Wasnt sure which section to put this in.

Ok, I have a Dutton Melos kit car. Its my first kit car and its supposed to be some cheap fun.

The problem I have is with the drivers side engine mount. The monkey who fitted the pinto used some ford mounts, sounds ok so far. It works fine on the passenger side all four holes line up on the block and are bolted in. But on the drivers side the same mount cant be fitted correctly because the steering column gets in the way. So to get round this the bracket it mounts to on the chassis has been welded lower. The engine mount is now using the top two holes on the mount to the bottom two on the block and a very bad bracket has been welded on to the sump.

I found this out when I was out for a drive and the steering started to get very notchy. The only bolt holding the engine up was the one which is on the dodgy bracket on the sump. The engine had dropped about an inch and the alternator was resting on the steering column and now a cracked sump

I took the mount off to reveal two snapped bolts in the block, i've drilled one out and tapped it to an M10 but the other wont drilll out. I've gone through loads of drill bits and hardly made a mark.

What I need to do is get hold of a mount that will line up with all 4 of the bolt holes with the column in place so the engine is properly secured.

What are the mounts like you guys use? Any help or advice appreciated, have enclosed a pic of the mess I found



[Edited on 20/1/05 by pmc_3]

with regard to drilling it out... have you tried a cobalt or diamond tipped drill bit ? they don't cost that much.

In fact you could probably get a new engine for less though (quite often see them going for free!)

Hi PMC,

The MK Pinto engine mounts are fabricated and pass under the steering column - see photo.

Could you use these or similar?
Rescued attachment 040418-11.JPG

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=left_mount.jpg
Could you make your own mount plate that uses the 2 top holes and the one you tapped plus the one that the piece of bracket in the picture is bolted into. I used 40mmx3mm wall square tubing for mine. Jack the engine to where you want it and fill in the gap with the tubing.

quote:

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Originally posted by DaveFJ
with regard to drilling it out... have you tried a cobalt or diamond tipped drill bit ? they don't cost that much.

In fact you could probably get a new engine for less though (quite often see them going for free!)

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Centre punch the centre first the Start the holes with a "centre drill"--- the type of thing you may have seen used for drilling holes on a lathe.
After that a decent HSS drill should be OK --- some of the drills around are rubbsh but I bought a decent set of 19 titanium coated drills from Wickes Focus about 2 years ago that have been excellent but they seem to be out of stock, Screwfix and Maplin carried the same set but also appear to be out of stock. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=30609&TabID=1&source=15&WorldID=&doy=20m1

quote:

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Originally posted by splitrivet

Wish I knew where some of these free pinto engines are Dave cause I'll be F**ked if I can find one.
Cheers,
Bob

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That MK mount might do the job. I was thinking about getting one made up by a local engineering place. I'll go take a pic with the engine in the bay so you get a better idea.

Regards to the HSS drill bits, I tried two brand new ones and they werent any better. The right hand bolt drilled out fine.

Here's a couple of pics of how its currently mounted

Thankyou for reminding me just how bad Dutton engineering was ---

I think this is more that a muppet has put it together.

Originally it had a 1300 xflow which was upgraded to a 2000 pinto and type 9 box, however the guy left it running drum brakes at the front It did run like a bag of crap when I got it, it had a tiny carb with the choke permenantly on and the ignition timing was miles out. The wiring is ropey so i'm gonna re do all that. But its what I wanted, a running project, its got MOT til Sept and it only cost me £650

Anyone got any ideas what car the mounts came off? I could do with getting one to take with me to an engineering place.

You mean the cast ally mounts in the picture above?

They're off a Sierra. (maybe other cars aswell)

HTH,
James

Just an idea but you could fabricate something like a Ford "World Cup" engine mount it used a big suspension bush as the rubber mount.

This is how someone one here did it (sorry i cant remember whos the pic is!). IIRC the mounts are fabricated and the rubbers are Land Rover engine mounts...looked simple to me.

David

PS sorry for the crappy quality...!

[Edited on 21/1/05 by flak monkey]
Rescued attachment sierra mount.jpg

that's Mark Allanson's car.

My mount is the same. I used a Fiesta Gearbox rubber mount. As used by MK.

James

Thanks guys, I shall get one made up

I found this out when I was out for a drive and the steering started to get very notchy...........

Someone must have the ali ones lying about.

[Edited on 21-1-05 by mangogrooveworkshop]

...a better quality shot
Rescued attachment Copy Engine Mount.jpg

..and how I made them

Thanks for that Mark