Replacing motor mounts in a 56 passenger car

[Fairlanephantom]

Hello everyone,

I have a 56 Fairlane Town Sedan with a 292 and I'm changing the transmission mount, while I'm at it I want to replace the motor mounts as they may be original and are looking flaky.

The manual seems to only cover pulling the engine from the car. They also note that pulling with the transmission in one piece with the engine isn't advised and to remove the two separately.

I don't seem to find any previous posts of anyone changing the motor mounts while still staying stock, mostly part of compatible mounts for an engine swap to a larger engine.

The closest I can find reference to this setup is someone changing mounts on an FE motor on later trucks where the perches are still sitting in a V configuration and lift one side at a time at the oil pan and a block of wood. I've tried from the center of the pan as well as on the passenger side, but I don't seem to get enough lift to clear the studs. The mounts are currently unbolted on the engine side.

Looking around I don't seem to see where the interference would be including in the transmission tunnel.

I also have the radiator out as the damper will come next as it seems to also be original. It looked like the radiator would have interfered with the steady rest in the front.

Has anyone else tackled changing the motor mounts in a stock setup? I'm not sure what seems to be getting in the way as the transmission/motor mounts are not bolted in, steady rest in the front is clear, radiator hoses are not connected and shift and throttle linkage are out of the way.

[Als48]

You might loosen the exhaust nuts/bolts at the manifold to see if the exhaust is causing a bind. It seems to be a strong possibility.

Al Hook

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Als48

You might loosen the exhaust nuts/bolts at the manifold to see if the exhaust is causing a bind. It seems to be a strong possibility.

Al Hook

Thanks, Al. I did forget to mention that I have both exhaust manifolds off at the moment. I had a crack in one of them so pulled both off prior to this project. I noticed there's no flex sections in this exhaust system, so that definitely would have been an issue. So something else is still getting in the way.

[Stephenorf]

Doubtful, but Is the gound wire still connected to the firewall?

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Stephenorf

Doubtful, but Is the gound wire still connected to the firewall?

Thanks for the suggestion since that ground wire is relatively new so it's still pretty stiff. But yeah, I have the ground wire out of the way as well.

[Daves55Sedan]

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When changing the side motor mounts on a y-block, remove the side mount-to-engine bolts and remove the nuts and washers from the mount studs under the car frame.
It will probably be easier to do this by first removing the bottom splash pans from the car frame on both sides of engine.
Probably will be necessary to drain water from engine and remove both top and bottom radiator hoses unless you have the aftermarket accordian type, but maybe even then. Also remove fender apron clamp for the heater hoses so they will have room to move upward.
I would disconnect accellerator and gear shift linkage also.
Remove the two bolts and nuts at the top of the engine steady rest clamp in the front of the steady rest. Loosen the transmission rear mount nuts but do not remove. Loosen the nuts as much as possible while leaving them on the bolts.
Disconnect exhaust pipes at the headers and drop the pipes clear of the headers so the studs don't hang up on exhaust pipe flanges.
Disconnect one end of the large yellow ground wire from engine at the firewall then disconnect the large yellow ground wire from the backside of the front frame crossmember.
Temporarily disconnect the flexible fuel line supplying the fuel pump and plug the line.
Take a look at your distributor cap and see if you need to pop it off the dizzy temporarily to keep it from hitting the firewall.
Put a rolling floor jack and piece of lumber under the engine oil-pan. Jack the engine straight up until you have enough room to lift the side motor mounts out of their perches. It'll need to be enough so that the studs on the bottom of the mounts will clear those slotted holes on the perches. Keep an eye out all around for interferences that may cause problems lifting the engine. I would quickly put the new motor mount in as soon as the old one is taken away.
When both new mounts are in place, slowly let the jack down but not all the way. Stand it off 1/8 inch or so, and put the motor mount-to-engine bolts in on both of the mounts, and tighten them. Let the jack down all the way and install nuts and washers on the mount studs on both sides. Now go back through everything that was loosened or removed and redo it as it was originally.

