FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

guys Im beginning to think I have a Nationals curse.

car was prepared and everything going smooth.

UNTIL... busted an engine mount last night on the way home.

why do these things always happen just before the Nats?

and the engine mount is such a PITA to replace.... ::) ::) ::)

not as bad as a rear main seal tho....

Cheers

Ed

Y'see Ed, I told you last night to be very, very afraid....

Cheers
John ;D

Ed
I would get some one else to fix your car. If I was you I would not go any were near my car until the day of depart.

You need to pass the curse on to some one else.

Cheers Jim

From prior experience, I can tell you that a broken engine mount really is one of those mechanical failures that can be fixed with fencing wire. That is not to say I'm recommending it...

Sorry to hear the curse has struck, hopefully you've got sufficient time to sort it out.

cheers
RET

John the soothsayer...   :)

I'm not sure I want to pass this curse on, but I would like to know how it came to be!

anyway I have ordered a new set of mounts and will swap the offending item out.

quite lucky the fan didn't take out the shroud on contact.

Just like the previous Nats the curse seems to strike 7 days prior to the day of leaving for the Nats.  Next time I'm not going to formalise the leaving date.

It's similar to when your pet dog/cat/bird/fish knows you're going on holiday without them and they start behaving strangely.... however in this case I am taking the car with me??  perhaps the car is just lazy and wants to stay at home and is feigning injury.


Cheers

Ed

Hey Ed,
didnt you lose a wiper arm on your way to the island in 06 ;D?

cheers
Scott

Hey Scott,

Sure did.. it was only raining heavily on a busy freeway around Seymour.
I also lost the oil cap too...

I've got my broken engine mount out only took an hour, so just waiting on a new one to arrive, another hour should see me good to go.

Cheers

Ed

Not wise - it will get suspicious and break the day before you leave!!   ::) :P

In future, tell it you're going to leave a week earlier - even start packing a few small things in it to convince it   ;D

Martin

I have made this fix before with fencing wire, just be sure to carry a spare rotor button for the distributor. Many years ago I made this repair and as I came to a hill (forgetting about the fencing wire) threw it back a gear and went to overtake..... all of a sudden I felt the engine lurch and no power, the engine just died. What had happened was the engine moved enough to hit the distributor cap against the firewall disloding it slightly and "Hey Presto" a broken rotor button :-\

hey EffCee,

After the midnight mechanics of last nats preparations I got up on Good Friday morning and thought I'd better time the motor.

in my hazy state after only 5 hours sleep i was twisted the dizzy by the cap only to twist the cap and smash the rotor button… oops. At 7am on Good Friday it was unlikely I’d find another button… Not to be put off I superglued and cable tied the rotor button back together…  this got me to the Nats and home again! 
So superglue, cable ties, duct tape and fencing wire should be in all your Nats toolkits.

my parts still aren't here so waiting.. waiting....


Cheers

Ed

Hi ed what stlye of engine ,ount you after
regards fatboy

Hey fat,

i've ordered some HQ - WB mounts.

Got them express posted so probably get them tomorrow.

Cheers
Ed

Not good Ed....!!

I seem to remember you were waiting for a parts delivery last nats as well weren't you? On top of the time it takes to do the actual repairs, you don't need to be waiting for parts to arrive!!

Good luck with it (again) ;)

Ed, any Holden dealer should have them in stock, they fit HQ to VT (Part No. 9930472). You should be able to get them for about 20 bucks each.

Cheers,

Graham

the sweat on my brow isn't flowing as fast this time round lol

I reckon one hour should see the job done.

Im still waiting on a job from the trimmer though.

GP, I'm headed over to the dealers later today, my mounts still didn't arrive in the post (so much for express), thanks for the heads up, I didn't know they were the same until VT.

thanks for the well wishes lol

Cheers

Ed

i was also curious about them being delivered, any spares shop would have them

Hey ratbox,
It’s difficult for me to get out of the office, over to the spares shop and grab one so I usually mail order my stuff, or get it couriered from the local spares shop.  It’s not out of laziness, rather convenience, I don’t work in the trade so often my car takes a back seat to my actual work.
I just went down to my local Holden dealer and got one.

Cheers

Ed

Hi Ed only one??? shouldn't you change out the pair. [The Curse] ......FC427......

nah only the one, I have another 2 on the way anyhow.

it's the passenger side that seems to cop it.

Ratbox,

did you need to modify your mounts in your conversion?
I think the reason mine split is that I need to cut the top end off so it doesnt hit the subframe which makes it a little bit weaker.  Im going to try reduce this cut and see if it makes a difference.

the genuine GMH mounts look stronger too than the made in taiwain stuff.

Cheers

Ed

mine were standard but evertbody that ever looked in the engine bay said geeze that sits down low
we did modify the brackets from block to engine mount, no cut out in cross member and standard HQ sump
i sorta figured you must have just been to busy to get to the shops

Hey ratbox,

similarly, we modded the plates that bolt to the motor to get the position right.

I find the top lip of the std engine mount will touch the frame rail though.  ground a bit off and all is OK.

car is now fixed, luckily I didn't wait for the mail as the mounts still did not arrive.

Cheers

Ed

Hey Ed, sitting in Saigon reading about your troubles mate... Can see the funny side this far away. Safe journey to you and all the other entrants. Am very envious, but honeymoon duties came first.

Cheers
Jason.  ;D

I think my car might be trying to tell me something too, finally got the mechanic to get in a new balancer for the car as the rubber in the old one had deteriorated. Managed to get the car out to his workshop about 7PM, half hour later we were fitting the new balancer, slowly ::), as there is not a lot of room to swing a hammer in there. Finally buttoned everything up, checked a few things, then as I pulled the tray for the radiator water out there was a massive slick of trans fluid on top of the water  >:(. Ended up being a hose from the trans cooler had a stuffed clamp and when we moved the cooler to get a better swing at the balancer we disturbed it, got home just after 1AM  ::)

eh?  ;D

See ya in 2010 then!

yeah, planning our wedding and honeymoon was tricky becuase it was rite between the all holden day and rat rod run day if it was a weekend earlier there would have been about 6 people missing the ahd if it was a week later there would have been about 7 people missing the rat day, we had to plan the honeymoon to end in sydney so i could still go to the rat day too so the last two nights were spent top floor in a hotel in kings cross.