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Stock motor and transmission mounts are designed to serve one basic purpose: to keep the engine and transmission mounted securely.

This basic how-to is put together to explain why and how to install a set of your very own homemade polyethelene motor mount inserts in a FWD 1G DSM, (I'm sure this would work just as well for other models also.) Although this mod requires some basic fabrication and time, it’s VERY inexpensive, much cleaner and easier than filling, and yields excellent results.

The main purpose is to remove or reduce wheel hop, improve launch feel, and enhance shift feel and overall driveability by removing the "play" in the stock motor mounts.

To counteract vibrations that naturally occur when mounting an engine to a vehicle’s chassis, the stock mounts are designed with large openings. From a performance standpoint, the downside of these openings are that they allow the engine to "flop around" in the engine bay. (especially during spirited driving and aggressive launches) This movement greatly contributes to wheel hop and poor shifting feel among other things.

The idea of motor mount inserts is not a new one. It has been done for a long time. In fact, inserts made from this same material are sold for some vehicles. However, these inserts will increase the vibrations transmitted throughout your car especially at idle. Will this drive you crazy? No. It is a great tradeoff for the enhanced performance, and after 1,000 miles you’ll probably be used to it. (Special note to those with 3"exhaust with offroad pipe: you won’t notice a thing ;^)

What you’ll need:

  1. A 3/8" thick polyethelene kitchen cutting board (around $8.00 at Wal-Mart)
  2. A wide assortment of metric sockets and ratchets
  3. floor jack and jackstands
  4. jigsaw
  5. Dremel or bench grinder
  6. bench vise
  7. hammer
Procedure:   Since I would rather not lose sleep over someone improperly removing their motor mounts due to my incomplete instructions, I will skip directly to making the inserts. Basically, if you do not know how to change the motor mounts please look elsewhere (like the factory service manual) for those instructions.

This details the installation of the inserts in one mount as an example. Repeat the procedure for the other mounts.
 

Here's the driver's side top motor mount, looks fine until...
 

Upon closer inspection, the mount is badly torn. The large opening in the top doesn't help much either!
 

Measure the size of the openings and cut the cutting board to size. Use the dremel to shape if necessary.
 

After cutting and shaping the polyethelene pieces, insert them into the open areas in the mount. Make sure it is a very tight fit

A hammer should be used to pound them into the mount. You may use a bench vise and a little WD-40 helps as well.
 

The inserts should look like this. Flush with the rubber on both sides, filling the gaps completely and solidifying the mount.

Spray a little flat black paint on them for a finished look.

Good Luck and enjoy the results! Trust me, it's worth the effort!