Engine mounts

[PSU_Crash]

@PSU_Crash Were you able to change out your mounts over the weekend?

I was not. We had a friend swing through and stay the weekend, so there wasn't much progress with anything. I also have another project near completion. I need to focus there for a bit before diving back into the 944.
Excellent excuses to prolong the inevitable PITA job

[BennSport]

Haha, I know exactly what you mean. I’ve got nothing else going on this weekend so the mounts are staring at me in the face waiting to be done. I’m making a hardware run today or tomorrow but I don’t know how tall the washers need to be and how many per bolt, does anyone have those specs on hand?

[PSU_Crash]

Mine came with new hardware. I'm going to guess the bolts are grade 8 M8x1.25. I can verify that tonight and measure the length if no one else chimes in.

Edit: I know you want to get it don this weekend, but there is this kit too, FYI
https://944online.com/engine-mount-hardware-kit/

[BennSport]

Seeing that kit I’m not too worried about the washer thickness anymore, I thought they acted more like spacers. Has anyone thermally wrapped their heat shields? If thermal degradation was a big enough issue for Porsche to design shielding brackets I would assume a reflective backing would be a popular choice to prolong their life as much as possible.

[PSU_Crash]

Seeing that kit I’m not too worried about the washer thickness anymore, I thought they acted more like spacers. Has anyone thermally wrapped their heat shields? If thermal degradation was a big enough issue for Porsche to design shielding brackets I would assume a reflective backing would be a popular choice to prolong their life as much as possible.

I can't see how extra heat shiedling would hurt anything. Are you thinking just the adhesive backed foil face stuff?

[BennSport]

Seeing that kit I’m not too worried about the washer thickness anymore, I thought they acted more like spacers. Has anyone thermally wrapped their heat shields? If thermal degradation was a big enough issue for Porsche to design shielding brackets I would assume a reflective backing would be a popular choice to prolong their life as much as possible.

I can't see how extra heat shiedling would hurt anything. Are you thinking just the adhesive backed foil face stuff?

Yea, maybe it could prolong the life of the right side mount. When I took mine out it came apart in 2 pieces and I’m sure the heat had something to do with it.

[BennSport]

Just finished the motor mount replacement and wow. Wow to the difficulty of a job it is, and wow to how much smoother the car is now. I made the mistake of not scribing the crossmember before disassembly and now the car pulls slightly to the right. I’m debating going back under and realigning the cross member or just rotating my steering wheel one spline to the right. Either way I see now why that was included in the write up. The hardest part was tucking the rectangular ledge of the mount into the pocket of the crossmember it sits in, but I was able to do it by having someone push down on it from above with a long bar. So glad it’s all done though, the car drives so much better, shifting into first is smooth and the front bumper isn’t rattling itself to death anymore

[PSU_Crash]

Just finished the motor mount replacement and wow. Wow to the difficulty of a job it is, and wow to how much smoother the car is now. I made the mistake of not scribing the crossmember before disassembly and now the car pulls slightly to the right. I’m debating going back under and realigning the cross member or just rotating my steering wheel one spline to the right. Either way I see now why that was included in the write up. The hardest part was tucking the rectangular ledge of the mount into the pocket of the crossmember it sits in, but I was able to do it by having someone push down on it from above with a long bar. So glad it’s all done though, the car drives so much better, shifting into first is smooth and the front bumper isn’t rattling itself to death anymore

Excellent! Glad to hear it made a difference for you. I'm sure mine will also be night and day. Now I just have to get to it ...

[Lowencash]

I'm curious. What would make an engine mount 'garbage'? There's not a lot of 'moving parts' to these things. Fluid-filled or otherwise, are they not like man-made diamonds? Whether made by pressure from mother nature or one in a lab they're considered the same. Just wondering...

[944m3]

On the surface, any brand or type of mount will support and hold the engine to the subframe. So they all “work”.

As we all know inherently, a straight four cylinder engine vibrates like crazy. With that in mind, an inferior constructed mount will literally be torn apart in a year or so. Some will last longer than others, of course depending on numerous variables. I had a set I purchased for $20, if I remember correctly, the right one was completely torn from the base in about 2 years.

But to me, the most important part is hydraulic vs solid rubber. There is a science behind hydraulic mounts, many research papers you can find online if you’re interested. But basically they absorb different frequencies much better than solid rubbers. In turn you have a more comfortable cabin, especially at idle.

Some folks don’t notice or simply don’t care about the vibrations. I happen to notice the difference and care about comfort. For me, the OEM mounts are expensive but totally worth it (again, for me). Heck, I’ve even read folks mention they didn’t notice any difference when using Lindsey’s semi solid mounts. So it just depends if you notice that kind of stuff. Of course for track car solid mounts might be more beneficial.