dougbgt6 Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 I was discussing engine mountings with Andy Cook at the EB meeting the other night. When I fitted the side panels to my GT6 the air filter box fouled the top of the side panel so I cut the panel down leaving a gap of about an inch under the box. I edged the with rubber and it looks OK. However I notice the rubber is showing signs of being whacked by the air filter box which means the engine is flexing an inch. We didn't think that was acceptable and new mounts were required. Then we got to thinking about the quality of engine mounts currently available and wondered if polybush replacements are available or, if they exist, would be the right thing to go for? I had a trawl on here and it appears Chris Witor does Superflex engine mounts for 2000/2500s. His web site appears to be under construction and as yet shows NO Spitfire/GT6 spares. I've emailed him to see if he does them, but no reply yet. The 2000/2500 ones are £27.50 + vat each, so £66 a pair while a rubber set from the club shop would be £18. Is it worth it? Does anybody have supplier recommendations? Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 the 2000/2500 ones are a block design not the Vee used on the small chassis cars so not interchangeable its a good idea to find poly Vee mounts keep searching pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted October 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 20 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said: the 2000/2500 ones are a block design not the Vee used on the small chassis cars so not interchangeable Yeh, I sussed that, that's why I've asked him if he does them, I assume they'll be about the same price. But do I NEED them? If I can find quality rubber ones they should see me out. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 I've had to replace both engine mounts and the gearbox mount on my Spitfire since getting it back on the road - actually, that's not strictly true, one of the engine mounts fell apart before I even put the carbs back on - having fitted new ones when I built up the rolling chassis. Admittedly they had been on the car for some years, but the engine had never run when the first one failed, and it had only covered perhaps 1000 miles when the others went. So I'd also be very interested in a source of good quality ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain T Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 When my engine was rebuilt I changed the mounts as although on 5 years had l done less than 5k miles and were splitting. The new ones were from Rimmers or Paddocks but this seems to be a recurring problem. Please keep us informed. Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 on most metalastic type mounts some flaking around the edges or a bit of surface ozone cracking is pretty common doesnt mean the main bonding is failing the trouble with cheap repro is the rubber and bond process is not controlled would be good to following up Chris Witor for some small chassis poly would at least end up with the right hardness not just something that looks like a mount as is the case with copies that dont follow a specification. i wonder if Robush can help ?? they do good rotor flex couplings http://mountfinder.trelleborg.com/AVSMount/Display3DRenderStill/44318307-980f-47a4-9088-3e7195988de1 Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted October 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 No reply from Chris Witor yet, but found these, completion! Is harder better? TRIUMPH TR5, TR6, TR8, GT6, STAG COMPETITION ENGINE MOUNTS (X2) UKC8330 132669 | eBay Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 23 minutes ago, Mathew said: Don't think engine mounts should be hard as the vibration would be annoying I bought some new mounts about 25 years ago, fitted them and wondered what was wrong, tgx car felt horrendous with vibrations going through the whole car. Refitted the old ones, all was OK. Back then j managed to find some proper NOS ones, that lasted the life of the car. I think witor could make poly versions, but would be reluctant as most small chassis owners are more interested in price than quality. I know there are some who would pay but sadly the numbers don't often add up for a supplier. Unless somebody can get enough orders/deposits in to make it look viable. Anyway, my solution has been to use jag e type engine mounts. Oem and still available at about 3x the cost if cheap alternatives. But they last well. Wouldn't be an easy solution on most small chassis cars though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 Poor quality rubber in mounts has been a bane. Rear gearbox mounts in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 14, 2021 Report Share Posted October 14, 2021 rubber hardness is a dark art there are all levels of lets say hardness just being harder doesnt mean its just Hard manvers are a respected supplier have a read https://www.smooth-on.com/page/durometer-shore-hardness-scale/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted October 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 Chris Witor has replied: ”Sorry not yet. Metalwork is more complex for these” Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 46 minutes ago, dougbgt6 said: Metalwork is more complex for these” I could supply him the metalwork from some of the failed rubber ones that fell apart completely.... 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 maybe run as a exchange type scheme would work as new mounts for old Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Clark Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 3 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said: maybe run as a exchange type scheme would work as new mounts for old Pete That could be something for the Club Shop to organise. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 I'm not too au fait with GT6 mounts (yet). However, rubber mounts are sometimes designed to be a 'design failure' part. Having a solid mount might lead to something more expensive further down the line. Hmmm. Naturally I'm interested in how this pans out. From what I've seen & read, it would appear that the current mounts are consumable items. As such, replaced on a 6,000-12,000 interval. Cheers, Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 My spitfire is still using the mounts put on in the factory in 1966, or at least they have been on to my knowledge since 1990, so they certainly weren't originally consumables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted October 15, 2021 Report Share Posted October 15, 2021 43 minutes ago, Ian Smith said: As such, replaced on a 6,000-12,000 I wouldn't have minded a 12000 mile interval but the ones on my Spitfire needed replacing at <2000 miles, or in one case at 0 miles. As DanMi said, the ones on my GT6 are at least 30 years old and the ones on the Vitesse showed no sign of needing replacement at a similar age. They were not originally consumable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 Yes, I can understand all of that. Sad to say that you wouldn't expect things like engine mounts to fail. However, we live in different times, and whilst some things improve, some don't. My worry would be that a rigid mounting would set up problems further down the drive train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Smith Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 3 minutes ago, Mathew said: The correct poly mount with the right shore rating should be like the original but last years, but its not in manufacturers interests to make something that lasts a long time. Quite. One problem is manufacturers quantity If a unit producer makes X-thousand units, that's fine, But when you're down to a couple of hundred a decade, it can get problematic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 Another problem is incentive. If you're making a part for a current production car, for which the car maker needs half a million a year as long as the car is popular, it's in all parties' best interests to provide good quality, as the market will decide whether to keep buying that car based on it. If, however, you have a captive market of perhaps ten thousand cars and falling, it's in your financial interest to produce utter crap that needs to be replaced regularly. If your product lasts for ever, you've only got one batch you can sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 One of our Spitfire mounts is made almost entirely of Tigerseal after an elderly original fell apart. Definitely a bodge and only intended as an emergency temporary measure…. Though four years later we may be stretching the definition of temporary! The new one bought to replace it got used to replace the not very old repro one on the other side when it failed because…. We’d run out of Tigerseal…… (other PU sealants exist but I’ve not tested them in this application). Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 i can see a diy exchange scheme in the making ....but who ??? just needs a simple jig to support the two halves while the luverly jumbly sets or a good description on here of How To ???? Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daverclasper Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: just needs a simple jig to support the two halves while the luverly jumbly sets or a good description on here of How To ???? Maybe a good example of what could be included in a new " Tips and Tricks" heading/section, which there has maybe been resistance to implementing in the past I feel?, for some reason?. Surely it could be as useful, as for example the "spotted" section, though I can't say how used it would be?. What do you DIY folk, without a thick check book, who use the cars a fair bit and need some reliability think?. Dave Edited October 16, 2021 by daverclasper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpitFire6 Posted October 16, 2021 Report Share Posted October 16, 2021 I bought an uprated GT6 set from the USA. Appear to last along time as still good after 6 years. Local ones seem to be kak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted October 17, 2021 Report Share Posted October 17, 2021 20 minutes ago, Mathew said: I have bitten the bullet! Ordered some poly resin. Two part kit. 60 shore. Now should i do engine mounts or overdrive mount? Only ordered a little amount so not sure if it will do both! ReD up /YouTube the process. I remember rarebit Bill mentioning the difficulties of making py stuff reliably. Vacuum was needed from memory... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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