My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[gadget73]

lucky. Last set I had in my hand the original bolts wouldn't go through. They are tapered slightly on the end to help it start, once it got through the taper it just locked up. Tap to clean the thick paint and finish cutting the threads made them work a lot better. I cleaned up the bolts too, wire wheel and ran them through a die to make it go together with the least amount of pain possible.

also I'm reasonably sure they are metric hardware. M10 most likely.

[87gtVIC]

I hear both of you on the lack luster quality of the engine mounts. I have had the same/similar run ins with them. No fun. I was one who had to notch the mount so it could actually mount up with the block.

[Arquemann]

Got the other (driver) mount off, this time I was able to get the lower bolt off with a 1/4" wobble extension and a small 13mm. Mainly because this side wasn't nearly as tight. Went nicely, whole mount off in about 5 minutes, unlike the pass. side that took 25 minutes just for the one lower bolt.
Sprayed some cavity wax on the surfaces between the crossmember and mounts, still no intention to winter drive this, but while its all visible, why not protect it some.

And on the topic of shitty mounts, I got the new driver side mount in before rain hit, but oh boy did it require some "convincing". The bolt holes in the mount didn't really want to line up, took a bit of bashing to get all the bolts to slip in and then drew the mount into position by tightening the bolts.

Thought about just trying to install the mounts the right way, ie using the captive nuts and 3/8" bolts. Upper bolts I did so, but I drilled out the bottom nuts to slip an M10 bolt down and put a 30mm long extension nut on the bottom side. This way I don't need any socket gymnastics to reach in there and I can tighten it from the top, keeping the nut in place with a spanner. Extension nut so the spanner won't slip or twist off due to the awkward angle.

[Arquemann]

Engine is sitting by itself, mounts are in place and half the bellhousing bolts are in. Took about 4,5 hours all in.
Goddamn stupid fucking piece of shit chinese engine mounts, fuck. Would've spent probably less than half the time if the mounts were what they should've been.

The engine mounts were a bitch, mainly the left one. Adjustment was limited as the bolt holes were kinda wonky, as is the mount sat way too forward to set the engine on it. After I made some more adjustment room the engine still wouldn't sit properly on the mount. The top of the clamshell fouled on the engine ear and kept it from falling into place all the way.
I realize I should've left the mounts loose so the engine would've moved them where they should be, but I had to remove the left mount anyways to grind some clearance into it and the right side gave no issue.

Guess I'll have to check the right side too to see if there's proper clearance between the metal bits of engine and body side mounts.
My trans cooler lines are probably cracked from the strap breaking and letting the trans fall on the lines. They're a bit wet by the trans end. Probably could do with a new trans mount too.

Converter studs lined up without even trying and didn't bash my oil pan or anything else with new paint on anything. Small victories.

Just everything else left now, but rush is over because I shouldn't need another pair of hands necessarily and I can return the engine hoist to my friend.

[friskyfrankie]

Engine is sitting by itself, mounts are in place and half the bellhousing bolts are in. Took about 4,5 hours all in.
Goddamn stupid fucking piece of shit chinese engine mounts, fuck. Would've spent probably less than half the time if the mounts were what they should've been.

The engine mounts were a bitch, mainly the left one. Adjustment was limited as the bolt holes were kinda wonky, as is the mount sat way too forward to set the engine on it. After I made some more adjustment room the engine still wouldn't sit properly on the mount. The top of the clamshell fouled on the engine ear and kept it from falling into place all the way.
I realize I should've left the mounts loose so the engine would've moved them where they should be, but I had to remove the left mount anyways to grind some clearance into it and the right side gave no issue.

Guess I'll have to check the right side too to see if there's proper clearance between the metal bits of engine and body side mounts.
My trans cooler lines are probably cracked from the strap breaking and letting the trans fall on the lines. They're a bit wet by the trans end. Probably could do with a new trans mount too.

Converter studs lined up without even trying and didn't bash my oil pan or anything else with new paint on anything. Small victories.

