Question on motor mounts, 1971 fj40

[65swb45]

Hi Mark, thanks for your input. How come the hole was off? Accident? Yeah, form follows function which is why my truck is jerry rigged left and right. I kind of like the improvisation, as long as it is safe and works. You did this work with the tub off, correct?

No. In every case it was done with the tub on.

As for the masking tape, covering one side of the opening in the box end allows for inserting the bolt head into the wrench and keeping it there while you are maneuvering it into position in a place you can not reach with your hands directly.

Yes, stock mounting bolts are still available. You can also use an SAE bolt if you double nut or nyloc it. Based on the inconvenience of reaching the bolt head, I have found the stock bolt to be the best option. One of the two rears is NLA, but the other is still out there. PN for the NLA ends in 009; PN for the good one ends in 010. 1mm longer.

 

[sproggy]

Rube Goldberg, love that guy and a perfect analogy. Got any limburger cheese? I finally figured out the other day why I like fiddling with these cars so much: they are a puzzle and you have to figure out how to put the pieces together. That's the fun of the whole thing…and then of course you get to drive it, look cool, and get all the girls.

The weird thing about my truck right now is the motor seems to be humming along like never before…I guess it just needed to rest for 20 years. I have the headers, a Weber, a Delco dizzy, and, I dunno, suddenly not through my doing particularly, the thing is running better than ever and my acceleration and power feel great. Go figure. Of course, having sat for so long and considering the condition of everything, I am gritting my teeth for the inevitable break down…burst oil line is high on my list.

I never would have thought of removing that "tab" from the bell housing. That makes good sense. It's bolted on, I take it? I think I can repair the pass side mount easily enough, I think I think I think.

 

[sproggy]

Ok, so the first pic of the two chewed up rubber mounts is from the passenger side. I neglected to take a pic of the bolt, unfortunately. I actually reused it with new mounts. It was a bit gnarly and had some gouges, a slight bend, and lots of wear on it but well, I didn't have another one and it seemed sound enough and still fit so I re-used it. But those mounts! The middle two pics are the drivers side mounts and bolt. I can't believe I even got the thing off and out but it was surprisingly and very luckily easy. This bolt I was smart enough to toss and a trip to the hardware store got me that nice replacement with the nylon lock nut in the last pic for about $7.50 (yeah, it's metric….). So, it was a very satisfying afternoon yesterday. Now, did my shuttering stop? Well, it's hard to say. Before I replaced the mounts the truck was on its best behavior and the shuddering was minimal as will sometimes happen. A quick test drive after I replaced the mounts, well, it still shuddered lightly a couple times….and didn't shudder at all some other times so I'm not yet sure where I'm at. But I'm super happy to have those new mounts on. My next step will be to check the clutch settings with more rigor. I'll post back. Cheers….

 

[65swb45]

Considering your left rear was pretty much a worst-case scenario, readers would probably benefit from knowing how you got the old bolt out, and how you got the new one in. You can leave out the expletives!

I wanna see a pic!

 

[sproggy]

That's the strange thing…it was an f…in breeze! Neither side was frozen. I suppose I had sprayed WD-40 on both of them a couple weeks ago but still, both the nuts spun right off. And despite the crookedness of that left rear, once I jacked up the engine in that corner a bit to take pressure of the mounts, it fell out with only a few taps. And strangely, luckily, despite the frame being bent and angled at that point, somehow I was still able to fit a 19mm socket inside the frame and on the bolt head, and a crescent wrench on the top. In fact, the angle of the bent frame may have made it easier to get the socket on as the head of the bolt was angled toward the opening in the frame channel instead of being true and pointing straight toward the ground. And lo and behold even though angled the holes all lined up by some stroke of luck and the new bolt slipped right in.
Pic of the new mounts? Will do… Give me a sec.

 

[sproggy]

Here we go…that was a looooooooooong sec. Yup, so they're still not straight, obviously, considering the frame did not miraculously heal itself just 'cause I changed out those old mounts. And I concluded today that it had no effect on the shuddering on take-off. So, I'm glad I have a secure engine/tranny/transfer but can't pinpoint any noticeable benefit. By the way, what is inside the rubber mounts? Feels like metal…it's not a stack of washers, is it????

 

[sproggy]

Been many years since I had to adjust it but going from memory the smooth surface that rides on the throw out bearing is hexed. The fingers are threaded and the bolts use a nut to lock them in place. The measurements are in the FSM. Hard to measure inside the vehicle. I mainly made sure all three we as even as possible. Used a 12" 3/8" socket extention in holes on the pressure to rotate the engine.

I finally adjusted the clutch and it DID make a difference. Turns out that although the fingers were all touching the throwout bearing they were not tight against it, just resting there. I could move two of them with my fingers and the third was much tighter against it. So they were not adjusted. It was a pretty exciting find and while it was a pain in the ass to adjust them I did get it done. Your tip on moving the flywheel with the socket extension was spot on! I was pretty excited to do this adjustment as it is something that has plagued me since I first replaced that clutch almost 3 decades ago. The shudder has not completely disappeared but has noticeably lessened. I will get under there and check again. I was surprised by how much my clutch free play had changed and that had to be adjusted a bit. I tried not to notice all the oil on the throwout fork and bearing but in the end I had to admit that I have a problem there. Probably the seal is sick and yup, I've got the problem of the tranny too full of oil. 'sigh'…once you start ANY little bit of work on these old trucks you keep finding more and more problems and you wonder how the thing ever made it from point A to point B.