Fitting front engine mount VR6

[G-Lad 0]

Hi folks, I could do with some guidance please.

 

i've bought a good condition Vibratechnics front engine mount and am trying to fit it.

 

i've got the front of the car on axle stands and with a block of wood insert to protect the sump, i've used my trolley jack to raise the engine.

 

i've undone both the top retaining bolt on the front mount and also the allen head bolt in the middle at the bottom and have easily lifted the old mount out.

 

am I supposed to also remove the 3 nuts on the bottom to take out the rubber ring and metal insert that the mount attaches to in the front subframe? I'm trying to undo them upsaide down but the nuts are just getting damaged.

 

see the centre of this pic I found on google: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c240/g60mikey/transformer098.jpg

 

Since i've got the engine jacked now, it seems easy enough to drop out the 4 retaining bolts holding the lower front subframe. My god they're not about to budge!!! Any advice? If i'm servicing the front engine mount and fitting a super hard VT mount, will it be important to service or replace the 4 subframe bushes and the subframe lower engine mount insert?

 

All advice gratefully received!

 

chris

[KIPVW 0]

I just removed the lower mount cover 3 bolts, once the vibra one is fitted i dont think you need to re fit the cover as the vibra one sits on the cross member only.

 

But i re-fitted the cover anyway.

 

The bushes will probably be ok but if its off the road for a while nothing stopping you if it isn't a daily, they are easy to do with the right tool so if you get stuck if you decide to do them give me a shout for some how to pics ;)

Edited March 25, 2012 by KIPVW

[G-Lad 0]

Ah that makes sense, thanks! I've just test-lowered the engine into position as I have to go out and didn't want it to sit on the jack for hours. I was starting to worry that the threaded stud on the bottom of the VT mount wasn't long enough to get the nut on, but if that lower cup with 3 retaining nuts is only a cover then that makes more sense.

 

..now if only I can wrestle those three nuts off...! I'll soak with wd40 and try again later :)

 

thanks for the tip!

[G-Lad 0]

I've had a bit of a hard time trying to undo the 13mm nuts on the cover under the front engine mount. 2 ok, 1 starting to round off with my Halfords 12point sockets. I shall go and acquire some proper hex or impact sockets and try again before I trash the nut completely..

 

i've also been trying to take off the lower front cross member (i was refering to this as the lower front subframe earlier - now corrected!). However i'm having a similar problem with one bolt that won't budge, so i'll try a proper 17mm hex socket on this too.

 

from a thread I stumbled upon on the VR6OC forum, it may not be worthwhile bothering with fitting 4 powerflex / pu bushes to the cross member. Who's got an opinion on this? genuine rubber vs old rubber vs new pattern rubber vs pu.

 

Can anyone tell me how tight I need to torque the subframe bolts?

 

cheers

 

Chris

[KIPVW 0]

stick with standard rubber ones chris, regarding the old mount on the lower section is actually needed as part of the front mount but the vibratechnics one doesn't

so you remove it.

 

Yeah get proper hex rather than multi point, you may need a fair bit of torque to get the bumper bolts out but if you have one next to the stuck one out then squirt plenty of wd40 in there through the adjacent bolt hole and leave over night. You really dont want the bolt to sheer off as it could be a right pain to sort.

 

not the end of the world if the 3rd nut snaps off as it isnt needed anyway, just refitting the cover at the bottom once the vt is fitted tidies it up underneath.

 

Bumper bolt torque is 85nm as per Bentley manual

 

Kip :)

[VWVW 1]

This thread may help you on the torque settings. I did an incorrect torquing and a bolt snapped on me. Not a nice feeling :)

 

http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?55411-Front-end-bolt-torque-settings&highlight=cross+member+bolt

Edited March 28, 2012 by VWVW

[G-Lad 0]

The hexagonal socket did the trick! I gave up on removing the cross member for now, since it's caked in dinitrol and doesn't really need to be moved.

 

incidentally, I got in touch with Vibratechnics and they told me that their front engine mount needs 45nm top and bottom. They also advised me to use regular nyloc M10 nuts top and bottom, as that's their race spec nut of choice and easy to acquire. Thumbs up to Phil and Vibratechnics for some very speedy customer service, despite me saying quite clearly upfront that it wasn't a new item.

 

i'm please to confirm that i'm getting lots less movement up front, which makes pulling away from the line and gear changes much smoother.

[KIPVW 0]

Nice :)