L&L Motor Mount Mods

[cgrey8]

These are similar to the mods Malcolm made on his Red Ranger. However due to more obstruction on the Explorer blocks, the mods are slightly more excessive.

For anybody that's interested here are some pics...

Notice the edges of the protrusion that look like shoulders. Those have to be cut out of the L&L mount as well:


Here are the grinding mods to the L&L mount on the driver's side:








Here are some shots of the mount on the block:

[Elect666]

I used the Jim Duff motor mounts and they are a pain to install..
They sent instructions which was a joke.Saying you could use one of the existing holes on the passenger side which was not so the barley fit the crossmember.They suggested to use chaulk to outline the mount (Great if you did it like Malcolm and didnt have a the front clip to worry about)
After its said and done and If I had to do it again.. L&L would be the way to go.
I would much rather grind the centerof the motor mount for a knot on the motor then go through that again.

Elect666

[MalcolmV8]

You have to use L&L or your own custom solid mounts if you use L&L headers. However this time around since I'm not using L&L headers I'm using '90 F150 mounts because the L&L mounts were far from a bolt in for me. I had to line stuff up, drill holes, etc. and fiddle with it a while. Granted there was no welding involved but that doesn't bother me. If they are not a bolt in and I really have to work at it I figure I'll use the $80 (for the pair) F150 mounts instead of the $179 + shipping L&L mounts. I'll update you guys once I'm done with the results. Maybe I change my mind once I get into it.

[cgrey8]

Well this weekend I finally got the motor pulled. It's sitting on a tire and the engine bay is wide open waiting to be cleaned up. It's going to need LOTS of cleaning.

While I was pulling the bolts to get the engine unmounted, I found a minor issue. For the people not familar with 2.9L V6 setups, you have the crossmember, wtih a rubber motor mount, then a mount plate that bolts to the engine. Where the 302 mounts bolt vertically into the engine, my 2.9L's mounts bolt horizontally. I was able to get to the driver's side upper motor mount bolt that holds the crossmember mount to the mount plate, and knock it off with an impact wrench. No biggie there... However the passenger side bolt was buried. There was no way I was getting to that side's bolt easily so I unbolted the mount bracket from the engine and pulled it on out. With the engine out of the way, getting the mounting plate off the lower mount was a straight shot.

However now I have to get those big rubber engine mounts off the crossmember so I can put the L&Ls in their place (or at least somewhere close). The driver's side bolt doesn't look too difficult to get at. However the passenger's side bolt is buried. The best I can figure on getting to that bolt is removing the driver's side I-beam pivot mount which is mounted inside the crossmember and held by 4 bolts. Fortunately the nuts that hold that mount in are not difficult to get at. Can anybody else confirm that this is the only way to get at that nut? I tried a universal joint, but it was bent at such a hard angle, nearly none of my strength was being put on the bolt.

Oh and Malcolm, how's the project coming? I'm curious to hear how your F-150 mounts are going to work.

[MalcolmV8]

Oh and Malcolm, how's the project coming? I'm curious to hear how your F-150 mounts are going to work.

I'm getting there. Almost have all the parts. I've found a 97 AWD t-case for $50. I don't have it yet but that should put me much closer to the swap.

[plowboy34]

Hey cgrey8, I have always used a impact universal socket to get that nut off. The impact universals work different than a regular universal, you get more torque on them. I have pulled several 2.9's in my day and that's how I alway's did it. Oh, just to make sure, it's not a universal adapter, it is an actual universal socket (impact). It will cost a little for the socket but will be alot easier than pulling the I- beam.

I just have to say, with all the problems I here everybody has with the special mounts I am so glad I used the stock mounts. It was a walk in the park. I was looking at some explorer mounts the other day. I am seriously considering purchasing the rubber mount that bolts to the frame when I install the new engine in my son's. I figure they might be a little tougher since they were built for a V8. If any of you that bought an Explorer engine had them on the engine and would consider selling them let me know.

Anyways hope that helps you out with that motor mount.

[cgrey8]

I've considered getting a set of universal impact sockets, but figured I'd have limited use from them. However if I have them when I need them, I guess they are worth the money.

Looking on Harbor Freight, I found these. Do you think these would work just as good for what I need for $8?



The only thing that concerns me is when I landed that nut with the universal, my standard 1/2" universal made a lot tighter turn than this did and still barely fit inside the crossmember. But if you've done it and say it works, I'm willing to give it a try. Thanks for the tip.

As for the Explorer motor mounts, I have one of the two mounts. I think the one I have is the passenger side mount. It was easier for the yardies to unbolt the mount from the crossmember than the engine from the mount, but the other side was easier to unbolt the engine so I didn't get that one. However I will have to say the Explorer mounts are much beefier looking than the V6 mounts I have on my crossmember right now.

[MercuRanger]

How do you get those on your ratchet? They've got the "male" end where a "female" end should be. Maybe that's a dumb question, but it's not apparent to me

Mike

[cgrey8]

That pic above is not a socket. The socket would plug to the male end that you see sticking out. Your extensions and/or wrench handle would fit in the end laying on the table.

