Has anyone used solid mounts in a driver? I am installing the motor in the chassis and have stumbled on this problem. I have not built a driver before, most of my experience has come from drag racing. Solid mounts were a way of life and I think it would add to the 'karma' of he car. I just don't know if it is a bad idea for a driver or not. Anyone with opinions?
By the way, I did do a search, but didn't find what I was looking for. Lots of info available, just not applicable.
They will shake your teeth out, tried and true.One thing making a 10 second pass, another thing riding 500 miles to a show. I'd advise against it.
I like them myself... I have them in 3 different cars. One of which is a 57 chevy that my (soon to be) wife drives. All of my rides have good sized cams and I don't think they are really noticable at all...just my experience...
I put them in my T Bucket because I don't want any engine flex - fuel pump and alternator too close to the frame (1/8" ) - have no problem at all!
I used them on a couple of cars and found that at certain RPM's the dash and wheel would buzz just a tiny bit...no biggie...unless the buzz happened at cruise RPM or something. Luckily for me it didn't. I've also built some thru bolt mounts out of tubing and VERY small spring eye bushings in a tight engine swap and had absolutely no buzzing/ vibration issues at all. You really don't need very much cushion to isolate the engine from the frame!
I've run them on several street cars, including my '67 GTX, my 350 V8 Luv pickup, and a 440 powered "T", and had no problem at all with them.
No problems on a performance car. Not the thing for a limousine, but I ran a solid front motorplate on a street car with no trouble. Don't mount the trans solid though, you need some flex there to keep the flex of the frame from cracking your bellhousing on an automatic, especially with solid motor mounts.
I've never built a car with solid motor mounts but it just sounds like a bad idea to me. At least for a street driven car you plan putting any real miles on. I'm surprised at all the, "works great" response.
Solid mounts have the tendency to transmit vibration elsewhere after time. It might be a comfort level that some can live with. did see a stock car crash where the car had solid motor mounts. The crash was bad enough to tweak the front crossmember and the mount held up but took a piece of the block with it. Bob
You can run solid mounts as long as the the trans mount is rubber or polyurethane both can not be solid in a driver
One thing you'll probably find is a lot of bolts coming loose on the car. I remember reading something where Gene Berg (well-known as the top air-cooled VW guru) talked about running solid transaxle mounts in the early air-cooled VWs, the engine bolts right to the transaxle so you can consider them the same as engine mounts. He said not to do it on a street car, not only would you have to re-tighten fasteners everywhere on the car all the time but the oil coolers mounted on top the engine case would eventually crack and leak from the constant vibration.
i have solid mounts in my "driver" for 4 years and i frequently make long trips. nothing has ever ratteled off and it doesnt rettle my teeth. and it has been down the track many times and 500 plus mile trips.
i have them in my 454 bel air, some minor vibration, bolts don't come loose. got tired of changing broken rubber mounts. and yes, be sure to use a poly or rubber trans mount.
i've got them in my 57 chevy. they suck. everything rattles and vibrates. so allow me to reiterate. they suck.
I have them in a '54 chevy pickup and I like them, but I like to hear the engine and feel it shake the whole truck. It sounds cool when you crank it over to start it and it gives it a cool growly sort of race car sound when it's running. If you've been to something like the dirt track races and like that sort of metallic sound of a race car engine, that's what it sounds like. Your whole frame sort of growls along with the engine. Doesn't bother me, but maybe I'm abnormal. I guess if you don't mind having your car sound like a race car, it's fine. If you want it sound like a stock Lincoln Continental, you'll hate it.
I've never broken a rubber mount with the engine chained down. I raced the GTO for 10 years with slicks and a transbrake and I'm still running the same rubber mounts in all 3 locations.
Ive had them in my Nova froma few years back(1989),and they worked great I used a rubber trans mount though.I wanted to try the all solid route next.
Up through '31 many production cars had motor bolted solid to the frame...........................body was usually isolated on rubber.
I have solid motor mounts in one truck, but rubber at the transmission. I've heard that you still want to keep a rubber mount at the transmission because of frame flex.
The heavier the car, the less you feel engine vibrations. I've had solid engine mounts on a solidcammed 440 in my daily driven '67 Newport for some years and at first I was surprised about how little vibrations I felt. I did 'hear' the engine was solidly mounted in the car though, if one could tell the difference how it was with rubber mounts.
Doesn't everyone know that ALL cars flex, no matter how strong you build them?? I don't know about anyone else, but I sure don't want to force my engine and trans to bend and flex in order to conform to the frame twisting+flexing. Use a mount that can let the engine float a little, and do not force it to twist and bend along with the frame movements. I like a rubber or urethane mount with a limiting cable for safety. I have seen several builders who went to solid mounts because they did not understand the need for a properly made clutch bellcrank. They tried to operate the clutch with a straight push from the pedal linkage, and it would almost push the engine right off the rubber mounts, so they went solid as an easy non-thinking solution. Using a properly made floating bellcrank, and a limiting strap will keep you from having to force the engine to bend+flex with the car frame. If you DO go ahead and use solid engine mounts, make sure there is rubber at the trans mount. Don't even think of making the tranny a solid mount.
Thanks for the replies. When I was putting the original combo together, it was a solid mount. I was just second guessing myself with the new combination. Another question, why do you want a rubber mount on the tranny? Would this not cause flex where you don't want it? The new combo is a 392 with a 727 behind it, I'm getting lazy and didn't want a 4 speed. The jury is still out on which mount type to use. Any other input would help.
Rubber mount on the trans helps prevent cracking the trans case...My Model A Pickup is solid mounted engine and flexible trans mount......and is driven w/ open headers so it might squeek and make all kinds of noises....but I will never know.....its a HotRod...Littleman
As I said, let the frame flex without bending the engine/tranny along with it. If you mount it all as a solid piece, you force all of it to bend along with the frame bending. LET IT FLOAT!!! DONT FORCE IT TO BEND WITH THE FRAME!
I was wondering, woludnt running a motor plate and a solid trans mount effectivly tie all of the components together and resist the cracking ?
I have run one solid mounts on the torque side only on many street cars. It virtually eliminates header leakage problems. I never noticed any vibirations or roughness and never had a customer complain about it. My Tow Rig use to rip the torque side mount every couple years till I replaced that one side with a solid mount. I always retain the rubber trans. mount even with a motor plate in a race car.
I have my motor mounted solid. No problems at all. Never found any loose bolts yet. I have taken it on a few long trips, 1 to Kansas 900+ miles round trip.
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