62 t bird motor mount help!

[Guest]

Hi guys, I am 15 years old and recently acquired a 62 thunderbird needing interior work only and some small engine work(changing gaskets), as this car is my first car, and is a classic I decided to do a burnout only once! I ended up shearing a motor mount bracket and destroyed my rear shocks, and front ones! After replacing all the shocks, brakes, master cylinder and wheel cylinders relatively easily, also valve cover gasket and head gasket, oil pan gasket, I also replaced the hardest freeze plug ever, after all of this and wondering why my exhaust manifolds were touched the wheel wells, and that the alternator bracket is rubbing against the frame and causing massive sparks, I decided to replace ALL the motor mounts, found out where I sheared the motor mount, and am looking at ordering a new one, since my parents don't really want to help or have anything to do with it, money is kind of tight, so, I personally have a welder Etc and was wondering if I could cut the motor mount bracket in 2, replace the bolt with a grade 8 or 10 bolt, and weld it back together, I have a mig welder and I think a tig welder. If someone could tell me how to post pictures that would be great!

[YellowRose]

62 t bird motor mount help!

Zak, first let me confirm what you just said! You are 15 years old?! And YOU have done all that work yourself? I am interested in learning where you got your mechanical ability at 15 years of age! On the other hand, our fantastic webmaster, Dave Dare ~ simplyconnected (someone you need to get to know and also John ~ jopizz) tells me that at 15 he was pulling engines on cars and doing his own work like you! Dave is retired from the Ford Plants of Detroit, and he and jopizz are master mechanics and then some!

As for posting pix on this Forum, if you have not looked at the Welcome that John Pizzi ~ jopizz posted to you in the New Members Welcoming Forum, you should. There is the information on how to post pix on this Forum. The cheapest and easiest way is to put them on a free photo hosting website like Photobucket. But if you do, set your pix to no bigger than 800x600pixels. That is the maximum size allowed for posting on our Forum. You can also send those pix to me, or to jopizz to post for you.

[jopizz]

I'm certainly not going to try and talk you out of repairing the mounting bracket if you don't want to put out the $38 or so for a new one. Part of the fun in restoring old cars is improvising to cut costs. However, considering the amount of weight that is on that bracket I wouldn't be comfortable with one that's been cut and repaired even by an experienced welder. There are certain things that you can save money on but I wouldn't consider that one of them.

John

[simplyconnected]

Welcome to Squarebirds.org, Zak. You bring me back to the days when I was fifteen and wrenching on cars.

Your '62 probably has a 390 that delivers a lot of torque. Unless the body is badly rusted and you didn't run into something, there should be no problem doing burnouts.

It's a wonderful thing to replace all the brake components and shocks but they have little to do with a burnout. Your motor mounts have two pieces that simply bolt together. The rubber part bolts to the engine and a sheet metal part below it bolts to the #2 crossmember (shown below). Which part broke? Do you have an engine hoist?
Send a picture of your broken mount to me (simplyconnected@aol.com). - Dave

[Dan Leavens]

wow Zak is 15 years old, already into a 62 TBird classic and ready to pull some wrenches with help from our members.

Zak great to have you onboard and our members are certainly here to assist in your repairs.
This is why I always say this is the best TBird site on the planet.

[Joe Johnston]

I too would like to congratulate you on your accomplishments. As to the motor mount issue, high performance parts are available that are solid, or have bolts through them or the steel is stamped in such a way to keep the motor from lifting if the rubber is sheared. All of these will cost more than stock mounts but are stronger, but may need modification to fit a Thunderbird as you will probably find them for Mustangs or big Fords. Once you get the mounts replaced, many use a short length of heavy chain bolted to the front of the block driver's side and then bolted to a framing or unibody structure area that is strong. When you break another mount doing burnouts, the chain will keep the engine from lifting and prevent additional damage. (Yes, I have been there and done that - broke 2 mounts in one weekend in my Fairlane before adding the chain.)

