how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing q's

[darkostoj]

I am going to do some exhaust work and will be pulling off the pipes with the cats that have the vbands that connect to the factory header. Since these are coming out I figured it would be a good time to add some woodhouse engine mounts since the stockers are probably pretty toast in my 98 gts with 30k miles. I was wondering how hard it is to get in there and change them out? Can it be done without removing the factory header?

Also I've read about once you take apart the vband at the header its a pain to get them sealed up again. Can anyone elaborate on this and walk me through how I can separate them then get them back together without them leaking?

thanks

 

[dave6666]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

There is an excellent write-up in the Illustrated Upgrades section on changing mounts. Gotta be a VCA member there...

I would guess on the clamp joints a couple bits of advice, but no actual experience.

-> Clean the mating surfaces till shiny with green kitchen pads or steel wool or so. Nothing more abrasive than that. No power tools.

-> Lubricate the outer portion of the pipe where the clamp goes on the pipes with a good quality copper anti seize. This will help the band pull tightly down on the parts. Also a little on the band clamp threads. Watch the torque tightening though with all of that lube. It will also smoke a little at first start up as that lube burns off.

Sure you don't want to pull those manifolds to do the mounts?

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[darkostoj]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

There is an excellent write-up in the Illustrated Upgrades section on changing mounts. Gotta be a VCA member there...

I would guess on the clamp joints a couple bits of advice, but no actual experience.

-> Clean the mating surfaces till shiny with green kitchen pads or steel wool or so. Nothing more abrasive than that. No power tools.

-> Lubricate the outer portion of the pipe where the clamp goes on the pipes with a good quality copper anti seize. This will help the band pull tightly down on the parts. Also a little on the band clamp threads. Watch the torque tightening though with all of that lube. It will also smoke a little at first start up as that lube burns off.

Sure you don't want to pull those manifolds to do the mounts?

Hello hello hello...

You must be registered for see images

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I just sent in my application and payment to be a VCA member so i'm hoping I can look at those illustrated upgrades soon.

Yes it looks so easy changing the mounts without the headers there, but in my opinion for the price of headers I may hold off for a while...but for now I got something else exhaust related that allows me to keep the factory headers in place, remove the cats, and still get me the same additional horsepower that a set of fancier headers would add for a fraction of the price.

 

[cyaford]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

Yep, doing the mounts with the manifolds off would be easier than changing the oil. Now, taking off the manifolds just to make changing the mounts easier is another story.

 

[All Blue ACR]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

No biggy on the mounts.... just follow the how-to posted here as it's very thorough

 

[dave6666]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

Tip of the week, based on previous personal experience:

-> Never use duct tape to protect your valve covers unless you are an expert at peeling paint off that is stuck to duct tape and can somehow reapply it to the valve covers.

 

[00VPRGTS]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

I just replaced my mounts last month and I have stock headers. The one frustrating part that you may or may not run into is getting the upper bolt that mounts the bracket to the engine, out past your headers. For a while I thought there was no F'n way that bolt could get by the headers. I gave up on the passenger side and I was able to replace the mount without removing the bracket from the engine but this is a rare case. The driver side was not going to co-operate, so I had to get the bracket off the engine. I had to make sure the bolt was rotated so that the flat part of the hex head was aginst the header. I then used the lower bolt that i already removed and inserted into the upper mount hole from the opposite end and used it as a punch to get the bolt pass the header.

 

[Camfab]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

No exhaust in the car, and the motor mount job is a cake walk. Changing the mounts on a bone stock car with the exhaust in place is a pain. I've heard the less than an hour stories before, I call BS on that one. It's a time consuming job if your careful. Be very careful when you jack the motor up to remove the mounts, as you are placing a large amount of tension on the fuel line at the back of the manifold. I reused the V-band using the exact method Dave described and it worked fine. I would certainly recommend doing the job during a header swap as it is a breeze. Otherwise have fun, I had to make a special tool to tighten the top bolt from under the car. I also needed it to break the bolt free. I've done three mounts on my car so far, one time all factory from under the car, once during a motor swap, and finally to put the Woodhouse mounts in. All I can say is that, I wished I did the Woodhouse mounts the second time around.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Re: how hard is it to change the motor mounts with factory headers? & vband sealing

I did the Woodhouse engine and transmission mounts a few weeks ago on my '99 RT/10. I followed the how-to article but it was still a PITA due to not being able to remove the top motor mount bolt from either side because of interference with the factory headers. It was soooo close to clearing the header but still no go. If they had just installed the engine mount bolts from the opposite direction at the factory it would have been easy to slip them out with no interference issues.

I had to loosen the headers, which was easier than I expected (no stuck bolts). After that the motor mount bolt removal was simple. I probably spent at least 5-6 hours over the course of 5 days after work in my spare time doing all this. Wish I'd had a set of Belanger headers to bolt on because eveything was loose and it would have been a simple matter to install them.