Hi Folks,

Please forgive the novel I am about to write you. I am working on a 1968 442 with a 1971 455 swap (blue block, big F), C heads, J manifold, TH 400, A/C, power brakes, power steering.

I am under the car last night connecting a new wiring harness to the starter solenoid, so I am under the right side of the engine block by the exhaust manifold. I finish up and I’m just looking around. I see a large hole that a bolt might belong in. Taking stock of where I am and what I am looking at, I realize that this is the engine mount. There is NO BOLT CONNECTING THE FORWARD SIDE OF THE DRIVER’S SIDE ENGINE MOUNT TO THE ENGINE BLOCK!

Context: I have owned this car for a long time. For years it was my daily driver. Since it always started and ran strong and reliably, and any project I did needed to be finished by Monday morning, I never really got into checking these sorts of things. When I moved out of the state, the car was parked for a while, so I am really just getting into something that could be thought of as a restoration, and I'm coming across a lot of weird stuff.

The car always did have a tendency to jerk when put into reverse, and while investigating this last year, I decided I might have an engine mount going bad or something. But I guess I have my answer!

Finding something like this does not surprise me. The previous owner did a lot of things wrong, but the car is still here and has been very reliable, so I guess I have to give him some credit.

But something like this makes you question a lot of things, so I thought I’d poll the group:

Firstly, who forgets to bolt in an engine mount?

Secondly, what would you do? Slap a bolt in there, torque it to spec, and move on? Something more? Could this have damaged the mount to the point it needs to be replaced?

If so, what size bolt, lock washer I assume, and what torque? That page of my assembly manual is a bit blurry.

I’d love to check everything over, replace the mounts if necessary, but I don’t really have a way to pull the engine myself and I can’t afford to have someone else do it right now.

 

An airhead.


I would put a new bolt in there and torque it to spec. Unfortunately, I'm not sure on the size and torque spec.

I would buy grade 8 hardware though.

 

bolt is 7/16 x 14 x 1-1/4 course thread with lock washer.
More than likely what has happened is thet the mount was installed without a lock washer and the bolt just plain came loose and fell out! check the other bolt (both sides) for missing lock washers and add them if they are missing.
replace one at a time and it will be easy. I use stainless bolts so they will never rust and seize.

 

Mine are not torqued. They do have a lock washer. I run them up Good-n tight. I am using a break over after running it up snug with a half inch drive ratchet. One good pull past snug. Probably not the best way. Torque would be better.LOL

 

Put a bolt in it. Screw it in. Make it tight.

To add to wr's comment: Torque? Really? It's a bolt. Tighten it.

- Eric

 

When I bought my '70 it had one bolt missing from motor mount on frame. The hole would not line up. Well to keep story short, ended up pulling motor and had frame horn straightened. Sure hope that's not your problem, because it cost $1,000.

 

x2

 

if the motor mount is spent you may need to jack the engine alittle to get the bolt to go thru, when i took mine apart i couldnt access the bolt head until the engine was lifted alittle.

 

Good lord someone sold you a load of coal. I had a frame horn straightened out with the whole car complete. Cost was about$200.

 

Use a drift punch no need to jack it. Jack the car up on jack stands for ease to crawl under it or for a creeper.

 

Thanks for all the info!

wr & Erics: didn't realize this was such a non issue, I'll just make it good and tight!

I did eventually find the torque specs in the CSM if anyone i interested, looks like bracket to frame nuts, bracket to mount nut, and mount to motor bolts specs are 30, 50, and 80 lb-ft respectively.

Wish I'd spotted this when I had the Fenders and control arms off

 

I sure hope not!

Thanks Dean, I'll keep it in mind.

 

Ain't that always the case?

- Eric

 

It was expensive, the crossmember was tweaked too, so had to take front end off to get it right. These old cars are like boat's, break out another thousand.

 

Tweaked cross member hell mine was busted with the biggest crack. The horn was push backwards firewall. I knew this was fixable when i bought the Frame. My buddy called me on the phone when he was looking at the crack and ask me if i still wanted it. I told him yes. This frame and been it a heck of a wreck. Matt's friend Rick had the frame. So i had this very big crack welded without a jig at a auto body shop. The passenger side was where the frame horn was bent i didn't see it till body was back on the frame. There was a crack in a lightning hole that the auto body refused to weld said the whole chassis needed to go in a jig to weld it. I ignored the info. When the chassis came home i already had it soft stripped i then primed and painted it after i welded the crack in the lightning hole. Then my buddy and i put the fresh 461 in it fresh rear end, fresh turbo 400,fresh body mounts,fresh radiator and installed the everything to complete the car. Then my buddy said hey the passenger front wheel is one inch approx from fire wall. I said so lets load it up and take it to a frame shop i know of and it came out perfect they aligned it and i drove the car home. Raced the car since 2001 up to 2013 and drove it on the street and to the track. So yeah i know about tweaked. I think Rick thought the frame was beyond repair and who would buy a busted frame with a bent frame horn! My buddy and i took this non running car and went thru it and raced it in seven months.I took a third place the first time i raced it. I had never raced at a drag strip.That was sixteen years ago. Sorry for the long winded post. So much was done to this car in seven months i didn't even go into all the details.

 

If these cars could talk the stories they would tell. I had a 67 442 factory 4 speed as my first car at 16. My parents bought one new and my dad always drove like he was in a race. So, I did too. These cars and many others were treated like they would last forever and we ran the crap out of them. Now we baby them and treat them like a trophy. And to be honest many are. It always makes me wonder if those who now have money and want a "numbers match all original car" if they only knew what these cars have been through.

I sometimes just wish they could talk.

 

You got that right a guy got his self killed in my 1970 442. He ditch dove it at a high rate of speed. That was why i was looking for a frame. Someone tried to fix the original frame and screwed it up. Like i said in the post above way more was done to bring this car back to life than i have posted in this post. I could write a book on this car.

 

I think I put three noses on my Chevelle.

We drove 'em like bumper cars.

- Eric

 

LOL A guy named Floyd Sprague and i would get on gravel and push each other to see who would loose control. We took turns. Kind of like chicken with a aw sh-t i hope i don't screw up. I was 17 at the time and had a $50 dollar 60 chevy 4 door what did i care. No seat belts mom. I thought about dirt racing after about ten wins. Even started to build a dirt car that a buddy of mine smashed both rear clips on.He was trying to go around this curve at 100 mph. First one direction then tried it from the other. He hit a telephone pole both times lol. One of his other buddies said he done it. After looking at the mess i told him you have to go in low and work your way out high. He told me now you tell me he went in both times in his lane on the high side trying to go low and spun out. He tore up a 1966 ss Chevelle.Car ended up in a junk yard when i got married and had to move for a better job 130 miles away. Things happen when you are young dumb and full of!!!

 

Ha, yeah. As Stirling Moss said, "It is better to go into a turn slow, and come out fast, than to go into a turn fast, and come out dead."

I had a '70 Monte that I ran as a beater at one point - no rust, about 80,000 miles, ran fine, but it was an automatic, and that just pi__ed me off, so I drove it like a demo derby for about a year (running it over parking stops, that kind of thing). Sold it for what I'd paid when I got tired of looking at it. Never thought they could possibly ever get valuable.

In college, I used to play chicken with girlfriend I had for a while, on a straight section of road, in my Chevelle. We knew each other's headlights - if we saw each other, we'd just aim for 'em and floor it. Never hit each other, but came darned close.
Never go out with a girl whose nickname is "Slick."

It's funny, I always wiped the nose when I spun 'em... right up until I got a 911 (and, yes, I built the motor myself). Then I learned about backing into things at 65mph.

- Eric