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

When changing the side motor mounts on a y-block, remove the side mount-to-engine bolts and remove the nuts and washers from the mount studs under the car frame.
It will probably be easier to do this by first removing the bottom splash pans from the car frame on both sides of engine.
Probably will be necessary to drain water from engine and remove both top and bottom radiator hoses unless you have the aftermarket accordian type, but maybe even then. Also remove fender apron clamp for the heater hoses so they will have room to move upward.
I would disconnect accellerator and gear shift linkage also.
Remove the two bolts and nuts at the top of the engine steady rest clamp in the front of the steady rest. Loosen the transmission rear mount nuts but do not remove. Loosen the nuts as much as possible while leaving them on the bolts.
Disconnect exhaust pipes at the headers and drop the pipes clear of the headers so the studs don't hang up on exhaust pipe flanges.
Disconnect one end of the large yellow ground wire from engine at the firewall then disconnect the large yellow ground wire from the backside of the front frame crossmember.
Temporarily disconnect the flexible fuel line supplying the fuel pump and plug the line.
Take a look at your distributor cap and see if you need to pop it off the dizzy temporarily to keep it from hitting the firewall.
Put a rolling floor jack and piece of lumber under the engine oil-pan. Jack the engine straight up until you have enough room to lift the side motor mounts out of their perches. It'll need to be enough so that the studs on the bottom of the mounts will clear those slotted holes on the perches. Keep an eye out all around for interferences that may cause problems lifting the engine. I would quickly put the new motor mount in as soon as the old one is taken away.
When both new mounts are in place, slowly let the jack down but not all the way. Stand it off 1/8 inch or so, and put the motor mount-to-engine bolts in on both of the mounts, and tighten them. Let the jack down all the way and install nuts and washers on the mount studs on both sides. Now go back through everything that was loosened or removed and redo it as it was originally.

I appreciate the detailed breakdown, Dave.

I do have the radiator hoses disconnected. You're correct about the original molded hoses over the accordion type, my lower hose is only a year old so it had no give and had to be removed. I have the radiator out of the car as well at the moment.

Shift and throttle linkage is disconnected.

Steady rest is undone.

I have the manifolds off at the moment, so that wasn't an issue. It actually helped me get to the engine side of the side mounts better as well.

There are two ground wires? I don't think I saw one on the front cross member. The one from the firewall to the engine I have disconnected.

My fuel line I didn't disconnect, but I have enough a few extra inches of length before I'd worry about it pulling.


Revisiting the project today, I went back and did the transmission mount so I can focus up front. My original mount was pretty compacted from all the years. After doing that, I was able to finally get more lift from the front while lifting from under the pan.
Strange thing is that the driver side lifted significantly more than the passenger side though it seemed straight underneath. The passenger side lifted maybe a few thousandths while I got plenty of lift on the driver side. So I'll have to look at that again.

Distributor cap didn't seem to be an issue yet, though the transmission dipstick did start to eventually make contact. I'll still watch for that when I try again.

To get a new mount in on the driver side I also had to disconnect fittings for the line for my oil pressure gauge as it's ported just behind my draft tube block off.


So with all that said right now I'm looking at why I got plenty of lift on the driver side but may have to look around as I look at the passenger side.

I was about to pull out the mount on the driver side but I'm noticing an issue with the new mounts. It appears on the original mounts that the holes are offset from the studs while the new mount has the holes and studs roughly in line. Same as the original passenger side mount. Has anyone seen that before? These mounts seem to just be grouped in a 54-58 V8 category and from what I find online it appears everyone only has them with the holes in line with the studs but I did see used ones that are offset. I've attached a picture of what I'm looking at.

