DIY Engine Support Plans/Questions

[OK-944]

I need to replace the motor mounts on my ‘87na, and am wondering if there is any compelling reason to use just one of the two engine lift points to support the engine? Some of the commercially available engine support units seem to work on the wrong axis - only allowing support from one point on the engine.

My plan is to create an engine support by first padding out the fenders on either side of the engine…first by laying strips of old, soft sweatshirt material on each fender, then overlaying this with strips of high density (not too squishy) closed cell foam, followed by strips of 3/4 inch plywood. Then I will lay two 6x6’s fore and aft over and across the engine, on top of the padding.

A third 6x6 will lay over the other two, oriented with the engine…and this piece will be drilled with slightly oversized holes (located over the lift points) to accommodate two 1/2” well greased carriage bolts, topped off with large fender washers and nuts. The bottoms of these bolts will have heavy duty snap hooks attached, with short lengths of chain extending down from these to the engine, with more hooks to couple with the engine lift points. Turning the nuts should accomplish the necessary support, and small amount of lift, to allow for motor mount replacement.

My biggest concern is that the aforementioned padding setup might not sufficiently protect the fenders from deflecting, with the secondary concern that the paint might be marred in some way - but my guess is that I should be fine. I suppose that I could devise a way to make use of the inner channels of each fender, as used by commercial support units, but I don’t think I’d need to do this.

At any rate…I’m just looking for a few comments from folks who’ve DIY’d their own engine supports, and invite any comments on my proposed setup. Thanks!

[v2rocket_aka944]

if just doing motor mounts, just put a jack with wood "cushion" under the oil pan.

but if you want to make an engine support your plan sounds solid.
6x6 is overkill but peace of mind is priceless.

don't even need to use the "factory" engine hoist rings, can grab anywhere that's well bolted, but if you peek down on either side of the block towards the back there are 4x unused, tapped M8 holes that'd be perfect for your chains.

[mytrplseven]

In the past I've used the lift bar sold by Harbor Freight. It has two support brackets that fit nicely on the top of the shock strut towers and using the two lift rings on the engine has always worked with no issues.

[OK-944]

Time for a head slap...the car is up on my EZ Car Lift - with the oil pan perfectly exposed...so all I need to do is make up a stand with a couple of 4x4's with plywood at top and bottom ends, stand this up under the oil pan and then gently lower the car onto this.

Thank you, V2, for helping me to see the obvious!