Vintage Thunderbird Club International

I am running into a problem with Sanderson headers and need to raise the motor at least 1/4 inch because the header on the drivers side is about 1/16 inch away from the steering box. Has anyone had any luck with motor mount lifts? Would you put them between the mount and motor or the mount and the spacer? If so have you made them custom or is anyone making a set?

Thanks in advance with any info.

I had 1/4” thick spacers made and installed them when I reinstalled my engine after a rebuild and used FPA headers. A local retired machinist made them. They are installed below the motor mounts, next to the frame. Later, to get more clearance and to level the engine, I added another 1/8” spacer on the passenger side using an alignment shim from a TBird supplier.

FWIW, I had to this twice because my TBird vendor motor mounts failed initially within a year. The replacements, I think for a Galaxie of the same vintage, came from a different vendor and mfr and were much beefier. I’ll look up the supplier if you like.

Good luck.

Bill

Bill,

That sounds great, did you put them between the motor mount and the frame mount, or the frame mount and the frame? Also do you have to remove or loosen the transmission mounts? I never had this many problems with a chevy build, or he Oldsmobile build. Those parts fit great the first time, I feel like the Ford parts are mostly it kind of fits.

Between the frame mount and frame...where they’ll do the most good to lift vertically. Sorry if I wasn’t clear. I don’t recall having to remove the transmission mount. I did loosen the bolts back there.

Bill

Bill,

Thank you very much for the info, I will let you know how it goes.

Bill, It finally stopped raining and I was able to look at raising the mount. I see a issue and need to know what you had. The frame mount stud does not appear to have enough threads on it to put the 1/4 in spacer in. It appears I would only have about 2-3 threads the nut would pull on.

I replaced the bracket with the stud in question with a new part from one of the TBird vendors when I reinstalled the engine after its rebuild. The stud may or may not have been longer on the new part than the original, I did not compare them. I did have an issue with getting full thread engagement of the mounting nut. My solution, maybe not the the best, was to eliminate the locknut and replace the nut with a high strength locking nut, torqued to specifications. I got almost full thread engagement of the nut. I have checked these several times without noticing any change. My experience. Yours may vary.

Good luck.

Bill

Thanks Bill, any and all suggestions are welcome at this point. Every time I slide under this thing I scratch my head 10 ways till Sunday trying to figure the best and safest way to correct this.

Bill,

Go figure, I finally cut and measured the plate and cut and painted it. I raised the motor put the 1/4 in plate in, let everything down and now there is not a 1/4 in between the header and steering box. I really wish someone could tell me how this Chinese voodoo math works. How in the heck do you raise a motor almost straight up 1/4 in but it does not give you a 1/4 in clearance at the box? I have about 3/16in, I honestly think I might just leave it and let it ride. Any thoughts are great.

I have more clearance than you on the driver’s side but maybe less on the passenger side. Only about 1/8” to the shock tower. The difference is as likely in the differences between our headers as anything else. With only 1/4” shims I actually had contact on the passenger side at times during hard acceleration. And, the engine was tilted slightly as I tried to shift it towards the driver’s side. Another 1/8” shim on the passenger side gave me the clearance I needed and the engine sits level. I paid to have the engine balanced during its rebuild and I keep it tuned pretty well but it isn’t perfectly still, but not enough so as to ever notice any contact.

Bill

How old and/or possibly compressed are your rubber motor mounts?

While waiting for OMC’s response to Joe, I’ll provide this link to a previous post concerning my experience with motor mounts. You’re may be on to something, Joe. Even in the case of new motor mounts, all are definitely not created equal!

https://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net/ ... nts#p84454

Bill

Joe,

The rubber mounts are brand new from Anchor, I would have to try and find the box or receipt to get a part number. I am going to measure and give you guys some firm numbers.

Bill,

For some reason I cannot see the pics. Let me get some measurements.

You are probably as good as you can be with the Anchor brand motor mounts. Here is a picture of my new Anchor brand mount before installation and my broken thinner mount, apparently from a different mfr.

Bill