Ok for the last 3 hours or so I have been trying to get my old mounts off. I have 2 bolts off one adn 1 bolt off the other. Is there any easier way to change these than removign the lower control arm? It looks like if I could get the springs out i could get my hand in there with a wrench. I rented a spring compressor from Autozone but its too long to fit between the lower control arm and the upper spring perch. What spring compressor can I use? I tried droppping the control arm down until the spring had no tension but I got the LCA almost vertical and the spring still had alot of pressure on it. How the f*ck can I get the springs out and/or change the motor mounts?

 

I changed mine when the engine was out so it was alittle easier. you dont have to drop the lower A arm and remove the spring. i am not sure if you can do it with th engine in but for me, i just took off the lower bolts and then grinded the factory rivot on the top and then bent the case up and slid the old mount out. like i said not sure if it can be done with the engine in. the top bolt is a PITA to get at. are you putting ES mounts in. have a blast though it no walk in the park

 

That is a good idea, I am putting in the ES mounts and haven't done so since I dreaded removing the Lower A Arm.
My motor is not in the car, so I should be able to do the same as you did.

 

My motor is not in the car either, its hanging from my engine hoist with the fres rebuilt trans bolted to it. The motor mounts are the only thing holdin me up from putting the engine back in. After about 3 hours my friend and I manged to get 2 bolts off one mount and 1 off the other, but after that I dropped my 15MM wrench down inside the K-Member... oops. I am still not sure how to get the spring out thougj, could anyone please tell me how they have done it?

BTW, I just noticed today that our K-Members are bolted in, not welded. This motor mount PITA problem is serisouly making me want to get a tubular K-Member because the motor mount bolts/nuts are exposed and much easier to get to.

 

You can make it easier by breaking the lower ball joint free and putting a floor jack under the control arm.Support the car on jack stands under the frame rails and lower the arm down slowly. When the coil spring is about expanded out this opens the spring up far enough to get the bolts with a long extention and flex head socket. It is not great but works better than most ways. By far the easiest way is to take the spring out. Yes you have to cut off the spring compressior to use it. I cut mine off about 2". This jobs is a son of a bart.

 

I have changed springs in my last z28 and didnt use a spring compressor to remove the front springs. i unbolted the A arm from the crossmember and put a jack under it and lowered it downuntil the spring came out. it looks shaddy but the springs never went anywhere.

 

On the Autozone spring compressor; I had the same problem.
You'll have to slide a piece of thick walled pipe (or square tubing in my case) over the big bolt so it's between the bolt head and the lower spring grabbers.
I believe the pipe was abt 5" long. Need washers too for each end of the pipe. On my rental, 3 washers were already on it, so I used those.
It worked good after that.

Install the spring compressor with the a-arm hanging down, slowly start jacking up the a-arm and tighting the compressor as you go. Once the car starts to raise off the jack stands, snug the compressor one last time, then lower the a-arm.
This way is a lot easier than trying to actually compress the spring with the compressor.

 

Here's what I'm talking abt.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=106371

 

I didn't need to use a spring compressor to remove my springs, I just took the wheel off, put the car on a jackstand, put a jack under the a-arm, disconnected the strut from the brake, lowered the a-arm all the way down and popped the spring out.
I just put a small pole on the inside of the spring so that when it popped out it wouldn't go anywhere. then I installed my lowering springs.

 

when i did my mounts i cut my old ones out, and for putting the new ones in i used one of those tools that grabs nuts and bolts that have been dropped, it wasnt a magnet it was the tool that grabs the bolt. i grabed one of the bolts and stuck it in that small 1/4 inch hole thats down there and i put the new bolts in backwards ( nut on top bolt head on bottom ) and that $hit worked. and i didnt have to remove the springs

 

Well, I went and rented another spring compressor from autozone, the one which is designed for cars WITHOUT struts. Yes I know, but wit worked. What I had to do to get out the spring was use a thick metal plate with a hole in the center and the compressor bolt going thru that, then the arms grabbing the top coils of the spring. The only problem is that it compresses the spring onto the lower, so you have to take out the lower. At this point I dont give a ****, I just want my new mounts in so I can get my engine in. So after about an hour with the new compressor I got the lower out and finally, one motor mount off. If anyone here needs new motor mounts, THEY ARE A NIGHTMARE TO CHANGE! I wish I could afford solid mounts so I never have to f*ck with this again. Tomorrow I have to put the driver side suspension back together and do the psgr side. Hopefully the engine will be in tomorrow.

 

how much for you to come and change mine for me?

 

Guys...you dont need to remove any springs or control arm to change your motor mounts. When I asked the same question earlier this year...I was told to use a little "wrench magic". You definately will need 2 people if you are doing this with the motor in. If the motor is out, 1 person can handle it.

You will need a long 15mm open end. There is an oval slot about a wrenches length behind the motor mount (towards the rear of the vehicle). If you are under the vehicle with your feet out the front, with a shop light you can shine up into the hole at the correct angle and see all three nuts.

Get the wrench on each one in turn and have someone impact wrench the top (if motor out), otherwise, you will have to do it the hard way and turn them out (lock nuts s*ck sometimes).

The hard part is getting the nuts back in there. I have found that using a small amount of electrical tape to tape the edges of the nut and washer to the end of the wrench works good. You have to tape them at a slight angle so that the nut sits flush to the crossmember when you put it up.