I have the Spohn motor mounts on my LS1 (from 99-02 F-body) install. The oil pan touches the stock K-member. I figured I could massage the K member a bit, but I now realize that the drag link joint (adjusted down as far as it will go) hits the AC compressor. Anybody else experience this? I assume I need to drop the K member again and rework the engine mounts so that the engine sits about 0.5” higher.

Thanks

 

Can you share a picture? Wondering if you have the mounts on backwards.

 

Would that be upside down or on the wrong side? The engine bolted up fine - I'm wondering if they were flipped if I wouldn't have had issues getting the bolts in when I attached the Spohn mounts to the engine?

I tried taking some pictures of the mounts, but they don't really show anything as space is so tight to take the pictures. Can you give me any clues as to what to look for to figure out if they are upside down/backwards, etc.? Or let me know exactly what to take a picture of.

I took a couple pics of the fitment issues. I don't have a finger thickness between the drag link and the AC pulley. How close is the drag link to the AC compressor on your cars?

Also, you can see the centerlink isn't even bolted down and hits the AC compressor.





Thanks

 

I went ahead and installed new steering links tonight and took a picture for comparison. I have quite a bit more clearance to the idler arm.

The car frame is slotted at the mounting bolts. You might be able to loosen the bolts and slide the idler arm down a bit. Mine are in the middle of slot as you see it.

 

Thanks for posting that pic. Wow, that is a huge difference! And, you have the idler arm in the middle of the slots? My idler arm is to the bottom of the slots as far down as it will go.

Do you have a finger or so clearance between the oil pan and K-member?

Are you running the Spohn motor mounts and stock K member?

 

No, I have a BMR K-member with the LS1 stands. Clearance to oil pan is not a concern for me.

 

I took the K-member down today and found some interesting things.

The mounts are stamped with a "R" and a "L" and I have them installed on the correct side. I marked over the stamped letters with a paint marker for the pictures. Looking at them, I don't think they could be installed incorrectly yet be on the correct side, but definitely check my pictures.



I am having problems with the passenger side of the engine being too low (hence the AC to idler link clearance issue). After pulling the K-member, I realized that the mounts are not symmetrical and the passenger mount makes the engine sit lower on that side. Looking at the LS block and the K-member, everything appears symmetrical. I can't figure out why these mounts wouldn't be symmetrical??? Looking over the radiator support at the engine, it is now very clear that the engine is sitting lower on the passenger side. Anyone know if there is any good reason for this? I would assume the engine should sit level.





I took a measurement between the top of my throttle body and a piece of fishing line that is taut across the fenders. It is about 2 1/8". QwkTrip would you be willing to take a similar measurement for me on yours? To get similar clearance to yours I had to jack my engine up about 0.75" compared to where it was sitting in the mounts.



Last, I wanted to gauge how my transmission is sitting in the back to make sure that is not effecting the front. The top of my transmission (shifter base) is level with the top of the tunnel. Does this seem reasonable?



Thanks

 

I found that I not only had to notch for the ac compressor, but also the for the oil pain.

I also had to shim the motor mount on the PS by 3/8" or so just so the motor would sit level and the header wouldnt touch the frame rail.

Your trans looks correct though.....

 

I had to notch my k-member for the oil pan. It was touching just slightly on the passenger side. You can see in the picture of the piece I cut out that the k-member is not made symmetrical. For the idler arm I had to adjust it to the bottom of the slots too.

I haven't seen many do this mod, but I also notched my frame rails to make more room for the collector's on the long tube headers.

 

Good information. Thanks for the responses.

So, does anyone have any idea why these mounts would set the engine lower on the right?

I'm pretty sure these mounts are made by Spohn. Multiple vendors like Hawks sell them, but every conversion mount I see on Ebay, etc. looks like the ones I have and are not symmetrical. I assume they are all coming from the same manufacturer.

I am leaning toward cutting and rewelding the passenger mount (maybe the driver's side too if needed) to true everythign up (get the engine level and higher). But, I want to make sure there isn't a good reason it is set in crooked.

Thanks for the responses. Keep the information and ideas coming.

 

Hi, I have the same issue on my Trans AM, what did you end up doing?
Did you reeled, ore shim the motor mount?

 

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