Just everything else left now, but rush is over because I shouldn't need another pair of hands necessarily and I can return the engine hoist to my friend.

If it runs as good as it looks it will all be worth it!

[Arquemann]

If it runs as good as it looks it will all be worth it!

I'm wondering which will last longer, my rattlecan paint job or my first time rebuild engine...

[friskyfrankie]

I'm wondering which will last longer, my rattlecan paint job or my first time rebuild engine...

Let's say both will last a reasonable amount of time and go with that! The education, alone, is worth all the trouble.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yeah, looks great. Your engine bay looks like new again.

[Arquemann]

Well, it was raining, sleeting or snowing almost non-stop since sunday-monday night to this morning. Suffice to say I didn't get anything done in the last two days, other than shopping for bits and pieces and some necessary supplies.

Today after the rain stopped I sprang into action, finished mounting the engine to the mounts and trans, TC nuts loctited and inspection cover back in place. While under there I cleaned up around the trans cooler line fittings to see if they're actually leaking, also removed the return spring from the Lokar TV cable, I originally added another spring because the provided return spring wouldn't pull the lever all the way back. Having redundancy (kind of) with two springs would probably be smart, but I disliked the stiff gas pedal with the two springs. The spring I added is captive so it's not gonna just pop off unless it actually breaks.

Put front wheels on to lower the front off jackstands to install the hood back on. Before that I did a couple things by the cowl that would be hard to access with the hood on. Fashioned a little water guide by the left hood hinge to make sure water from the cowl doesn't drain onto the firewall and all the grommets around there. Now it should drain into the fender.
On the other side I cleaned up in the hole for the cabin air intake, cleared the drain that was almost clogged and fashioned a new cabin air filter from a fresh piece of activated carbon filter mesh.
Still kinda unsure on how the pass. side of the cowl area is supposed to drain if the mesh cover should have a seal around it.

Since the weather is continuing to be all over the place, hood went back on because tarps are kinda shit. Last fall when we took off the hood for engine removal, it went back on and aligned quite effortlessly. This time it was a damn fight, fender gaps are straight, header panel gap is pretty straight, but now the hinges are all the way left and still the right side fender gap is a bit bigger than the left. I dunno if I'm uselessly cursing the finest american manufacturing tolerances but I could swear the fender gaps used to be more even. Latches nicely so I guess I'll leave it be for now.

[DerekTheGreat]

I wouldn't say these cars have great tolerances at all. Well, before I/we take them apart the gaps look nice. Years back when I stripped down/put back together a front end on a Mark VII, I found they used stacks of washers to achieve proper alignment and clearances of the fenders. Top notch right there.

[gadget73]

yup, body shims were a common thing years ago.

Stupid as it sounds, the K cars actually really started the push for higher precision in the body parts among US makers. Say what you will about them, but they had better fit and finish than what everyone else was making in the 80s.

[Arquemann]

Does anyone have definitely correct reference pics of the upper alternator bracket spacing?
There's a nut between the upper and lower bracket on the left stud, but I have no recollection of having a nut behind the top bracket on the pass. side stud. I don't think I've lost one either.
But without anything behind the right stud, the bracket sits crooked and doesn't play nice with anything.



Also deshittified the TV cable mounting, as in removed the Lokar cable bracket and remounted the TV cable. Way sturdier and just as awkward to adjust. Added benefit is that the adjustment isn't lost if the carb is removed.

[sly]

No pics, but can say there shouldn't be a nut between those brackets. Just one nut per stud.

[Arquemann]

No pics, but can say there shouldn't be a nut between those brackets. Just one nut per stud.

Oh, that would make too much sense. I wonder how the alternator top hole will line up that way, since I added a little spacer under the pass side stud and it lined up nicely.
So I have extra nuts, wut? They're all identical OE type flange nuts...

[sly]

Now, the brackets may not be dead straight to how they're supposed to be, so you may need to bend them a bit.