Body mounts replacement

Here's a few photos of my body mount replacement. I did this without lifting the body off the frame.

I lifted the body only 1" - that's enough to slide the mounts in and out. I used two mech scissor jacks under the floorboard. Place a 2x2 foot piece of plywood between the jack and the floorboard to prevent the jacks from penetrating the fiberglass.
Only the battery ground cable needs to be disconnected, that's pretty much it. The body needs to be lifted only 1". Everything else is flexible enough to allow this movement. If you want to lift 2" then disconnect the steering and brakelines from MC to frame.

I cut the fiberglass at the #3 mount to gain access, after I glued it back in place it's not noticeable.

I did one side at a time, driver's first, then passenger side. After all eight mounts were replaced I verified the loading is pretty equal on all of them with all bolts loose - none of them was moveable after shimming.

I did not tighten the bolts until all eight mounts were replaced and I verified all eight were 'loaded'. I checked all eight mounts and made sure that the body's weight is on the mounts - if you cannot turn the poly block then it's fine - if one ore more are loose then you'll need to add shims until all eight are equally tight...
These shims are available at Lowe's or HomeDepot in different thicknesses, these are fender washers, they're about 13 cents each....

Photos:

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old body mount cushion:

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more old stuff:

scissor jack and 2x4 setup:





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#4: bolt stuck



#4 done:


#2 inside the car:


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#3 - had to cut the fiberglass for access:


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#3: new cushion installed:



#3 - fiberglass repaired and painted black:

#1:


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weld repair on #4 driver side:

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enjoy....

Does anybody know if changing the #1 body mount is possible with Hooker side exhaust headers on the car???? :sweat:

Great post! I'm thinking about building a body dolly and pulling the body off mine to do some clean up on the frame. I hate seeing the rusty stuff under the engine. Now this post should probably be put in the TECH section.

Cool post MYBAD79 ,
I've been looking at doing mine,The pics and diagram have answered alot of questions.
MANY THANKS
Gav

MYBAD79 said:

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Now that's a pile of ugliness right there

Great work and great post

When doing jobs like this the problem is to take time to stop and take pics like that.
Thats a great post.

Good idea with the #3 mount Great Job

Can you measure the installed height of the rubber cushion in this picture? Just the rubber part, not the spacers.

MYBAD79 said:

#4 done:

Click to expand...

BBShark said:

Can you measure the installed height of the rubber cushion in this picture? Just the rubber part, not the spacers.

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I'll try not to forget and measure it tonight. The new cushions are poly, not rubber.
The poly mounts are only $60 or so at Ecklers, The bolts are $20.... I think the rubber body mount kit was around $160 when I did this back in 2004....

wow thats a nice job.....

bobs77vet said:

wow thats a nice job.....

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too bad the poly cushions are all dry rotted and cracked... I'll have to do this again ush:

more details on this issue in my "poly mounts - junk" thread....

http://vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7083

and some more info here:

http://vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7513

MYBAD79 said:

BBShark said:

Can you measure the installed height of the rubber cushion in this picture? Just the rubber part, not the spacers.

Click to expand...

I'll try not to forget and measure it tonight.

Click to expand...

hmmm.... looks like I forgot....... if you still need this measurement I can get it before I remove the poly junk ....

replacing body mounts on 77

well just to keep similar projects in the same thread so we make a really good searchable link i will revive and add to this older post with my trials and tribulations on my body mount replacements.....heres the link that got me here...

http://www.vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?p=94459#post94459
and heres the post that pointed me to this thread....
http://vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2062&highlight=body+mount+replacement

"lots of photos.... the two rear mounts are actually the easiest of the eight. The other six are very likely in similar (bad) condition.

Don't buy the poly mounts unless a name brand company (Energy Suspension) makes them, my poly mounts did not last very long - just like all the other poly junk I installed....

I'm very likely going to order these to replace the no name China junk...

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ENS-3-4126G/[/QUOTE]"




Ok so heres my problems with the easily viewable rear body mounts....and i bet the other body mounts look similar....the only good news is that the fiberglass around the body mount does not seem broken or cracked in any way

passenger side





drivers side...do you think i have a problem?

wow, that's ugly....

Once you got the old body mount/bolt and cage out of the way it might not be all that bad of a job.... it looks like you will need a new steel cage but I don't think they sell these... time for some sheetmetal fabrication :smash:

Glad to hear there are no cracks, when I saw the pics I expected worse ...

i am still doing all the internet research before i dig into this so all my parts are on hand, autozone sells the energy suspension body mounts for $52. that plus no shipping charges and the 20% discount i get is not such a bad price.

i have a question though do the bolts for body mounts #2,3,and 4 all go into the same style caged nuts? and is there any way to soak the bolts/nuts in the #2 and 3 cages

1) The captured nuts are available from most Corvette vendors. I attached the #4 captured nuts with small stainless screws and nylock nuts. I did the same for the reinforcements, but added some liquid nails to hold everything together.
Nuts:
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corvette-body-mounting-nut-1963-1982.html
Reinforcements:
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corvette-body-mount-reinforcement-4-left-1968-1982.html
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corvette-body-mount-reinforcement-4-right-1968-1982.html
(I think Eckler's is the supplier for the reinforcements that everyone sells. If memory serves, I bought mine elsewhere but they had Eckler's stickers upon arrival.)
2) The captured nuts (and matching bolts) are the same for mounts 2, 3 and 4.
3) You can soak all of the nuts with penetrating oil, but you'll need to get the car as high in the air as you can. When I was doing all that work I had the frame a good two feet off of the ground on heavy-duty jackstands. From the inside of the frame rails you can see the nuts.
4) If do do tear up the #2 or #3 capture nuts, you can get a spanner on them from the inside of the frame rails.
5) A big board on a floor jack under the floor pans is a good way to tip the body slightly for changing those mounts once the bolts are out.

Bob, where's your left hand #4 reinforcement? :twitch:

Don't worry too much about those reinforcements being gone, the 'glas is probably OK. My #4s were hanging in midair (rubber mounts gone) and the left-hand reinforcement had a huge hole in it. The #2 and #3 bolts backed out with nothing more than PB Blaster and some care. If your car ever had mice in it, they love the #4 mount wells for nests.

bobs77vet said:

i have a question though do the bolts for body mounts #2,3,and 4 all go into the same style caged nuts? and is there any way to soak the bolts/nuts in the #2 and 3 cages

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The front two mounts have regular nuts (the two at the firewall), the rears have regular nuts as well (the ones behind the rear wheel). The four mounts in the center have caged nuts, I welded one of them and re-tapped the threads. That was not fun.....

You can drill into the old body mount and "inject" PB blaster or other penetrating oil. You want the oil to run down the shank of the bolt to the threads.... so you need it between the body mount and the bolt ...