original post to show the separation.

Just FYI I'm picking it up 4-3-2010 and will ship it that Monday. It may be a good idea to work one up so that it can bolt into a late turbo tranny (the one without the 3rd threaded bolt) since my AOR has the cooler and no threaded section for the lower bolt.

I've seen that "missing hole" dilemma. The EARLY mounts have a solid metal bracket that goes between the rubber mounts and the Early Trannies. I believe the mod has to be done by the end user to the tranny side cover IIRC.

I think Robotmachines posted about a bracket he made when he put a turbo tranny in his 83, a while back in the days before the dictatorship.

P.
O.
R.
H.


I have a pic of those blue anodized mounts. You know I'm gonna have to trump that design.

Hey Sky, How thick is the alloy between the 2 rubber isolators?
And the rubber isolator width? I'm looking at some Red Polyurethane Bushings in 60A as well.

I'll break out my recently purchased caliper (after the ribbing I took the last time I posted dimensions)and measure that for you at lunch.

What is the rubber isolator diameter and thickness too. And just curious, is that hanger bolt totally isolated (encased with rubber) when fully assembled. I will cut the alloy on mine so that the Polybushings isolate the shoulder bolt from the alloy base just as I did for the Late Mounts I made.

Also, Can the Early Tranny crossmember be modded for a Late style mount? I don't recall seeing anyone do this. There is also a single Cast aluminum hanger between the Late style mounted cars and the late Trannies that would be needed if that route was taken.

Hey Sky, How thick is the alloy between the 2 rubber isolators?
And the rubber isolator width? I'm looking at some Red Polyurethane Bushings in 60A as well.

10.35mm for the thickness of the alloy
9.75mm for the thickness of each bushing

Gotta go back under to get diameter of bushing

"""Gotta go back under to get diameter of bushing......""""

Much respect Trooper

3.8mm is the diameter. The bushing insulates the bolt as it passes through the alloy.

3.8mm must be the dia. of the rubber bushing between the bolt and alloy. I was curious what the total width of the rubber bushing was. Is the bolt 3/8"?. I'm thinking 0.5" Bolt upgrade too being there's only 2 that hold your entire tranny suspended on the EARLY cars

The 2 bolts are 13mm - same as stock. Bushing bolt is 17mm - also same as stock. The only difference is the length of the bushing bolt

You're talking Hex head Diameter 13mm and 17mm respectively, right?. I am talking bolt shaft diameter where it inserts through the hanger. Regardless, when Dawg sends the old mount, I can design a set off that and beef it up and include poly bushings. How's that wide-body kit coming along?

Yeah that's the head size - shaft size is 7.85mm and 9.87mm respectively. Waiting for the owner of the paint booth that I want to use gets back from a trip (maybe 5 April). As soon as he gets back I'm in there!! Photos will be taken immediately - think Mike (87-944S) will be on hand as well.

Hey Sky, does that long thru-bolt (9.87mm Dia) go thru the tranny hanger and screw into a stationary nut or a removable nut on top of the hanger?

Your probably talking about the one that goes into the rear crossover. That is a non removeable/stationary nut.

So the Early Cars have a removable Tranny hanger (crossmember) like the Later cars or is that crossover a fixed part of the Early body?
The Pelican parts drawings don't show a removable X-member anywhere, But do show M10 x 35 length Bolt that goes thru the Factory rubber mounts. I am guessing that the Thread pitch is 1.5, can anyone confirm?

I'll look into the pitch. The xmember is welded in and not removeable, well I guess it's removeable but not with wrenches. We've all learned that with the right tools ANYTHING is removeable.

Damn Skippy.......

One thing's for sure, whoever designed the tranny hanger and tranny mount itself needs to be shot on site. As a heads-up the Late tranny hanger can be slotted where it attaches to the 944 body, which I did for maximum movement backwards for header-to-steering shaft clearance. Even so, the hanger sits too close for comfort (@ 1/8") from the steel gas tank.I noticed this while finishing up the RX7 rear brake swap. I ripped it back out and will grind it near that area. This got me thinking about what to do for EARLY tranny Billet-poly mounts as there is no hanger mount holes to slot (like the late cars)....
What do you guys think? Slot the tranny to isolator bracket....You guys with Early cars might want to ponder this....

Hey Sky, how far does the rear driver's head sit from your firewall?

Rear driver's head??!?!?! What you talkin' 'bout Willis???