[Guest]

Yes I am 15

I got all of my engine rebuilding from my neighbor before I moved, for my 12th birthday he gave me a Chevy 327 ( I know not a ford) and he showed me how to rebuild it, we put performance oil pan, crank, pistons, connecting rod, stock heads but he showed me how to port them myself! He was a very good help, I changed all the gaskets etc, when i was 14 years old I picked myself up a golf cart, what was non running and I rebuild the engine; did all the wiring and also some body work that has been destroyed running into trees, I don't have an engine lift, yet I could easily get one, I need one for my 327 to put it back on the engine stand as it leans forward quite a bit... The shocks all had holes in them and the car was sooo close to the ground I couldn't go up a little curb to get into my driveway. The body is not badly rusted, actually the only rust is on the stupid suspension bolts and under one body panel, I have removed it and it doesn't go all the way through so once I get enough money to paint the car i will! I have new rubber motor mounts with the right angle in them, and it was the metal triangle looking thing, with the bolt that connects it to the it was the part that connects it to the crossmember, looks kid of like a triangle with a bolt going through it, let's just say that it snapped off! It has a bored 30 over engine with new Pistons in it (10k miles)


EDIT: the shocks just basically gave out, they were basically shot anyway but the car bucked backwards soo much on a heavy acceleration, that it just kind of made a boom noise because it bottomed out and the bump stop wasn't existent then I have replaced those so I should be good!

[jopizz]

It sounds like you have things pretty well figured out. It's always great when someone older takes an interest and shows you the right way. Just remember that you are dealing with a 4000 lb car. Safety first. Always double up on your jack stands when possible.

As for your mounting bracket you can try and drill out the broken stud and replace it as you mentioned with a grade 8 bolt. You should be able to weld it in place from the bottom without cutting up the bracket. If you try it make sure you use the correct threaded bolt. I believe it's a fine thread.

John

[Guest]

I always use 2 jacks! And 4 jack stands how would I go about drilling the hole out? Never done that before?

[jopizz]

Center punch where the bolt is snapped and use good quality drill bits starting small and working your way up to drill a hole large enough to fit the new bolt in place. Make the hole slightly larger than the original and then grind the head of the new bolt so it fits tightly in the hole and then weld it in place. It's a lot of work to do to save $38 but in the end you'll probably learn a lot more.

John

[Guest]

So I will end up putting the new bolt in basically the same place as the old bolt with the old bolt surrounding it? I'm confused😂 I gave you my number, if you could call that would be great as texting from under a car, while it is snowing outside and you can't feel your fingers is pretty hard😂 Dad won't let me use his garage ( everyone in the family has a garage, my dad and mum share a 6 car in another neighbors back yard, my dad has 67 Camaro, 71 gto, 32 ford, 36 dodge and all the lifts available! Yet he doesn't like the fact I got a ford so I am not using them his first ford broke down, so now he doesn't like them! He's very strict and holds a grudge for a while!!!

[jopizz]

Can you send me an email with a picture of the bracket so I can see exactly what you are dealing with. I don't want to steer you in the wrong direction. Include your phone number.

John
jopizz@verizon.net

[simplyconnected]

I spoke with Zak over the phone and I offered to fix his part if he sends it to me.

Zak is from England. We spoke while he pulled his water pump. The kid reminds me of my self at that age. (I once changed a Mustang water pump for a guy in a K-mart parking lot while it was snowing.) - Dave

[Guest]

Could someone give me a pretty detailed instruction on how to tear apart the engine and pull it? Like what to take of first, carb intake manifold wires etc, gonna pull heads again and then gonna pull engine, just don't know what order to do it in😥 Thanks in advance!

[jopizz]

Since Dave said that you already removed the water pump I'll skip that step. You will need to remove the heater hose from the intake manifold. Remove the upper radiator hose from the overflow tank. Remove the fuel line, return spring, heat tube and vacuum advance line from the carb and remove it. Put rags or tape over the holes in the intake so nothing accidentally falls in. Disconnect the accelerator rod and the kickdown rod where they connect to the intake linkage. Remove the vacuum hose that goes from the intake to the brake booster. Unplug the wires from the spark plugs and coil and remove the distributor cap. Leave the wires on the cap. Disconnect the wires from the coil, oil sender and temp sender and move the harness out of the way. Unbolt the coil bracket and remove it. Mark where the rotor tip is on the distributor body so you can install it in the same place if necessary. Unbolt and remove the distributor and hope that the oil pump rod doesn't come out with it. Remove the valve covers if you haven't already done so. You should now be able to unbolt and remove the intake. If you don't have an engine hoist this will require help as it weighs a ton. You can also leave the intake on and pull the engine that way. It's up to you. I like to remove as much as possible including the heads when I pull an FE engine because of how heavy it is. You will need to remove other items like the transmission cooler lines, alternator and power steering pump before you pull the engine. It would be a big help if you had a shop manual. If you don't have one send me an email. Hope this helps. If there's something I forgot I'm sure someone will chime in and let you know. It helps to take lots of pictures while you are doing the disassembly.

John