Torque mount replacement idea

[gldgti]

Well its about time for another of my crazy DIY ideas.

Lately I have been plagued by the exhaust hitting the swaybar in the cabriolet. This happens under hard acceleration as the mounts allow the engine to react to the torque far enough that the exhaust is twisted down into the swaybar.

I have already 'modified' the 2.5" exhaust pipe where it passes the swaybar, and there is a good 25mm of clearance when the engine is just idling, but the torque of the 1.9TD is such that it just deflects the standard torque mounts (the one on the gearbox and the one at the radiator support) so much.

Now, yes I do realise that you can get stiffer mounts to 'solve' this problem, but the problem with these is that they turn the car into a noisy, harsh bastard. Especially because its a diesel.

What I am thinking is a whole new torque mount that will replace the front and rear mounts, quite similar in design to that which is used in the mk4 and onwards vehicles.

If the geometry is right, it should allow the engine to move around a bit (like at idle) but take up very stiffly when real torque is applied.

I am thinking it will use the same chassis mounting as the original 'block' mount, but might attach lower down on the gearbox than the factory one on the diff housing.

Anyway, before I go off and design and build one, has anyone seen this done before on a mk1? Do I need to bother making it when it can be bought?

Thoughts or advice appreciated!

[Antonvs]

What I have seen done, and that works well is welding a mk1 gearbox engine mount (just the round circular piece) to the front engine mount, and making a bracket to suit that bolts beneath the radiator. You'll have to ask volksee for specifics!

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

[gldgti]

Yes, that seems one logical solution - only problem with that (for me) is that I want to remove some of the stress on the radiator support, so I want to do it in the other side of the bay.

I hadn't considered actually using a gearbox mount though, thats a good idea. I have a couple of spares I could cut up.

Thanks!

I was thinking last night to do it right I will want to make it adjustable in length so that I can get it just right - some 16 or 20mm threaded rod should do the trick.

[Volksee77]

hey there, I had a similar problem until I made this mod as mentioned by Anton. This puts almost nothing onto the front panel and has made not 1 bit of difference to the vibration from the motor but it has stopped the movement in a way in which the force is also damped by the rubber bush from a transmission mount (engine is harder as it supports more weight)

[gldgti]

That looks lovely Volksee, thanks for the pics!

Do you still have the rear mount in place aswell?

[Volksee77]

yeah mate, the rear mount is still there but is poly urethane on my car as it gets launched pretty hard with nice sticky race tyres. This front mount just takes to the rock out of the motor.

[Shadow_Rusty]

Looks great, very nice mod...
Neat, tidy, and factory looking to boot...

Added to my wish list... lol.

[gldgti]

So here's my one!

Couple of after work stints has produced this this week:






After driving it, it has definitely solved my problem! I have also left the front one that goes to the radiator support off entirely!

Take up is much quicker but its actually smoother at idle and cruise than it was before.

[Jarred]

awesome!

way cool. good to see some brains being applied, rather than simply looking an upgraded part/bush

Overall appearance reminds puts me in mind instantly of a mk 4+ style dogbone mount, so I'm not surprised it works. Infact, I wonder if a later model dogbone could also work? interesting.

[dubstar]

Have a look at the below link for a similar solution. If you produce these locally, I'd be interested.

JMR MK1 Rear engine/gearbox mount offer

[gldgti]

awesome!

way cool. good to see some brains being applied, rather than simply looking an upgraded part/bush

Overall appearance reminds puts me in mind instantly of a mk 4+ style dogbone mount, so I'm not surprised it works. Infact, I wonder if a later model dogbone could also work? interesting.

Thanks mate!

Indeed, and I almost thought of just getting one from a mk4 or 5 and adapting it to work, but it just turned out that the stuff i already had laying about worked ok too

This mod gets the official tick of approval from Mrs gldgti too - so its a guaranteed winner now in my book

[gldgti]

Have a look at the below link for a similar solution. If you produce these locally, I'd be interested.

JMR MK1 Rear engine/gearbox mount offer

That is pretty much what I had planned for the 'mk2' version if this one i've just made ever packs up - but, i think that version would be a fair bit less compliant than mine is, from the look of the bushing.

[abreut]

Nice, I like the design, I might try something like this when the poly rear mount finally gives up the ghost. Its starting to look a little out of shape already. That JMR design looks nice and compact, you could almost lop the front bushing area off an old mk1 control arm or find an equivalent diameter piece of pipe and use a standard front control arm bush in there. It would be a bit firmer than your design but still less harsh than a poly block.

[gldgti]

I can vouch now for the adjustability built in with my design. Last night I wanted to tweak it a bit and all I had to do was reach under the car with a pair of shifters. Only took 2 minutes.

[gldgti]

Further developments - All its working well but I had to put the original front mount (starter motor one) back in the car, as the torque was lifting the engine at the front high enough to cause some rubbing somewhere (made a noise).

So the front mount is back in, and all working well. I believe the 'ferrari' would be to make a front mount like volksee's one in addition to what I've done. Perhaps one day!