o.k. I was having headers rattling and was told to put new motor mounts in. sure enough, even though my engine was new my motor mounts were still the same old ones. when we lower the engine the passenger side lines up great but the driver side won't slide down far enough to line up with the holes, it's off by about half an inch. the bracket catches on the metal tabs sticking out of the poly mount. we don't have a list so we jacked the engine up. the driver side doesn't want to move as much as the passenger side. any clues? The mount is facing the correct direction and it's on the correct side. it was hard to get the original rubber mount out of that side.

 

the poly mounts need to be installed a certain way, is it possible the problematic one is in backwards?

 

I checked it several times as well as my husband. the bolt is now in part of the bracket in the front but in the back the hole is still off by about 1/4 inch. It's like the bracket on the engine needs to slide toward the passenger side 1/4 inch for some reason. the passenger side in in and lines up great. I've worked all yesterday and today on this. I think I'm going to take my dremel tool and just cut the hole larger at this point. I'm just out of ideas

 

This is really making me mad. two entire days wasted and now I broke a spark plug. still no luck with the bracket. It will not line up no matter what I do. It just stays 1/4 inch off.

 

I had the same problem when i dropped my engine. so here is a long explanation and observation.

When i dropped in the engine the passanger side went it easy and the driverside was off drastically. i spend a whole day on it and nothing. after observing the mounts, the passenger side rubber peice inside the clam shell, in your case poly, was lower then the driver side (due to the engine weight). since the K member is V shaped that threw off the alignment. so i used the hoist and lifted the passenger side up and eventually the driver side lined up. it takes alot of playing with to get it in.

i hope this illustration helps

 

thanks for the pictures. they are great. Just wish I had a hoist but no one I know anywhere close has a hoist to use. It makes a lot of since. i finally just took off the bracket to the engine and cut the hole slightly larger. now it's in. well hopefully it's o.k. looks fine but can't start it till tomorrow night since I broke a spark plug. I work from 7:30 am till 8:30 pm. two jobs. My husband said he will pick up the plug for me. Thanks for the info. that is very good to know in case mine doesn't work out and I have to buy a new bracket.

 

Glad you found it helpful. Get that plug in and

 

I had a similar problem doing solid mounts on my 88 IROC with the transmission still installed. However I work at a Monro so we were able to put the car on the lift. It actually took me and 2 others guys, a 4 foot pry bar and beveling the bolt but we got it all together. What we did was remove the transmission x-member, support the tranny with a jack. Put an adjustable dead man with a rubber buffer from the alignment rack between it and the balancer so we could move the engine up and down. After that we took the long a$$ prybar and pryed against the mount with 2 of us till the holes came close enough to drive the beveled tipped bolt through with an air hammer. I know this probably isn't possible for most people since it requires access to a lot of tools and what not but I figured I would post up another option. Since you really don't want to oblong the one whole since it will allow your alignment angles for your drivetrain to shift and that is definetly not a good thing.

 

im going to have to agree with the other guys, its most likely an issue with the engine not setting in level. I would highly recommend not cutting anything, i guarantee you it will come back to haunt you later.

 

it's in. we drove the car and it's great. as a matter of fact I think it feels better than it did before. Thanks for the help.

 

99transamgirl, I know this is an old thread, but I am presently having the exact same problem. I did all I could to get the driver side in. I have es poly. I looking to widening the holes on the bracket that is attached to the block. What did you use and are you having any problems with the engine performance. thanks