My body mount bushings need to be changed on my 71 cutlass S. Are they easy to do? Should I use stock type replacements, or something better?

John NY

 

have not done them myself but have heard that opgi has a nice set .

 

It's quite common for the bolts to be seized in the nuts. Most of them require cutting the floorpans to get to, which makes it exciting. I would expect it to be quite a challenge if the vehicle isn't stripped down.
Watch out for the generic A-body kits (which is most of them). The core support bushings do not work for the Olds. Fusick has the proper parts.

 

It's a fairly easy process with the afformentioned nut problem. A lift makes it a whole lot easier. I used the yearone kit!

 

Awesome info guys! Thanks. I would have purchased the kit from year one, but now I'll get it from fusick! My bushings are so badly worn that when I have 4 people in the car and get on it, sometimes the front youk of the drive shaft rubs on the underside of the hump! I am also changing the tail section of my TH350 trans because of play in the bushing. Hopefully by performing these 2 services the drive shaft will not rub? I welcome any more comments and ir suggestions?

John NY

 

It might be a good idea to check the transmission mount too.

 

Just be aware you may open a can of worms. The body mount locations are notorious for rust on both the body side and the frame. If the frame washers are rusted where the body mounts sit you'll have to weld new ones in. To do that you need to get the body up in the air enough to access them. Like has been said previously, the cage nuts often break and once that happens you have no choice but to cut a hole in the floor to get to them. A two or three inch hole saw works well and the plug can be welded back in fairly easily.

 

The trans mount was the first thing I changed.

My car has almost no rust,(originally from AZ), but I agree you never know what you run into once you "open that can of worms"! I am assuming these cage nuts are in the frame? Is it depicted in the service manual? Dose fusic offer a compleate kit with nut, bolts and sleves?I might just bring it to a restoration shop or my mechanic? I do this for the jobs I don't want to tackle myself! Thanks again everyone, but keep em coming!

John NY

 

Cage nuts are the nuts are located on the top of the body braces. Once the body brace is installed there's no access unless the floor is cut. Since they are welded to the body when it is built at Fisher Body it's not like you can just unbolt them to get to the top. If they break free from the cage they just spin

The body bolts are installed from below and thread into these cage nuts. Some locations, the front mounts comes to mind, don't have cage nuts, they are accesible to put a nut on.

Fusick sells the radiator support bushings separate from the body mounts. I can't remember if bolts were included. I bought grade 5's for mine anyway

 

Can I squirt some WD40 in the cage nut area? Or is it completely out of reach? Do you or anyone else have any more suggestions on how to tackle this project?

John NY

 

I don't think there are any holes in the braces that you could squirt anything into on the area of the body mounts but my car is in storage so maybe someone else can chime in. If you can get to it I'd use something like PB Blaster. WD-40 doesn't work as well. If the car is from the Southwest you probably have a good shot at loosening them. I saw you were from NY & figured you had a "typical" Northeast car.

You just need to get under there with a socket and work the bolts loose a little at a time. Start by tightening them a little, then loose, then tighten, etc. You have to jack the body up a little to get the old ones out and the new ones in. Be careful of anything connected to the body and the frame like the steering, fuel lines, etc. Also recognize that the fenders are connected to the body at the rear and the frame at the front (at the core support)

 

I was lucky all the bolts on my car loosened up really easy. I got my kit from OPGI.

 

This is what you may find - rusty nuts and bolts or worst case rusty holes in the frame mounts. My car is from Texas but was still very rusty from years sitting in a corn field. I soaked the bolts and nuts in PB Blaster and loosened and tightened a little at a time until I got them out (without breaking). Don't go He-man crazy or you will certainly snap them off. You can run a tap through the cage nuts to clan them up for reassembly.

Old bushing and bolt


Rusty frame mount

 

If you can weld, you can repair the frame mounts with large industrial washers. Just cut away the rusty metal surrounding the body mount location and weld in the washer. You can run a continuous bead on the top side and tack weld it from the bottom side. Here is what I had to do to my front torque box mounts. I'm doing a frame-off restoration so this repair was much easier than if the body and frame were still tethered together by brake and fuel lines.

Center the washer over the existing hole the best you can, and mark with a Sharpie.


Cut away rusty metal with a grinder.


New hole.


Prepped for welding.


Grind smooth. I made another pass with my welder after taking this pic to get better penetration between the frame and the washer.

 

The core support bushings need to be changed at the same, or the body will sit higher than the fenders.

 

I replace the body mount bushings on all of my cars.


I recommend doing one side at a time. That allows for body alignment.


You will need a 2x4 that has a double saw cut lengthwise to put on the body pinch weld when you lift the body.


Both bumpers will need to be loosened (the brackets to the frame)


Soak the bolts with a good penetrant for about a week before to attack any rust.


Some of the body mounts do not have bolts - check an assembly manual to know which ones do have bolts.


