If you have a set of ‘32-‘36 car or ½ ton truck rear motor mounts that need to be revulcanized, you will be shocked when you see the price. Filling Station wants $300, and I only found one other place that charges $250. There are no aftermarket replacements as far as I can tell, as the set the Filling Station used to sell haven’t been available for many years, and they tell me they have no hope of them being available again.
As some of you know, fellow Stovebolter klhansen (Kevin) has successfully “revulcanized” several parts for himself, and was kind enough to share his process here. I took inspiration from him to try his process on one of my motor mounts, thinking it’s at least worth a try before spending that kind of money. If it works, it’s $38 and some time versus $300.
I will explain how I did mine, and then how I think you SHOULD do it if you want to give it a try. I think my way was successful, but after doing it I also believe a different way (which was also a suggestion from Kevin) would be better.
HOW I DID MINE: These mounts have openings and holes of various shapes and sizes that need to be plugged so the liquid resin doesn’t run out. The mounts consist of two pieces of steel. The part that bolts to the bell housing has two “wings” that float inside the rubber, which is contained by the second outer piece that bolts to the cross member. You need to find a way to make a jig or a mold to not only plug all the holes, but also hold the two pieces at the proper location.
Luckily, one of my mounts was still good, so I could use that one as a guide. (the bad one become oil soaked which is what I think ruined it) I decided to use Gorilla tape as my “mold” to plug all the holes. You also need to make sure the resin doesn’t run into the center and clog up the mounting holes, so I used tape to form a barrier in there too. I bolted the mounts back-to-back, with the good one mounted to a 2x4, and the bad one hanging off the edge. I found two nuts that were about the right thickness to set the height of the wings inside the outer piece. I just adjusted it to where it needed to be (up and down, fore and aft) and let gravity hold it there on top of the two nuts.
I did two separate pours. I did he bottom first, and let that harden so I could then remove my spacer nuts before doing the top. I also used a bolt with a nut on it through the bottom cross member hole to keep the hole clear in case any resin leaked down into there, which a tiny bit did. The one downside of this was I couldn’t quite manage to get the nuts back out since I couldn’t lower the wings enough to do so after the bottom had been poured. I just had to cut a piece off of them with a dremel, then I could pull them out easily. Not a big deal, but this won’t be necessary if you do it one of the ways I suggest below. I inserted the resin with a syringe into some of the openings that I didn’t cover with tape. For the first pour, I pretty much only taped to the height that I needed to in order to contain resin below, and up to the wings.
After the first pour was done, I added more tape to the height necessary to contain the resin that needed to be put in above the wings. I just used the syringe again to slowly squirt the resin in right on top of the wings to the top of my tape. The whole process worked very well.
HOW I WOULD SUGGEST DOING IT : Kevin and I exchanged a few ideas through email before I did this, and he suggested trying to use clay as a mold. I didn’t have any clay the day I decided to give this a try, so I went ahead with my tape method, figuring I’d try the clay if the tape didn’t work. I think clay would have been easier, as you could probably just plug all the holes with it, plus you could also form a clay “cradle” to hold the outer piece at the proper place without using nuts like I did. Or you could make some other type of jig, perhaps a piece of wood cut to the proper height to screw the outer piece to.
Any of these methods would also allow you to do one pour, as you wouldn’t need to remove the nuts before pouring the top. Or you could pour one complete side, then the other. Whatever you think is best. I just did what first came to mind while standing in my garage looking around at what I had laying there. I’m sure there are better, more creative ways to do this with some thought. Whatever you think would be easiest. I looked on Amazon and saw that clay comes in types that harden, and some that don’t. I would probably try the stuff that doesn’t, as I’d be worried the type that hardens might shrink, or not stick to the metal, allowing possible leaks. But I have no experience with clay so can’t say for sure either way.
OTHER THOUGHTS: I used a torch to remove the remaining rubber from the bad mount, then cleaned as much debris and soot out of the mounts as I could with whatever I had that could reach into that tight area. If you have access to a sandblast cabinet, you may want to sandblast the mounts inside and out. I didn’t do that. I did also cleaned mine with acetone, and it appears as though what I did was sufficient. I seem to have a very good bond. You have a 7 minute work time, and it flows and self-levels pretty well after first mixed, and then gels up quickly. It’s pretty easy to work with, and if you screw it up the first time, you probably have enough for 15 to 20+ more tries.
The product (Simple Resin Enduro Flex) is claimed to be good for bushings, and Kevin has used it successfully for his applications, but only time will tell if it holds up to the weight, torque, and vibration of an engine. Now that it’s done, I’m much more confident that this will work than I thought I would be. Fully cured, this stuff seems at least as firm as the rubber in the good mount.
Attached are some pictures I took through the process, hopefully in this order: 1.) Bad and goods mounts before I started. 2.) Bad mount after torching rubber out, with 2nd metal piece that lays in the bottom 3.) Using nuts as spacers to set the height and position 4.) The first tape job and pour 5.) Second pour with additional tape 6.) Mount after tape was removed 7) Mount after trimming some of the excess with a razor blade
Link to Simple Resin Enduro Flex:
https://simpleresin.com/product/enduro-flex-flexible-resin/