[Daves55Sedan]

The '54 thru '56 Y-blocks all used the same side mounts as you have pictured. These same mounts were also used on '57 and '58 Y-blocks and on some cars with FE engines.
None of the '54 thru '58 cars frames have offset holes in the motor mount bracket, but the holes are slotted for ease of installation and alignment.
Motor mounts with offset studs must be for a different car.
You have the right motor mounts, but I don't like those bottom studs with the thread that stops too far from the base. You may need to add washers under the frame bracket to get the mounts tightened down.
Don't understand what you are talking about with the oil pressure fittings. The original setup has a white wire with red band connected to the oil sending unit, which can be disconnected at the bullet connector near the firewall above the engine, but you don't need to do anything with that.
If you have removed the engine-to-mount bolts and the bottom nuts from the motor mount, that should be the only thing holding it down.

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

The '54 thru '56 Y-blocks all used the same side mounts as you have pictured. These same mounts were also used on '57 and '58 Y-blocks and on some cars with FE engines.
None of the '54 thru '58 cars frames have offset holes in the motor mount bracket, but the holes are slotted for ease of installation and alignment.
Motor mounts with offset studs must be for a different car.
You have the right motor mounts, but I don't like those bottom studs with the thread that stops too far from the base. You may need to add washers under the frame bracket to get the mounts tightened down.
Don't understand what you are talking about with the oil pressure fittings. The original setup has a white wire with red band connected to the oil sending unit, which can be disconnected at the bullet connector near the firewall above the engine, but you don't need to do anything with that.
If you have removed the engine-to-mount bolts and the bottom nuts from the motor mount, that should be the only thing holding it down.

Thanks for the follow up, Dave. You're correct that the perches are vertically slotted for installation.

That's interesting that the mounts may not be stock. I'm trying to figure out if the variance is from different mounts used or if it's the same mounts that got bent over time. As I mentioned, used mounts online seem to be offset, but that's kind of silly if people are selling bent mounts. I do still have the front steady rest, so I feel it maybe isn't a case of them getting bent as that still aligns with the vertical hole to the front cross member. Some remove that rest, but I'd rather keep it considering the consensus is that some feel the 56 frame wasn't too stable.

The oil pressure fitting I mentioned is for the typical after market voltage, oil, temp gauge cluster that was added under the dash. You'll be able to see that in the picture below. You're thinking about the sending unit for the stock light on the dash.

I've also attached pictures of the driver side with the new mount versus the passenger side that still has the old mount. You can see it's at least a half inch difference.

There were washers before, but also a plate between the mount and bracket.

The last picture is one I see an example of online that someone is supposedly selling 54-58 mounts that appear to also have offset holes.

I appreciate the help, I know half of this work is deciphering the work done to them over the decades.

[Fairlanephantom]

So poking around more, it appears Anchor 2110 mounts seem to have the offset holes I was looking at as well as full threads on the studs. They still don't differentiate as to why the difference compared to these other new ones from Dennis Carpenter, just listed as 54-58 V8. I'll get them in about a week and I'll update if they match up better in person.

[5851a]

A friend of mine once told me the 6 cylinder mounts were similar to the V8 mounts but would offset the engine. He also said if you installed a 352 engine if you left the mounts the same direction you would need to dimple the firewall, if you turned them 180 you would have clearance. Maybe some mounts are offset?

[Daves55Sedan]

I don't think there is specifically a stock mount with studs lined up with holes as opposed to mounts with studs offset from holes.
The older used mounts may appear to be offset, but that may just be because the weight of the engine has settled on them for decades, pushing the rubber down.
There are only two mounts for '55/56 full-size cars; one for Y-blocks and a different one for I-blocks. I have both and the mounts do look similar but they are different part numbers so there must be something different about them. As I recall, neither type appeared offset when they were new.
As far as frame stability, the only complaint I know of is the lightweight front crossmember made of 12 gage sheetmetal. These can rust-through very quickly depending upon your environment and I wouldn't expect one to last long near a seacoast due to salt. These were a fairly early recall. If a crossmember rusted through below the A-frame pins, and you had to slam on your brakes, you could drop the front of the A-frame on the road.
Yes, the two hole plate should be re-installed, probably along with however many washers are needed to get you past the end of the threads on the mount studs.