1. Loosen bumper brackets and pull bumpers down and away from the body


2. Put a couple of layers of duct tape on the body where the bumpers overlap - just in case


3. Starting from the front, remove all bolts - do not use an impact gun.


4. Once all the bolts are removed, place the 2x4 under the pinch weld molding beneath the door.


5. Using a floor jack, lift the body about 2", just enough to remove the bushings


6. Replace the bushings, and lower the body back down.


7. Put bolts in, and torque to 40 foot pounds.


8. Repeat on the other side.


IF none of the bolts break, it is about a 2 hour job.


I used a kit from Fusick, and it came with the mounts and new hardware.


My bushings were pretty wasted.

 

i changed the trans mount and motor mounts to stop my driveshaft from hitting, i plan to change the body mounts too. my motor mounts were really compressed and i had to lift the engine to access the bolt heads.

 

There is good advise in this thread. Let me emphasize DO NOT USE IMPACT! You can tell by feel if you will damage the cage nuts. Like others have said, it is a couple hour job if the bolts come out. It can be a body off if they do not. I would approach this with caution. Soak he bolts w/PB Blaster as best you can for about a week. Remove the bolts on one side with a 1/2" ratchet. If you have to use a long cheater bar to loosen a bolt or if a bolt locks up while removing. STOP! Now you will need to assess if you want to go further. If the bolt breaks be prepared this could lead to taking the body off the frame. If all bolts come out with a 1/2 ratchet proceed to jack up the body and replace the bushings and repeat process for the other side. When I did mine every bolt came out easily except the one behind the rear axle on the right side. I was using an impact and broke the cage nut loose. I was able to fix with the body on the frame since this was in the trunk area and I could cut a hole in the trunk floor to access the cage nut. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress

 

Using an impact really depends on the part of the country the car came from and the amount of corrosion the car was subject to. I used an impact and it was a very simple job with no cagenut issues.

 

Two questions:

If re-using bushings that are in OK shape, but have rust scale on them, How do you get the rust off other than scraping or picking?
Can you soak rubber in acid without wrecking the bushings?

Seems like the bushing areas stay wetter than other areas. Should there be some sort of grease used when assembling these to keep the water out?

Thanks,

David

 

Does anyone know the dimensions of the industriel washer used when the frame mount holes are rusty

Bruce

 

Hello - I have a '72 Cutlass Supreme Convertible and bought the Fusick BM682K Body Mount kit.

Unfortunately, there is no description of what mounts are used in which locations. And calling Fusick was not too helpful.

The kit comes with:

(2) of one kind of body mount
(6) of one kind of body mount
(8) of one kind of body mount
(10) of one kind of body mount
(12) bolts and washers.

Can anyone share any insights on what goes where?? PLEASE!!??

Thank you.

 

Why wouldn't you just replace the body mount bushings in the places you find them ? You should also use the Chassis Service Manual (CSM) to help locate them for a convertible.

 

Unfortunately, I did not retain which ones went where. I have the front clip off for some frame welding. The two I am trying to figure out are where the frame bends by the firewall. And I did order the separately square mounts for the radiator support.

 

Then you will need to look at the Chassis Service Manual. Be sure you see where they are on a convertible. I am sure someone will chime in that knows.

 

There are 4 small mounts that install on the rear frame rails behind the rear wheels, 2 pucks without bolts that mount on the rear crossmember (bewteen the shocks mount), the larger mounts install along the middle frame rails (between the wheels). Some kits come with extra mounts for the cars the require 2 mounts at the cowl, below the A-pillar. Your kit may also have the core support bushings (which are typically square, these install on the front frame horns below the radiator support.

Here's a page from the '72 assemble manual that might be helpful.

Rodney

 

I have 12 body mounting area 10 are bolt in 2 are bushing only on top of the rear. My question is I have 2 that are thinner with a deeper cone insert need to find out what place do they go.

 

Why don't you post a picture of what you have so we can help you better.

 

The bottom one is the thinner in rubber by.120 also cone shape center and a smaller diameter hole

The one on the right is .120 thinner I have 2 of those all the rest are the same.

 

The bottom one is the thinner in rubber by.120 also cone shape center and a smaller diameter hole

The one on the right is .120 thinner I have 2 of those all the rest are the same.

Also its the same size as the ones with no bolting that sit up on the rear cross member where coils go. So I'm thinking that go in#4 because people are saying in 4 just a bushing?

 

The bottom one in the photo above goes in spot #3. It is made like that to fit the captured nut which is different at spot #3 that any other spot on the car.

 

All of mine have captured nuts except radiator support and #2 #3,4 6,7 have them. I can't be the only 72 that has them? Mine is a 72 hurst/Olds but no where does it indicate a H/0 so I'm going off a cutlass supreme HT

 

nope you are right the others are flat inside. Cool thanks for the info!!

 

Any idea why I have a nut in the floor in# 4 when they r saying just a bushing? I bought it with frame off so I have no clue what came out of it.