# Advice on Saturn motor mount, axle support



## VideoJester (Aug 8, 2008)

I'm waiting for my EV America order (ADC 9" motor, Curtis 1231C controller, etc.) and working out how to mount the motor on my 96 Saturn SC2. If you have a Saturn (or just more experience than I do, which isn't hard), I'd appreciate your advice.

To get the engine out, I dropped the whole cradle/axle/transaxle setup out of the bottom of the car, and I currently have the cradle sitting in front of the vehicle. (The first 2 pix below.) It seems to make sense to mount the motor while it's out of the car, since it's so much easier to work on, but I'm not sure about the mounts.

In the first two pictures, you can see mounting bracket I have to work with on the cradle (red arrow). However, the upper mount (other picture, orange arrows) is on the frame.

Then, there's also the axle mount (blue arrows), which used to be attached to the engine. I assume the engine was holding it up, rather than the other way around, and I'm not sure what to do with it.

So...do any of you Saturn converters have pictures of how you mounted your engine (and axle)?

And, should I mount the motor with the cradle still out, or put it back in so I can use the upper motor mount at the same time?

Many thanks,
Jon


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## rctous (Jun 18, 2008)

mine was not a Saturn but I had a similar issue,,, here is what I did ( not the prettiest but effective )
post # 51

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/brians-ev-conversion-build-thread-15586p6.html

Brian


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## VideoJester (Aug 8, 2008)

Thanks -- that does look like a similar setup. And it looks like you did the axle mount while it was still out of the car, and then mounted the motor on the upper frame mount once it was back in, right? I looked at your other pictures, too. They look like good ideas.

Jon


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## rctous (Jun 18, 2008)

VideoJester said:


> Thanks -- that does look like a similar setup. And it looks like you did the axle mount while it was still out of the car, and then mounted the motor on the upper frame mount once it was back in, right? I looked at your other pictures, too. They look like good ideas.
> 
> Jon


yes I assembled the motor to the tranny outside the car, I had one motor mount to work with then fabricated the other three.


Brian


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

I had a similar issue, and made a little plate, that goes to a frame mount, and doubles as my vacuum mount plate to isolate vibration from chassis. see
http://envirokarma.org/ev/06.VacuumSystem.shtml


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## VideoJester (Aug 8, 2008)

Dan & Brian,

Thanks -- those are good examples. It's starting to get clearer what I need to do.

Jon


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## rctous (Jun 18, 2008)

VideoJester said:


> Dan & Brian,
> 
> Thanks -- those are good examples. It's starting to get clearer what I need to do.
> 
> Jon


any time!!!


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## ww321q (Mar 28, 2008)

I didn't want to mount mine to the motor because the screws that hold it together are not that big . Also My 1991 SC has motor mounts that were only used that year and anything later would be different . The 91 SC has 3 mounts on the transaxle and a 4th on the frame rail . I took some pics anyway .good luck . J.W.


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## VideoJester (Aug 8, 2008)

J.W.,

Thanks -- this looks nice and solid. I like the idea of a bar all the way across.

Jon


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## ww321q (Mar 28, 2008)

It gets 2 round aluminum spacer pieces from the axle bracket to the plate and 1/4"x1" from those to the ends . The top bolt , bolts to a bar stock going down to the plate . Everything will be welded together when done . J.W.


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## ww321q (Mar 28, 2008)

I got the axle mount finished . This is what it looks like . J.W.


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## VideoJester (Aug 8, 2008)

Thanks again for all of your good ideas. 

Since I had no idea what I was doing, I printed out pictures of all of your solutions, then found a guy (a friend of a friend) who's really good at working out these kind of puzzles. I showed him the pictures, and he did his magic. (See pix for the results.) He still has to make a mount to hang the end of the motor to the frame, but that will happen when I get the cradle back in the car.

It's a beautiful job -- and he said it was fun and would be happy to do it again, so if anyone northeast of Boston needs help with a motor mount, let me know.

Cheers,
Jon


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

VideoJester said:


> It's a beautiful job -- and he said it was fun and would be happy to do it again,
> 
> Jon


those are some pretty welds! maybe if somebody else does your car he could fab up another!

D


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## Jimdear2 (Oct 12, 2008)

Jon,

It really is a nice looking job. 

To take up my comments on the stub axle bearing support from your other thread.

Yes I do think you had better reinforce. For myself I would go behind the bar with a low triangular shaped piece for the whole length of the bar up to the upper mount of the bearing support. Use as thick a piece as you can fit. then stich weld it to the bar.

I would also have the holes you drilled through the bar filled with weld and then after the triangular plate is welded on I would redrill and helicoil the holes. I would also make a bracing piece to go from the upper hole of the bearing mount to the upper bolts of the transmission or to the yet to be fabricated motor to upper frame mount or both.

The reason; 

I have seen what happens when that bearing mount comes loose, It beat a hole through a cast iron engine block and tore the bearing out of the transmission. Ther is considerable angular force going through that cv joint as it moves with the suspension and steering.

I really don't think that the mount bar as it exists especially with the holes drilled through it will be able to withstand the force it would encounter if you should have a wheel spin up on ice and then hit dry pavement. That is what broke the ones I have seen. When that bearing support broke free with the drivetrain spinning it distroyed the engine and transmission.

Hope this helps.
Jim


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