[Beav]

Is the mount for the manual trans the same as the automatic (roughly)? I took a good look at how the mounts flex under acceleration while I had someone working the throttle, on a drive-on rack. Being primarily designed as a FWD vehicle the engine mounts lift equally on both sides, the torque strut acts as a pivot and the trans mount is collapsed as torque increases. Given the short range of motion at the engine mounts and that they have built-in limit tabs I think the trans mount is what could stand some beefing up.

As you look at the trans mount, at least on the autobox, the supporting pillows at the sides are fairly soft and allow quite a bit of motion. There are two small pillows near the center that seem to act as travel limiters and a center bolt with a rubber donut below the x-member that limits the tranny from lifting to high and tearing the side pillows apart when in reverse.

On my car, and I recall others also mentioning this, there began to be times when buzziness could be felt in the steering wheel and the gas pedal. I found that the engine had shifted on its mounts and required re-centering. Loosening the three x-member nuts on the trans mount and loosening the trans end of the torque strut (slotted hole) allowed me to use a pry bar and re-center the center stud of the trans mount in its hole. It actually moved about 1/2-3/4 inch. I then loosened the exhaust at the manifolds and found they had been shifted also as a result. I 'persuaded' the hanger bracket at the rear of the trans in order for the pipes to meet the manifolds without having to tighten their nuts. After I tightened the exhaust back up I lowered the car to the ground, started it up and drove it back and forth about ten feet, using just enough gas to get it moving in each direction. Before coming to a stop while moving forward I slipped it into neutral before touching the brake pedal. This allowed the engine and trans to find center and I could then tighten the torque strut without it being loaded in either direction.

Since doing this (and it's a lot easier to do than type it out) the buzziness in the pedals and steering is gone. I then noticed when coming to a stop there seemed to be a little vibration remaining. I found that if I kept my foot on the brake and shifted to neutral I could feel something relaxing. When I returned it to drive, with my foot still on the brake, the vibration was gone. Apparently what is happening is that trans mount is still compressed and sitting on the limiter pillows. Sometime next week I'll drop the trans x-member and slip a shock absorber rubber mounting washer onto the center stud to keep the mount from deflecting so far. I'll update here as I find out how that works out. This could be the primary cause of the driveling slop many complain about as nothing else seemed to move anywhere near as much as the trans mount.