HerrSchnell

I'm planning on replacing my motor mounts this weekend (using the Ford Anchor mounts) and was wondering if someone could look at my attached picture and tell me what the silver thing is that is attached to the upper cross brace. I'll need to remove that before lifting the engine, right?



Also, is the initial lifting of the car done on the jacking points? If so, where should I put the stands then? Raising via the oil pan underneath with a jack or via lifting points on the top with a hoist only raises the engine for purposes of removing the mounts, right?

Thanks for the help.

Garth S

It's better to get the car well up and secure on 4 jack stands for this job - with the jack stands under the 4 side lifting points. There are many ways to do this, but if you have a 'floor jack', lift each side at the pad rear of the door , place stands under the pad front of door - then jack the rear axle/crossmember to get the stands under the last two rear pads.
If you are only doing motor mounts, then when it is time to slightly lift the engine ( max. 1"), remove the air box and carefully block and jack the center of the oil pan/sump. Only enough lift is needed to get the new mounts in, so 1/2" should do - too muck and O2 sensors, fuel lines, air boxes,..... suffer!
The picture is ugly - but it is an ugly job - really not that bad, especially once it's finished!!

JKelly

---I loosened the "silver thing" on mine and rotated it out of the way. In your picture, see that squarish looking plug down lower to the right of the silver thing? You want to watch out for that too, it could get crushed when your engine is at its peak height (when your raising the engine high enough to get the new motor mounts in). I unplugged mine to keep it out of the way.
---I rolled up on ramps in front and put each of the back wheels on about 5 2x10 pieces of wood. I then put a piece of wood across the lower cross member and used a bottle jack to jack the front of the car up high enough to put jack stands under the jack points and removed the ramps. In my opinion, the lower cross member is PLENTY strong enough to jack the car up by (better than using the bottom of the oil pan, which some people do).
The car sits low enough that you almost have to have something under the front wheels (or at the jack points) before you can get a bottle jack and a piece of wood under the lower cross member.
Once you get to the point where you are ready to support and raise the engine, you can either do so by using a hoist from above or bottle jack and wood across the oil pan from below; I used the jack-n-wood method.
If you are using John Pirtles step by step instructions, between step 25 and 26 you will have to remove the two header heat shields on top of the cross member (two 10mm bolts). My car (86') had them and yours may also (85'? or 86'?). Between step 33 and 34; replace the header heat shields.
The job is not real difficult, but it is lloooonnnnggg and can be frustrating.
HTH
Good Luck! May the bwaaaahhh be with you.