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

I don't think there is specifically a stock mount with studs lined up with holes as opposed to mounts with studs offset from holes.
The older used mounts may appear to be offset, but that may just be because the weight of the engine has settled on them for decades, pushing the rubber down.
There are only two mounts for '55/56 full-size cars; one for Y-blocks and a different one for I-blocks. I have both and the mounts do look similar but they are different part numbers so there must be something different about them. As I recall, neither type appeared offset when they were new.
As far as frame stability, the only complaint I know of is the lightweight front crossmember made of 12 gage sheetmetal. These can rust-through very quickly depending upon your environment and I wouldn't expect one to last long near a seacoast due to salt. These were a fairly early recall. If a crossmember rusted through below the A-frame pins, and you had to slam on your brakes, you could drop the front of the A-frame on the road.
Yes, the two hole plate should be re-installed, probably along with however many washers are needed to get you past the end of the threads on the mount studs.

I looked around on the 6 cylinder mounts. They appear to be similar and one set I found a picture of did have offset holes, but look to be a slightly smaller design.

Thankfully my cross member looks to have been reinforced. The previous owner had a few 56 Fords, and he did have that exact issue once on another car and said the front member popped once when he slammed on the brakes. This car was manufactured in October of 56, so it was probably built after that recall.

As an update, the new mounts came. Though I ordered two of the same mount, one was the wrong one with only a center stud. So I'll have to reorder the second one.

Comparing the two, the Anchor 2110 is pretty close to what I pulled off the car with the offset studs. They also have full threads as opposed to those last ones.

Previously, the edge of the last mount I tried only reached the center of the mounting location on the engine block. Now with the 2110, it's about the bolts width away.

I was curious if maybe the misalignment from moving everything. So checking with my mirror, it looks like the passenger side with the original mount still on the car is also now misaligned from lifting the engine. So it looks like the engine may have shifted and maybe I'll have to see if I can shift it a little forward and a little bump towards the driver side. Not sure how much movement I'll be able to get out of it considering how the front mount is cradled in a slight recess from the crossmember.

In the mirror picture, the top is the driver side and the bottom is the passenger side that hasn't been changed yet.

I'm still holding onto that first set I ordered with the holes in-line until I see how giving it a little push to the left works out. I'll have to wait a few more days for that other new one show up.

[Daves55Sedan]

I think that once you lower the engine somewhat, the holes in the mount will align with the engine mounting holes so you can get those bolts started in. Don't place all the weight down on the mounts till the engine-to-mount bolts are started in.
You should not tighten down the mount-to-frame bracket nuts on the mount studs till the end and all the weight of the engine is applied to the mounts.
It may be necessary to get a drift pin (flame hardened) to align the side mount holes by following this procedure:
With front steady rest center bolt removed, but the block with slotted out holes still in place, stick a drift pin in the hole in the frame bracket through the bottom and insert the drift pin through the center hole of the steady rest block. At the other end of the drift pin, push backward to force engine forward. If necessary, rig some way to hold it when side mount holes align.

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

I think that once you lower the engine somewhat, the holes in the mount will align with the engine mounting holes so you can get those bolts started in. Don't place all the weight down on the mounts till the engine-to-mount bolts are started in.
You should not tighten down the mount-to-frame bracket nuts on the mount studs till the end and all the weight of the engine is applied to the mounts.
It may be necessary to get a drift pin (flame hardened) to align the side mount holes by following this procedure:
With front steady rest center bolt removed, but the block with slotted out holes still in place, stick a drift pin in the hole in the frame bracket through the bottom and insert the drift pin through the center hole of the steady rest block. At the other end of the drift pin, push backward to force engine forward. If necessary, rig some way to hold it when side mount holes align.

Thanks, Dave. I'll definitely keep that in mind when I get back into it when that second replacement mount comes in likely at the end of the week.

[Fairlanephantom]

I finally had time to revisit this between work and disgusting humid days. Not that I wasn't still pouring sweat after.

