Engine mounts

Ok, here's another one. I noticed that one of the engine mounts I replaced only a few years ago already has deformed. I got another set- these must be really good ones because they were $17 each versus the $2-$5 ones available from Rock Auto. However looking at them, it's clear they are identical and probably from the same manufacturer in China.

Looking at pictures, even the ACDelco ones which are also made in China appear to be identical, and at $85+ each.

There's also a Chevrolet Performance mount, of unknown manufacture location, for $132. It does at least look different. It has orange paint lines on it. (for +5 HP?)

With the motor still out I can change these easily and I wouldn't mind spending $132 a mount if I knew they were actually more likely to last than the standard ones that all seem to be identical. Now I also do realize that even if the same company is making all these things that the customer could specify better materials on the one they sell, so the ACDelco one for example may actually be better than the $2 ones and it may just be more than a sticker applied to it that makes up for the price difference.

Ok, so enough babble. Can anyone recommend a good quality motor mount?

I swapped urethane cores in the clamshells The urethane is extremely tight in the clamshells, and should last for the life of the frame and engine. It was fairly simple, but you need a vice to close the clamshell over the urethane. The urethane will probably transmit more of the engine vibrations, but won't deteriorate like the "stock" units. You can get the urethane in either red or black.

Fred, in your install did you notice any increase in engine vibration transmitted to the cabin? That'd be my only concern about going over to urethane.

I never had the engine mounted any other way. I used the urethane inserts to control the 454 in my OCC. The engine does not move in the mounts. I have a lopey cam in it, and it does transmit the shaking to the car. If you have a stock engine, it should not be substantial. I was not looking for comfort, so the vibrations do not bother me.

I saw an article recently on making your own urethane mounts. I do not remember where I saw it. I do not remember if the engine was in the car, or they did it on the bench. I think it was on the bench, but with the rubber able to move in the mount, alignment might be an issue. If you can get the rubber part in the correct position while the urethane sets up, you can do it on the bench.

Ok, I didn't realize that was for the 454 build and that makes sense.

In looking at my documentation the mount I replaced was distorted in the same way, so maybe the mount isn't to blame but it's just the particular geometry of the frame/motor.

I also found out that the GM Performance engine mount is the same as the Delco engine mount except for the box. Both made in China as well.

So far I haven't found an alternative, which seems odd as if I understand it correctly, any car post-1973 that has a smallblock Chevy should use these same clamshell mounts, so I'd expect many real choices and not just a bunch of repackaged variants of the exact same stuff. But maybe that's just the world we live in now.

Just about anything priced under $100 is made in China. Something like an engine mount should not be an issue, other than it is not produced in the US. I think the urethane inserts I used may even be made in China.

I did urethane mounts in mine and no....there was not any added vibration that I noticed. You can see the stock mount (left) vs the new poly mount I used. I did trim the zip ties off FYI. LOL!

Don't overthink it too much, you are not going with a solid engine mount. I have a solid set in my Caprice and you can definitely feel vibrations from that. Lol

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Thanks, that's good info. Pictures are helpful too

You can see the mount on the left has already sagged and the rubber split- though nowhere near as bad as that example!

Was the frame painted black? It looks powder coated in that image. My example is clearly paintless but does have a nice thick layer of greasy dirt on the rear side.

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I painted the frame black when I put the engine in back in '11. This pic was from last summer when I put the new engine in and you can see how changing the power steering reservoir and not getting all the fluid cleaned up did! LOL. I cleaned and repainted again when I changed the mount.

Looks nice. I'm just going to spray mine with cosmoline and call it good. It's already prett well lubricated