Changing frount motor mount

[franey]

In the past several have posted regarding changing the frount motor mount for 96 and 97 northstar engines. Some say remove radiator and fans, some say drop frount of cradle down to allow for easier access and some have tried both methods. After all of the dust has settled whichever method they chose , everyone seems to agree, it is a real SOB, and something they would rather not have to do any time soon again. This week , the mechanic that sometimes i use, called and he had a 97 DE ville, in the shop for frount motor mount , and dog bone replacement,. His question was what was the best way to change out the frount mount. I advised him of the different ways that have been discussed here, but also told him that it would probably not be easy. Later on i dropped by to see how the work was progressing, he said the removal had been trouble free and took about thirty minutes, he had dropped the frount cradle down some. NOW , putting it back together was a whole new story. He could get the frount motor mount bracket on the two bottom studs but the two top bolts could not go in because the top of the bracket would partially cover up the bolt holes, not allowing the bolts to be put in. I worked with him for about 30 minutes pushing pulling and twisting everything to no avail. It would not line up. At this point I recommended that we take the bracket back out . IT took about 7 to 8 minutes to get it back out through the top . At this time I put the bracket in the vise and reamed the top two holes out on the top and bottom of each whole, i did the same thing to the bottom two holes . Now the top two bolts and the bottom two nuts both have large collar washers made into them. The motor bracket is hardened metal. In my opinion this modification will not weaken the bracket. Once we had accomplished this, it took about ten minutes to completly bolt the bracket to the motor mount and mount them to their respective locations. By making the wholes larger on all four holes, you eliminate the almost impossible job of getting everything lined back up in order to get the top two bolts back in. For anyone who might have to replace the frount mount in the future you might want to try this trick. HAPPY TRAILS