[383ram]

What thickness flat stock should i build my motor mounts out of? 1/4" seems like overkill, im thinking 3/16" would be ok--seems like most oem mounts i have seen are that size--or there abouts, 1/8" just doesnt seem like enough to me, but other than useing motor plates in the past, i have never built a set of bolt on mounts before. So what should i use?

[dinger]

Mine are 1/4 inch, using different thicknesses could depend on the design of the mount, are they flat, gussseted, triangular, lots of varaibles. What type of abuse would they see? Off road, drag racing, stock?

[383ram]

Mostly just plain old street use but yea, i will get on it. Basically what i am thinking of is plate on the engine and on the mount rubber, and vertical triangle shaped pieces in between the two. Sort of boxed shaped if you will---but this could change as i get into it. Motor is a small block 383 chevy built for low end grunt.

[Houston54]

3/16 should be plenty thick.

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by 383ram

...1/8" just doesnt seem like enough to me...

Me either.

OEM's use 1/8" but CAD'ed to have strength by how they're stamped.

3/16" seems like a good compromise to me.

Are you using some type of OEM block-mounted rubber-isolated motor mount to make things easier, like when a replacement's needed?

That way, just the frame mounts are needed.

[383ram]

I think i figured out how i want to make them now. I was trying to use what i had here, but i wasn't happy with any of it.

I think a set of engine mounted isolaters (typical chevy), and some mounts made for the frame will do just fine. They tricky part is this 383 chevy is going into my '85 ram truck. So to me, the most important thing is something that bolts to the crossmember---easier to remove just if some freak chance i put a mopar engine back in it. Anyhow. Thanks for the help and advice, i need to hit the local Metal Supermarket and see what they have in the scrap bin.

[techinspector1]

1/8" is all you need. For you newbies out there, "motor mount" has been used as a description for the piece that mounts to the motor and also for the piece that bolts or welds to the frame that the mount bolts to.

When you're making stuff to mount a motor, first you get the actual MOTOR MOUNTS and bolt them to the block. Then you swing the motor into place and fabricate the MOTOR MOUNT STANDS. The pieces that bolt or weld to the frame are not motor mounts, they are motor mount stands.

Bottom line, the two pieces that you go down to the auto parts store and buy and then bolt onto the side of the engine block are MOTOR MOUNTS.

The two pieces that you fabricate from 1/8" flat plate that either bolt or weld to the frame of the car or a crossmember of the car are MOTOR MOUNT STANDS.

The motor mount has ears and the motor mount stand has ears. It takes one bolt on each side of the motor, through the ears (or sometimes a solid tube on the STAND) and ears on the MOUNT to connect the motor to the frame.

[cobalt327]

In the case of many vehicles (like mid-‘70’s Camaro, nova, Chevelle, etc.), the rubber isolated part is what’s mounted to the frame.

The engine has a “U”-shaped all metal bracket to locate the engine on the x-member mounted motor mount.

If you go to the parts store and ask for motor mounts for a 1973 Chevelle, you will be handed rubber-isolated, frame-mounted engine mounts, not the all steel engine-mounted bracket.

In the case of engine-mounted rubber “motor mount” set-ups, I refer to the part bolted to the x-member as the frame mount, or “stand”. But that's me.

My bottom line is that a "motor mount" is the rubber isolated portion of the system used to hold an engine in a frame. Or the all steel solid counterpart. This can mount to the engine or the frame, depending on the style.

3/16" mild steel was suggested because the OEM's use stamped 1/8" parts that are made in such a way as to be strong enough due to their compound shape- they're not simple "L" or "U" shaped pieces.

To duplicate them in 1/8 and have the same strength would require more triangulation and/or gusseting and/or bracing of some sort than 3/16". Using 3/16" is nothing more than a strength fudge factor for a possibly less-than-optimum design (no offense intended).

But regardless of what they’re called, in the context of this thread as long as folks are on the same page as to what they are referring to, it really doesn’t matter a whole bunch, IMO.

I say tomato, you say…

[techinspector1]

I agree, and again I was just trying to make the point that usually we buy motor mounts, but fabricate motor mount stands.