Gearbox mounts

[Bikali]

Hi guys after lurking its the first post syndrome ....

Just bought myself a Midtec Spyder and have completed the first couple of hundred miles ... the flys in the teeth are irritating though!

The usual small issues arise, fuel filler isn't connected the the tank ... tank isn't connected to the car ... sorted those both now but the next problem is the gearbox mounts.

The engine is mounted on pretty standard pinto rubber mounts so a fair bit of play is available however the gearbox is mounted on two similar struts, where one end bolts solidly to the box and the other is mounted through an eye type rubber bush, this gives very limited movement (say 7mm but far less than the engine mounts) ... judging by the CS welds both struts have been repaired on a number of occasions at the joint to the plate bolted to the gearbox.

Now the question should I :-
1. just repair the struts again but strengthen
2. redesign the struts to increase the movement allowed
3. strengthen the struts and reduce the movement of the engine mounts to a similar level (7-8mm) or is there a better way ...

Thanks

Alistair

[andygtt]

sort the issue rather than patch it.... match the mounts so that they have a similar amount of movement.

[Bikali]

Thanks Andy,

I've removed and measured the mounts last night (both were broken ...) and there is less movement than I thought, only a 2mm thick rubber layer. I was thinking of using Landrover or Fiesta mounts which are smaller as due to the drive shafts space is very limited ?

The mounts are made from approx 1" 1.5m thick round tube and 6" long these seem a bit lightweight to me but it is only going into three bolts in the alloy casing...

AListair