Replacement Motor Mounts

Tonight, I replaced the motor mounts with a few Anchor brand mounts (#2725 and #2726).  This is a fairly straightforward job as these are mounted with one nut and two bolts per side.  That said, this job fought me a bit more than I expected.  

To replace these, I had the car with jack stands under both the front A-arms.  I then used a jack to raise the engine to create clearance to remove the mounts.  The problem I experienced was lifting the engine using a block under the oil pan was not enough.  I could only get the engine high enough by lifting it from the harmonic balancer.

I was able to raise the engine quite high.  The only time there was some interference was with the fan inside the shroud.  I loosened the shroud and nothing else seemed to really become a hindrance to raising the engine.  Even with the motor raised as high as possible, these barely came out and the new ones were equally challenging to manipulate back into place.  

The originals are certainly 34 years old but the rubber seems to be in better condition that I expected.  There are some small cracks but they are not completely falling apart.  I don't there will be any perceivable difference with this change but it was good insurance for the long term.    

The bolts into the engine are tightened to 55 ft-lbs. and the larger nut connecting the mount to the K-member is tightened to 94 ft-lbs.  Maximum Motorsports suggests leaving the block bolts finger tight, lowering the engine, tightening the K-member bolts, and then saving the block bolts for last.  I used that process so as not to preload the rubber bushings.

While working under the car, I noticed there was a missing header bolt.  It is the most obvious bolt at the front on the driver side but somehow I never noticed until now.  I have a Stage 8 header bolt from the 1967 Mustang that I installed for now.  I'll have to decide later if I want to get a new set of bolts.

While finishing up the job, I noticed the starter is a mini starter and has a label on it.  I took a quick picture which isn't great but does show the part number.  I had AI try to help identify it and the best information I could find is that it is just a replacement Motorcraft PMGR starter that was likely remanufactured on the 264th day of 2006.  This would fit with when the vehicle was actively being driven before going into storage and being purchased by the last owner.