Urethane Engine Mounts

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Urethane Engine Mounts
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In my last article I talked about how I was able to find a location for the engine/transmission combo in the engine bay of the second generation Toyota MR2 Turbo (1991-1999 body style). I was able to fit the engine and trans into the car with only minimal modification to the engine bay of the car, and to the cross member. This amounts to pounding a couple of small dents into non-visible portions of the car, and cutting some clearance notches.

Now that the right spot for the engine and trasmission was found, I could proceed with the motor mount fabrication. I had the engine and transmission bolted together, and they were lifted up into the engine bay using a transmission jack that I fabricated a wooden platform and attached it to the jack pad. This jack had the ability to tilt the engine and transmission forward or back as well. I found that to be extremely helpful. I discuss the details of this jack and the other tools I used in my newsletter (free to sign up for on my website--see my links below).

I looked through the Fiero forums to see how they fabricated the mounts for this engine and transmission combo. The Fiero differs greatly from the MR2 in that there is an "engine cradle". The cradle is mounted to the car using rubber mounts, and the engine and transmission are attached to the cradle using solid steel. Vibration is dampened by the cradle-to-car mounts.

I did an analysis of the way Toyota mounted the original engines and transmissions in the MR2.

The MR2 and MR2 Turbo have no cradle, and the engine mounts have the rubber isolators built into them. There are 4 mounts. The left and right side mounts are mainly to support the weight of the engine, and locate the engine laterally, and do not let the engine move laterally. This means that it keeps the engine in place when the car goes around corners. The left side mount is attached to the top of the transmission case. The right side mount is attached to the engine, above the main crank pulley.

There is one mount on the front side of the transaxle, which attaches it to the integrated cross member (not to be confused with the bolt-on cross member I discussed in my last article) at the rear of the cabin, at the bottom of the firewall. The last mount is attached to the rear of the transaxle, and bolts to the top of the removable cross member. Both of these mounts hold the engine and transmission weight, but more importantly, the resist the rotation of the engine and trans under power or under engine braking. Note that both of these mounts are attached to the transmission case, and NOT the engine itself. This is because the maximum reactionary forces to the torque produced at the axles goes through the transmission case and into the mounts, and never through the engine to transmission bolts. The engine to transmission bolts only have to resist the engine torque (around 300 ft-lbs, depending on how strong the engine is), and not the torque produced at the axles, which is well over 4000 ft-lbs!

I decided to use part of the MR2 Turbo front engine mount, specifically the round portion that contains the rubber "donut" isolator. This saved me some fabrication work, and I could easily get an aftermarket urethane insert to stiffen this mount. This is a part offered for the Toyota MR2 Turbo, and I had used one on my 1993 Toyota MR2 Turbo previously with great success.

I needed to fabricate the other 1/2 of this mount--the part that is bolted to the front side of the transaxle. I also decided to move the front part of the mount (the Toyota built part) further to the left, where it attaches to car as, the 6 speed GM transmission I am using requires the mount be further to the left than the original Toyota transmission mounting. I found that Toyota had beefed up the body where the original mount attached to the car, and since I was moving it further to the left, I needed to beef up the body in that location. I did this by welding a double plate to the body. It was welded in the engine compartment and so would not be visible to anyone outside of the car. The reinforcing plate also acted as my nut plate. I needed to weld nuts to the backside of the plate, so that I could bolt the Toyota mount to the car.

Stay tuned for Part 5 of this series!

Chris Bulen is a mechanical engineer who happens to be a sports car enthusiast. He currently lives in Reno, Nevada. His current project, a V8 swap into a 1991-1999 Toyota MR2 can be seen at http://www.mv8r.com

Sculpting in Automotive Art

If college students come home on spring break and tell their parents that they have decided to major in art and become a sculptor, many parents would be aghast. Their first thought would be how would they support themselves and next they would envision their child living at home forever. However, there are sculptors who are self-supporting and don't fit into the 'starving artist' category. And one industry that employs sculptors is automotive manufacturing. The concept of clay modeling in automotive design began at General Motors seventy years ago. Today automotive sculptors combine the designer's drawings with the engineer's specifications to create a three dimensional model.

Harvey Earl first introduced the idea of modeling sculptor's clay to produce three-dimensional models. Clay was more workable than the plaster and wood used previously so it permitted more flexibility and creativity. So sculptors as well as illustrators and engineers became an integral part of an automotive design team. However, when automotive art emerged as a fine art genre, some of the sculptors left the industry and started to freelance.

One of these is Steve Posson. Posson had majored in automotive design at the Art Center College of Design in California and did prototype bodywork for Jeep, Volvo and Renault. Now he has revived the ancient technique of lost wax casting to create bronze automotive sculptures. Lost wax is notable for capturing minute details. His sculptures usually feature people and scenery along with the automobile but still give an illusion of motion. He has exhibited his work at major shows such as the Pebble Beach Retro Auto, The Newport Beach Concours, the L.A. Roadsters Show, and The Grand National Roadster Show, to name a few. Steve also has many well-known corporate clients such as Petersen Automobile Museum, Ford Company, and Auto Aficionado Magazine.

Greg Johnson became involved in automotive sculpture as a result of a career as an entrepreneur in the automotive collision business.

Greg does both painting and sculpture. Greg's sculptures are unique in that his materials are salvaged and wrecked auto parts that he reshapes and combines before applying an acrylic urethane finish. Greg uses the same acrylic urethane paints to create abstract paintings.

Richard Pietruska is another widely recognized automotive sculptor. Richard's career in art began early in his life. When he was in high school, he was a winner of the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild competition that earned him a scholarship to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He received a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Design and a Master of Fine Arts from the Art Center College of Design.

He now teaches at the Art Center College of Design in the Transportation and Product Design Department where he has been employed for the last thirty years. Richard's students have included many of the top automotive designers in the world. Some of Richard's work is whimsical such as his red and blue Viper salt and pepper shakers. He has also produced some non-sculpting art such as an interesting creation print and a Ferrari scroll. Richard recently received an invitation to the Automotive Fine Arts Society and is one of their newest members. The Society mounts two exhibitions each year to feature the work of their members.

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I have a 80 Camaro and I am going to put solid engine mounts on it but do I make the tranny urethane or solid?

you have to go solid, or you are going to break the transmission mounts

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