Guest HuevosRanchero Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 despite allergies and a sinus infection made a good start on the engine cradle mounts Sunday afternoon.. Passenger side 3 out...2 back in. Not in a hurry so I cleaned and painted the areas. Front one literally fell out/apart after pulling the main bolt. So far so good thanx to the excellent tutorial prepared by you guys. New mounts look soooo much better in every way than the old ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 not great shots (sorry) but shows the passenger side units cleaned up and in place. Hope to do the Driver side just as easily and be done by Saturday night.shows the to rear side passenger...note I think it best to do the rear inner unit first...it's the most difficult to get in place and reach.also I have so far been able to to the mounts without loosening the strut retainer bolts in the engine compartment.Front unit inside of frame...the original I pulled out was completely trashed.expecting a much improved ride after this repair. Noticed the boot on the tie rod end is trashed so looks like those will be next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PontiacDude210 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I was so relieved to have this done, and my coupe handles so much nicer now. It isn't as bad as people make it up to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dashmaster Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 If the first picture is the outer mount on the Rt side of the car, It does not looked compressed/drawn up tight. Did you Torque the bolts to 75 ft lbs. ? Look at my pictures on the ROJ document, or in my original thread on my install and compare. If they have been torqued that picture does not show it. You did a very good job, Hardest part is getting the old mounts out without braking off a center bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 only half done so far ..not torqued yet I figured I should wait until the other side is done but I think I'm lucky being its a Georgia car (according to previous owner) Rust isnt too bad just some on the smaller bits and pieces (bracketry) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Guys, I've added the cradle bushing to the Reatta Store. Would you please take a look at the advertisement for them I have and tell me if the wording seems correct to you and makes sense? Any changes or additions you think needs to be made is welcomed. - Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dashmaster Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Ronnie, the description on the Reatta Store looks good to me. Also good to know you have not torqued them yet, I also did not torque mine until I had them all installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Guys, I've added the cradle bushing to the Reatta Store. Would you please take a look at the advertisement for them I have and tell me if the wording seems correct to you and makes sense? Any changes or additions you think needs to be made is welcomed. - Thanks.Looks good to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Ronnie, the description on the Reatta Store looks good to me. Also good to know you have not torqued them yet, I also did not torque mine until I had them all installed.I figured best to make them just snug and then torque flat on the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Thanks for taking a look at how the ad for the cradle mounts is worded. The main thing I wanted to stress is these cradle bushings and not OEM replacements. I don't want to mislead anyone that might read the advertisement and think otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 well the good news is that this project is complete. Virtually trouble free. The bad news....it got rid of some of the clunk but there is still a problem. The irritating news...While inspecting under hood I found the reason the strut toppers keep popping off is that the brand new struts were put together with the old strut top mounts and they have collapsed...hence the clunk as the upper struts move around. Also found that the driver side of the hood was bowed because someone had put the engine bay support arm on backwards....i am struggling with the colorful metaphors I'd like to inflict on the stooge that made this mess. Would like to say the front end is noticably more taut and responsive.....and since both fronts mounts had failed it was well worth doing. driver side front cradle mount as nasty and failed as the other side was...fell apart at extraction.Note in these two shots I was forced to remove the attachment bolt for the front air deflectorbracket mount in order to seat the drivers front cradle mount properly. I did not have thisproblem on the passenger side. Luckily there is another attachment within an inch of thispoint so Im not too worried about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HuevosRanchero Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 ordered new strut mount kits for the front through the Reatta store. Sorry, am gonna wimp out and let my local tire shop change them out. Someone has already done it badly wrong once and I havent messed with struts much. Besides it'll need a new alignment anyway. Need to stop the bleeding on the Reatta and get back to stripping the Ranchero for paint. Used some leather cleaner/conditioner on the interior since I got home early yesterday and despite the sun damage, things are looking a lot better interior wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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