I am trying to find out how to take off the engine mounts on my 84 Trans Am. I see no possible way to get them off without removing the spring on the lower control arm. If anyone has anything that might help me out, please do.

 

Use a grinder to grind off the nuts. THe mount will then come off. I don't know why you are doing this, but a friend of mine and I did this to a 74 Cutlass when we put in a SBC 400. We just welded the mounts back where we needed them.



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Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28


350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust,Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake

 

No, no, NO! Keep that welder away from your car!

The best thing to do is exactly what you said - drop the lower control arm and get at those nuts the right way. It will take a lot less time to do it that way than any other choice, and they can be changed again some time in the future if the need arises.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4. 2.93 limited slip. Cat-back from '91 GTA, ZZ3 intake, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LG4 w/'87 LB9 block, ZZ3 cam, ported World 305 heads, Hooker headers & y-pipe, 3" Catco cat & 3" cat-back, Spohn SFCs).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7 CR forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet (Holley 3310 on the way), GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 600 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).

 

The rubber mounts on my crossmember are cracked and need to be replaced. I have a chevy 350 that is going in place of the factory 305. I don't want to put in a nice new engine and have the engine mounts break on me.

 

You'll need some sort of spring compressor to do this with the engine out. The vehicle weight without the engine is not enough to compress the springs with just a floor jack.

 

You can remove the mounts without removing the control arms. I know I did it, took an hour to do both sides and was a PITA. Soak all nuts with penetrating oil prior to removal Passenge side top : Put the open end wrench thru the access hole at the rear of the xmember, the angle of the wrench on the nut will be funky but they will come off, for the bottom use a wobble/flex socket.
Drivers side top: Same procedure as passenger side, bottom use standard socket on the nut wrench on the bolt. to reinstall use needle nose vise grips or snap on "stork pliers" (long handled needle nose) to hold the nut (it will take some cussing and griping to get them in so remove children from the area )to keep the washer on the nut use beeswax, or gasket glue. If u have any other questions post them. good luck

 

That's how I did mine, but to reinstall I put it back together upside down. I ran the bolt from the bottom to the top. Since the heads are flared you can hold it in the boxed end of the wrench instead of using pliars. I found that it was easier that way instead of trying to start a nut without being able to see it. That way you can torque it down real easy too. It really is a two person job, but I guess if you're really good you can do it by yourself. Good luck.

 

Take the springs out and take the control arms off. Use this as an opportunity to replace your control arm bushings and replace the motor mount bolts with new ones. It's the prudent thing to do considering it's such a pain to change them.