Do It Yourself Motor Mount Inserts, Do It Yourself Filled Motor Mounts

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Site updated 1/27/2008, Online since 1999!

This how-to is put together to give you the information you need to create your very own stiffened / solid motor mounts for your own car. I'll show you the two most popular ways of doing this, and both are very effective:

Create thick plastic (typically polyethylene) inserts that fill the open "gaps" in your motor mounts
Use a thick urethane to fill the open "gaps" in your motor mounts

Both methods are inexpensive and do an excellent job of reducing or completely eliminating wheel hop, improving launch feel and allowing for cleaner, faster shifting in many cases. This is accomplished by removing the "play" that is found in stock motor mounts. Stock motor and transmission mounts are designed to serve one basic purpose: to keep the engine and transmission mounted securely.

To counteract vibrations that naturally occur when mounting an engine to a vehicle's chassis, the stock mounts are designed with large openings. From a performance standpoint, the downside of these openings are that they allow the engine to "flop around" in the engine bay. (especially during spirited driving and aggressive launches) This movement greatly contributes to wheel hop and poor shifting feel among other things.

While this how-to is geared toward Front Wheel Drive vehicles, many other all wheel drive and even some rear wheel drive cars use motor mounts that can be stiffened. I've installed these in all of my vehicles and many of my friends and family's cars such as the Mitsubishi Eclipse, Lancer Evolution, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Scion TC, Scion XB, Acura Integra, Dodge Neon SRT-4, Nissan Sentra, PT Cruiser, to name just a few.

The idea of filled motor mounts or motor mount inserts is not a new one. It has been done for a long time. Way back in the day, hot rodders would use solid steel motor mounts, which is fine for a race car, but isn't suited for a daily driver. This modification gives you the best of both worlds. You'll retain the stock fit and most of the dampening qualities of the factory motor mounts, while getting all of the performance benefit that comes along with a stiffened motor mount. All at a fraction of the cost of mount inserts sold by companies like Energy Suspension.

The only downside to filled or motor mounts with inserts are the increased the vibrations transmitted throughout your car especially at idle or at idle with the air conditioning turned on. Will this drive you crazy? No. It is a great tradeoff for the enhanced performance, and after 1,000 miles you'll probably be used to it.

Thanks again for visiting and enjoy!