Oh boy, million dollar question. I've posted about this before and man, is there junk out there...
I've always ended up buying NOS stuff, or in one case managed to find some slightly used NOS ones from a guy.
This is for Beaumont I assume? (I haven't looked, they may all be the same in 66, I know that's not the case for 67 where B body has 2 choices.)
If you have an original mount and a local parts house can get you mounts, take the original along to compare with the new one. You'll know in an instant whether they're any good or not when you see them side by side.
I'll see if I can find some pics of the junk ones and post pics later.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I'm curious, Carl - what are the differences that make them junk? Is it that the steel elements are not robust enough, or that they are not made to correct dimensions? Or??
Question 2: If it's just the rubber elements that go bad on original mounts, can those elements be replaced with new material so that an original mount can be reused?
These may be stupid questions as I'm a little out of the loop on this stuff.
I'm curious, Carl - what are the differences that make them junk? Is it that the steel elements are not robust enough, or that they are not made to correct dimensions? Or??
Question 2: If it's just the rubber elements that go bad on original mounts, can those elements be replaced with new material so that an original mount can be reused?
These may be stupid questions as I'm a little out of the loop on this stuff.
I'll find pictures later and post them showing what happens with junk mounts. They are molded wrong and no amount of grinding, prying etc will get them to line up. It's amazing how bad it is. AND the thickness of the steel frame is substantially less, more like a heavy sheet metal than a good solid steel piece.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
More than the metal, the rubber can be junk as well.
Avoid anything rubber made in India. It'll fall apart with a little heat.
You'd almost be better to find a genuine GM mount in good shape and re-use it. I'd bet everything of the original design new today is offshore, and a gamble as such. I know you want the original look Kevin, but after having a new one fail, I'm sticking with Prothane mounts. You could do the same and just paint the bracket black?
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
Thanks Carl, that explains it. Yeah, I wouldn't mess around with that garbage. If they can't even get a simple dimension like that right in their "manufacturing process", then like Mark said, I wouldn't even trust them to have the proper rubber formulation. Absolute crap, I'd say.
It's a shame you had to find out the hard way - like get the engine all the way in only to find out the holes don't match - but at least others can learn from your toils.
I'm reading some late 1980's issues of Car Collector magazine and Steele rubber products in the U.S. had a core exchange program for re-vulcanized motor mounts back then ... I don't know if they still do ... worth checking.
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
I'm reading some late 1980's issues of Car Collector magazine and Steele rubber products in the U.S. had a core exchange program for re-vulcanized motor mounts back then ... I don't know if they still do ... worth checking.
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
It's a shame you had to find out the hard way - like get the engine all the way in only to find out the holes don't match - but at least others can learn from your toils.
Thankfully that was a test fit with bare block just to get my clutch linkage sorted out.
Not pictured is how much I tried die grinding those holes to make the mounts fit, but it was a fruitless venture. And as I mentioned in that thread on the Nova site, I lifted the block, put 2 old GM mounts on and lowered it into place. Both bolts went in perfectly without so much as a wiggle.
I bought a pair of NOS mounts off ebay and it all fit perfectly.
Frustration would be an understatement. I could see it if it was just me but once I started telling the story on car sites others chimed in with the same story...
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I've seen those, they look great but when I tried to buy a set at that time, they refused to measure a mount for me when I inquired. I wanted to ensure the mount is made correctly before I ordered. I think it was after that fiasco I said screw it, nothing but GM mounts for me on this job...
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I remember being a young kid and a fellow showing me a 327 in a pontiac that was strapped down saying that they would twist so much they would break the mounts,,? poor factory mounts ? OR ?
Yes, the original mounts broke easily and were the reason for one of the biggest recalls in GM history. GM installed engine restraint cables on a pile of vehicles.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars