Half of last Sunday and have of today and I finely have the old motor mounts removed! I think I'll spend a little more time grinding to remove the little remains from the frame, but it's almost to the point where you wouldn't know they where ever there. I figure they will just be in the way of the six that will someday call the space home. I did have to cut off the retainers for the brake lines to get at the mounts, but I figure I can weld them back on. I wish I was smarter about posting photos of my work, so I could show off the work.

billy

Removing the four cylinder mounts is a PITA! But it really makes a six conversion feel 'right'. Nice work!

Check out this tutorial for help with pictures. We'd love to see them.

Yeah I did it too....got a hell of a metal chunk in my eye from it too! Its like the 4 doesnt wanna give up its spot!! GOOD work!

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Anal? your a novice. When you get really serious, you will be a full

flegged 'Asshole'...Like Me. ..........

I am in the middle of removing mine. It really is a PITA project. We have the welding smilie/emoticon , sawzall we need one for an angle grinder.


You mentioned cutting off the brake line mount. I had to do that on the driver side and the passenger side one had terminal rust issues. Does anyone know if someone makes a repro of that part? I don't think there is a 914 specific version available (i.e. restoration design), but I need to see if maybe some other car 911 or maybe another VW model uses the same stamping?

It definitely takes some time to do this right. I used a Blair rotabroach on the spot welds and a grinder with a cutting wheel for the couple of spots that have stitch welds. Interestingly I also had to cut off the brake hose mounting tabs for clearance for the cutting wheel.

FWIW, the rotabroach I have has hundreds of holes on it now with no signs of wear. I use a little cutting fluid during use and I think it has helped with wear. Best money I have spent in a long time, did both motor mount brackets in two hours total.

Blair spotweld cutters

I used the cutter on the bottom. It does not leave a hole in the lower piece. You do have to center punch the spotweld though so the cutter doesnt walk on you.

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Does anyone have photos or details of this operation?

There really isn't much to document. Each mount is a single part that is attached via a combo of spot and seam welds. The problem is that it is attached to both the box section as well as the engine tray above it and it is all in a very tight spot. My approach was to use a cutting disk on an angle grinder to cut as much away as I could. Then once to that point I used a blair rotobroach (same exact one as above) to cut out the spot welds. The brake hose mount is right in between the engine mount and the inner suspension console so it makes it hard to get in and grind on the mount on that side.

I have a few photos of me working in that area. Below is a link to a page that talks about the mounts. I need to add some additional photos as I am much farther along now than I was when those photos was taken. It is interesting to see the amount of rust behind the mount on the passengerside. I wonder how many other people just clean up surface rust and have no idea what lies beneath. I plan to remove all of the rusted metal from the area shown in these photos...

http://motorsport.zyyz.com/project_914_03_01.htm

You can get them off whole. Took me about two hours to get these guys out.

I agree with McMark. I think it is less work to take them out whole. Drill some spotwelds, cut/grind some short seam welds. Once they are out it takes just a little grinding on the chassis to smooth it all out.

And who knows, someone may need a motor mount or two someday.

Jim

Totally agree that all at once is probably the smart way to go. Especially if it preserves the existing mount for re-use. But for me, one was toast and the other I think I was just in a bad mood and found it a great way to release some agression.

Actually, I am looking for a decent passenger side motor mount for my 4 cylinder. My current one was carefully removed to fix major hell hole issues and is pretty much shot. Behind the paint on the motor mount was nothing but a rust layer cake that crumbled in my hands once the spot and stitch welds were cut. I can't imagine what was keeping the motor in the car If anyone has a half decent one they don't need I would be interested...

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Hell hole repair in progress. Cut back to good metal, metal prepped, made large stiffener that spans rust hole a long way on each side, hole is area where there are no rosette welds. Needs grinding and I either repair my old mount or get a better one to put in...

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Thanks,

John

Holy That is some rust. Good luck with your repairs!

Thanks Jack! I have found if the parts being repaired are relatively simple or if repro parts are available then it is not too difficult and oh so satisfying when you get some good welds going

When no repro parts are available and there are complex shapes with curves in more than one direction then I am over my head (more than usual)... I am trying to learn to hammer form stuff using hardwood molds but it is time consuming.

I doubt I will try to save a car that is this bad again.

John

Two words:

Plasma Cutter

FourBlades you can have my passenger side mount for the price of shipping if you are gonna save that car. Let me know by PM if you want it. It was cut out just like McMark did, so will go back in no problem. Is that a Florida car? I lived in Satellite Beach for 8 years and had a new car start to rust in less than 3 years. That car survived pretty well.

Jim

Jim,

I line in Melbourne Beach and my truck has sat outside for 7 years and has rusted very badly. I replaced both bumpers because they were rusted through in numerous places.

McMark has said he might have a mount for me. If he can't locate his I would appreciate yours.

I am confident I can fix my 914, it just takes time.

Thanks,

John