My goodness. it makes a difference. It was as easy as everybody said it
would be. Well, almost. Apparently AAP sells a "solid" mount for like
$88. It's the cheapest by far, as the next (hydraulic) option is about
$130. So I got that and off I went to the hobby shop to take it out. I'd
like to remind everybody to let the car cool down before they take that
lower radiator hose off, that fluid is HOT. The two 13mm bolts up top
can be removed with a standard ratchet but it takes a while. A deep-well
13mm socket helps out tremendously for the bolt in the back. An air gun
took care of the 21mm bolt on the bottom. The mount comes out easiest
when rotated and pulled through the side of the subframe where the front
of the tire would be. As long as the engine is jacked up there's plenty
of clearance. When I dropped the old mount on the ground it promptly
exploded and spewed hydraulic fluid everywhere... so I guess it really
was about time to be replacing it. Putting the new mount is where all
the problems began. If you get that $88 mount (ATX), expect the bottom
bolt thingy and the top plate to not be parallel! They're supposed to be
but on mine it wasn't, and I didn't figure it out until I cross-threaded
the back bolt hole (oh s*#%). Fortunately, a lucky go with the tap set
and I was back in business. I ended up widening the holes on the mount
by rimming the edges of them with a drill bit. Installation was just as
easy.
My butt-dyno tells me I gained (back) about 10hp. easy. The car no
longer goes "whump" when I put it in drive or reverse and acceleration
off the line is so much better that I can now chirp the tires with a
light throttle tap. Steering, braking, accelerating, and gear shifting
all feel so much more precise and connected that it's a wonder I managed
to enjoy driving it at all before. The engine no longer hesitates before
shifting gears but now shifts like it was pissed at me for waiting so
long to tell it to. It's so amazing... we're doing my wife's car next
week. I never knew the old mount was in such bad shape but now driving
it is a helluva lot more fun. Thank you all for the advice you gave me,
it allowed me to do the job in 4 hours (~2 without fixing the
cross-thread) vice the 10 or so I would've done it in had I followed Mr.
Helms' instructions. So again... Thank you!
Jason
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