HOW TO…. Strengthen standard engine mounts
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This is a quick easy guide to strengthening you engine mounts for mods or KLZE engine changes, the standard mounts will soon destroy themselves with increased torque and Bhp using standard mounts.
You can buy inserts for the MX-3 mounts that do a similar job to this modification but cost around £40 and are quite hard to find, there are complete strengthened mounts for the MX-6 that fit the MX-3 and these are again quite expensive.
If uprating the mounts with anything too hard you will find the torque will run into the body of the car itself and start to damage the mountings and welds themselves so you need something that is of the same strength as the rubber in the mounts.
To do this modification you will need….
Mastic Gun
SIKAFLEX 290
Carb cleanerIts is best for this to work properly to either have the car off the road for over a week or a spare set of mounts to change over.
Firstly clean the rubber on the mount with carb cleaner or similar to clear any grease and grime build up.
Let the carb cleaner evaporate fully and dry out so the rubber in the mount is clean.
Next is starting from the middle of the mount and building up to the outer edge with the sikaflex 290, make sure its pumped in as evenly as possible in all the gaps, then turn over and do the other side so the mount is full and flush with sikaflex on both sides.
Sikaflex will take a long time to set, so stand the mount in somewhere warm for around 4-5 days, make sure its stood upright as the sikaflex may sink out if its left on its side. It will form a touch dry skin in 24hrs but for it to harden right through it will take almost a full week.
Sikaflex is industry standard in the marine industry, its completely weather and heat proof and can withstand massive forces. we use it for most applications with glueing and filling in places where movement will occur, most superyacht teak decks are held down with sikaflex and even yacht keels are sealed with sikaflex and a lot of the strngth is from the sikaflex.
It costs about £10 for a tube and will probably last the life of the mount and more