[plowboy34]

I don't know if using the impact universal adapter would work or not. I have never done it that way. Looking at it, and for just $8 I think I would give it a try. Especially if it is $8 for both the 1/2" and 3/8" adapter. It's kind of hard to tell from the pic, but I have Snap-On universal sockets. It kinda looks like they might have a little more bend than the pic. But like I said, for $8 I believe I would give it a try.

Also thanks for the info on the Explorer mounts. Thats what I needed was someone who had both and could compare them to each other. I was looking at some pics the other night and I thought the Explorer mounts looked a little tougher. It looks like they mount the same way. It just looked as you said alot beefier. Again thanks for checking that for me.

[cgrey8]

Here's a pic of the Explorer 2wd mount:


Here's the Ranger 2wd mount:


These two pics, I think, are a little misleading. I think the Ranger mount is a little smaller, but zoomed in on to make the pics the same size.

One thing you can notice from these pics is the angles are different between the crossmember studs and the engine bracket studs. I imagine this would cause some issues. In my Ranger, the mounts bolt into the crossmember at an angle such that those studs coming out the side of the mount in the pic are sticking straight up in my truck. Bolting the Explorer mount to the Ranger's crossmember would have the engine bracket studs at an undesirable angle (i.e. not straight up).

Just to see what the F-150 engine mount looks like, I made a search for it and this is what I get:

or


They look nothing like the Ranger or Explorer, but if it works...the interesting thing was the Advance website has a left and right motor mount listed for both 2wd and 4wd, but it's all the same part number.

[plowboy34]

Thanks for the pics Chris, I think I'll just stick with my original idea, if new motor has to much torque for the 4 banger mount I'm just going to chain that bad boy down. I had to do that in my V8 Pinto I had. I couldn't keep a mount in that thing to save my life, it works real good as long as you keep chain tight so it doesn't jerk on engine. Just keep it snug so it is pulling on it at all times. I have seen people leave a little slack in them, not a good idea. When you jump on it and chain tightens it can crack a block or head, whichever one you are chained to. I have seen that happen too. Anyways thanks for the pics, really helped.

[cgrey8]

Chaining an engine down...hmm I'd never heard of that, but then again none of the engines I ever messed with in my younger years were nowhere near that high performance. That sounds interesting enough. Do you just attach chains to EM bolts or block bolts? And yes, I can imagine any play in those chains would not be good when you snap the engine with some serious power.

So, what is it you are planning on replacing his existing engine with that you'll need to worry about engine mounts?

[plowboy34]

My son had never drove anything that had any power. So when his 4 banger went south, I mentioned V8ing his truck and he thought that sounded good. His mother looked at me with one of them looks...LOL. Since he had never drove anything with power I put in a wore out 5.0 from a 85 T/Bird. I figured he could get the feel for some power then we would step up from there. He now has a 5.0 from a 2000 Explorer, has had everything balanced, E303 cam, have the heads all polished up, 3 angle grind on valves, FMS roller rockers, I have dug out my Intake manifold from my drag racing day's (this will make the older Ford Fanatics sick) it is from a 65 Shelby Mustang, an original that was on the 271 horse 289's. They sale on Ebay for upwards of $600 at times. And when he installs the engine he will have a much better exhaust system put in. That is the only thing I didn't really do correct when I installed the 5.0, it was simply cause of money. I told him how much better bigger pipe would be and there is no stopping him now. I figure he's gonna step up close to a 100hp. The old engine was just wore out and those early 80's 5.0 were not the greatest of engines. Especially the heads. Didn't mean to babble all this but there it is...LOL.

As far as to chaining the engine, it use to be done quite often in the drag racing world. Some people would just put solid motor mounts, I didn't like doing that cause most motor mount bolt holes really don't have alot of meat and it is not real hard to break them off. I use the farthest in bolt I can use, so there is as much metal between the bolt and the outside of the engine as possible. I always used one of the acc. bolt holes on the head. It wasn't very hard on the Pinto cause all I ran was an alternator and I had plenty of room to do that. He has P/S, A/C, Alternator and there isn't alot of room. I'm just gonna have to get in there and do some manufacturing to make something that will look good and be very functional. Which can be a hard thing for me...LOL, I am not real good with the looks thing. But I can make something work good. Anyway's, I turned this into a babble story too. I hope I explained that in terms you can understand.

[cgrey8]

Sounds like you got things well under way for a nice ride. It should prove quite nice when you get it all together. Are you changing out the tranny or anything else? Ever plan to go EFI or carb ATW?

I know what you mean about the looks thing. I'm finding it very difficult to keep things looking like I invisioned way back when. However the engine did clean up ok. I've made'er a red-head. The block is gloss black and the oil pan is blue which after I painted the heads red, I don't like the blue contrast as much. I may repaint it if I get it in the truck and find it doesn't look to my liking.

While doing the painting, I was going to over-coat the L&L mounts I had and realized the paint was not that good on them to start with. I used brake cleaner to get the crappy L&L paint off and have them primed for repainting. I'm thinking of painting them red as well just for the contrast between them and the black on the block or I may paint the engine mount blue and the crossmember portion red just for variety. I don't know whether that's overdoing it or not. Like I said, if I don't like it...it's only paint.

When I get something I'm not too ashamed of, I'll post a pic or two.

As for the babble, I hope people just know to expect babble from me. I tend to like the sound of my own v....err keyboard.