Polyurethane engine and tranny mounts

[v10l4t10n_bl4de]

I need information on buying hard setting polyurethane to fabricate engine and tranny mounts for my 1992 buick lesabre anyone have any info on purchasing tubes of it? i heard there are tubes for like 5 bucks and large ones for about $9 anyone have any info on where i could go (stores) or any url links to sites that sell it please let me know.. thank you

[NTX5467]

In ANY vehicle, there are some things that need to move and other that do not. For every place you take movement or deflection out of the equation, those forces will most probably be moved to a place that they should not be OR will compromise reliability of particular parts that now must absorb those torques, bending moments, and vibrations.

To my knowledge, there is NO rubberized or polyurethane product that you can buy that will fully take the place of the highly refined elastometric "rubber" that is the "rubber" medium in those mounts, much less reliably mold -- AND CURE -- it in an "in the field" environment. I have heard of people using a Devcon90 product to build front suspension sway bar bushings with, but the type of action that sway bar sees is highly different than engine mounts, where you not only have vibration absorption issues to deal with, but supporting many hundreds of pounds of weight plus separation and compression forces (reaction to engine torque) too. If you did find the exact product they use in the mounts, the supplier will probably not sell it in tubes, but bulk quantities. If, per chance, you could buy it in a single tube or caulking gun tube, the cost could be well past the $30.00 range per tube, I suspect, and it could well take nearly three tubes by the time you're finished and ready for the mounts to cure. Such large blocks of liquid or gell polyurethane would take many hours, even days, to fully cure at ambient room temperatures too.

You would be better off to buy the already-made polyurethane mounts from established vendors in that market. But, modern elastomeric mounts will last for a very long time provided they are kept free of engine fluids that might have leaked/seeped out and have settled on the mounts. Plus, whereas the elastomeric mounts might deteriorate and get soft with age, the polyurethane items will split, which will lead to MUCH unwanted movement. Typically, the split pieces could also fall out after their failure, causing more problems.

It might be a challenge to rebuild the mounts, but the best long term fix is to replace them and be done with it. What you perceive you might save with your project, you can much more than make up for in frustration and vehicle down time. You might have more time on your hands than money, but you might use that free time to legally find a way to get the money to finance the new "factory OEM style" mounts.

Many people use those polyurethane items to limit deflection for various purposes in the suspension of vehicles. There are some good uses for it too, as in sway bar link bolt grommets or support bushings (where they can aid handling) or even in control arm bushings too. Using them for engine and trans mounts in a street car that you're going to drive every day might be questionable (vibration and noise transmission issues). The only one I might consider using would be the trans mount. Back when racers "thought" they needed solid engine (side) mounts, the result was the outer castings of the engine block cracked (where the engine side of the mount bolted on) from having to absorb the torque forces they were not really strong enough to consistently handle, as in the tugging and compression from torque reaction during drag racing situations. One reason why the "front motor mounts" in those applications are the better way to do things, if the particular racing class allows them.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[BqUICK]

v10l4t10n_bl4de,

In looking for polyurethane body mounts and suspension bushings for my car I found there are NO such parts made for my 1969 Buick Electra "GSX". I sent my old parts to Energy Suspension, Inc. and had them search their inventory by hand, which they were happy to do, and find something close enough that could work with some machining. I was lucky, Buick Riviera was close enough for the mounts and the bushings, for an unknown vehicle, needed to be drilled out a little.

I have cast Polyurethane and other polymers for work and other projects and know that you must take great care in cleanliness, preparation, and curing. I too considered casting my own parts. I would not do this myself, for a high performance application, due to the risk and associated liability.

Call Energy Suspension, Inc. and see if they may help.

God Speed,