So the second replacement mount came and it was right this time with two bolts. After lifting the engine and slipping that one in, The lateral offset issue was non-existent. It was straight, but the engine was sitting maybe a half inch too far back. I was able to start the bolts on everything, but it was not going to sit flat yet.

I had to find a good spot on the oil pain to lift everything relatively evenly. Maybe it was the floor, but dead center tended to favor the driver side.

Forgetting I had to do this to get the transmission mount in a few weeks ago, I had to lift the engine at the oil pan, and add a second jack at the transmission pan to get more height. It looked like the transmission mount was under the transmission pan by the same half inch. When I got enough height from the two jacks and because I had the bolts on the motor mounts started, I heard a gentle pop and everything on the motor mounts lined up with no prying or pushing.

Dennis Carpenter kind of let me down on this project between the motor mounts and the transmission mount needing to be chamfered on my bandsaw to fit the transmission bracket. I'm still interested as to why the offset bolt style on the motor mounts exists, but at least I found the parts to make it work.

Thanks, Dave for suggesting getting the nuts started before dropping everything, that certainly helped the engine align itself when I cleared the transmission mount.

I'm looking forward to seeing how smooth it'll idle with all new mounts, the mounts were never terrible, but I rebuilt the carburetor last fall, and had a nice smooth sound, but a slight vibration. When I first got the car the shift indicator didn't line up, so I'll just have to adjust my shift linkage again now that I'm not compensating for a flattened out transmission mount and should be good to go.

Unrelated, but if anyone has to replace the rubber bushings on the top end of the shift linkage, Dorman 49450 wiper motor bushings are the exact size and you get 4 cheaper than the price of one if you buy the official part number.

[Daves55Sedan]

Aw darn! If you had found a bushing that worked with the Fordomatic shift lever, I would have jumped on that pronto. I need one bad. Thinking about making one out of wood with steel washers on both sides.

[Fairlanephantom]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

Aw darn! If you had found a bushing that worked with the Fordomatic shift lever, I would have jumped on that pronto. I need one bad. Thinking about making one out of wood with steel washers on both sides.

If it's the one at the top of the shift linkage you need, that's the Dorman number I mentioned that worked great. Both ODs were exactly what I needed and there was absolutely no slop. The ID was perfect as well, I just threw out the metal piece that came with the bushing and popped it in. They had it in the help section at Autozone as a three pack for $5 as opposed to at least $10 for one for the exact part number.

I did that maybe five years ago and there's still no sign of tearing.

[Gene F]

This sounds like way more work than I thought. I was thinking about changing mine, but not now.

[Flathead Fever]

Originally Posted by Fairlanephantom

So poking around more, it appears Anchor 2110 mounts seem to have the offset holes I was looking at as well as full threads on the studs. They still don't differentiate as to why the difference compared to these other new ones from Dennis Carpenter, just listed as 54-58 V8. I'll get them in about a week and I'll update if they match up better in person.

I worked for the phone company for 30-years as a mechanic and they used Anchor motor mounts. They would not last a year on anything before the rubber failed. We were buying them dirt cheap, like $7.00 each from the warehouse but it wasn't worth the savings. You guys know what a pain in the butt mounts can be to sneak into place on some vehicles, even up on a hoist with the engine raised as far as it can be with muffler jacks. you're risking your fingers each time. We begged them to buy factory mounts, and all upper management cared about was the cost of the mounts $7.00 versus $50.00. A fleet of 400 vans breaking motor mounts every year. The originals lasted 50,000 miles or more. I have been retired now for 13 years, maybe the quality has gotten better at Anchor, but I doubt it. Recently I saw them on the shelves behind the counter at one of the big chain auto parts stores and it gave me PTSD. Most of the parts those stores carry are Chinese crap. No way I would ever install an Anchor motor mount on anything. They are by far the worst brand automotive product I have ever used. I got to install them by the hundreds and, watch them break and install them again, over and over. Something is wrong with their rubber.