Installing Engine Mounts

[gareth]

XSCHOP sent me his last set of billet mounts. It's raining Datsun cogs here today so I thought I would see if I can get them installed. The exhaust is already off and I will removing other stuff to put in new rear shocks at the same time.
I did a search on both "solid mounts" and "engine mounts" but couldn't find anything very specific about swapping the mounts with the minimum amount of fuss.
If I remove the front engine bolts and support the engine with a jack, will the engine pivot enough on the rear engine bolt to allow me to change the front mounts? Or will I just lever the UJ/ final drive into pieces?

If the front mounts can be changed this way, can the rear mounts be changed by pivoting the motor on one of the front bolts..? Which one??


If there is no easy way to do this, can anyone suggest a next-best/ tried-and-true procedure..?

Thanks,

Gareth.

[petejw]

From memory i think you should be sweet in doing
it that way, loosen the nut and bolt at the rear and
remove the front bolts, you should be able to jack it
just high enough to get to the engine mounts, there should
also be just enough room at the back for the rear mounts
without having to mess with the u joint.

[trbig]

I doubt you'll be able to lift the rear of the engine up high enough to get the mounts out without removing the 4 bolts to the U-joint. That's not a big deal. BUT... you'll also have to remove the back ground strap attached to the middle drive to be able to jack it up.


Tod

[gareth]

Front mounts went in easily. Tod, you were right about the rear..
I loosened the four bolts that attach the flange to what I guess is the end of the drive shaft but the flange doesn't want to move..I suppose its possible that a sharp tap would free it but I don't want to take that chance if there is a keyway or locating collar in there somewhere. Do I need to pull the drive shaft too? Are those two plates just a flat-on face joint and will they just slide past one another?

Gareth..

[trbig]

There is a little bit of a lip on the U-joint side that kind of fits into the flange of the middle drive. The Ujoint flange is splined to fit the driveline, no keys or anything. Simply putting a screwdriver in between them and prying the Ujoint flange back a 1/4 inch or so will let it slip past. The driveline will slide up into that flange a bit. It has to be able to so it can move back and forth as the suspension rises up and down. You will need to just pull those 4 bolts out though, not just loosen. Some say you need to replace those bolts, but I have re-used them many, many, many times.


Tod

[bikerphil]

Just pry the 2 U joint halves apart, and it will come loose. There is a slight machined recess in between to center the halves.

[trbig]

Holy carp.. I typed faster than someone for once!

Sorry Phil... lol.


Tod

[gareth]

That worked...


http://picasaweb.google.com/agfitz/E...eat=directlink

It wasn't completely straightforward though. Even with the valve cover off, there wasn't quite enough clearance to get the back,right mount in easily. Pivoting on the bottom front mount, the head grounded against the downtubes. The left, shifter-side mount came out easily because it could be rotated to allow the flat to miss the frame. The right back mount has the flat so that it can lie against the engine cover. Because it was the original flexible mount, I could just lever it out of there. I cut another flat on the billet mount just to clear the frame at that point. If I was going to do the job again, I would invest in a motorcycle lift that would allow me to support the entire weight of the motor. This would mean that the motor would be free at the front and could be wiggled around a bit to get the rear mounts out a bit easier.
Maybe things are different from year to year, Standard to Special.
YMMV

Thanks for the realtime assistance. Worked out nicely..

Regards,

Gareth