[Staowners] ENGINE SUPPORT BARS

[Richard Atkinson (IESE)]

Mal, 

 

They're the equivalent of the roll restrictor you'll find on any modern car
powertrain.  Basically their role is to resist the torque reaction of the
engine (i.e. tendency to twist on its longitudinal axis as it revs).  Some
of this is a simple turning moment, some of it's a vibration load.  The
likely reason why they went to the bother and expense of it (I speak as an
ex-Ford powertrain design engineer - trust me nothing gets put onto a car
that costs a penny more than is necessary!), is that the ability of the open
bodyshell to resist these loads is much less than that of the saloon.
Effectively the saloon's roof completes the box section and makes it strong
enough to do the job.  So, the saloons don't need this framework because the
body and roof is the frame - all that's needed is to tie the engine to that
frame, which is what that little 'L' shaped bracket at the bulkhead does.

 

If you use the saloon bracket on an Alpine or coupe, you'll transfer loads
into the body that it may not cope with, giving you scuttle vibration and
maybe fatigue cracks in the longer term.  If you don't use either, you will
be putting a twisting load into the other engine mountings (which were
designed only to bear pure compression loads), with the result that the
engine will move about more on its mounts that is probably good for it, and
one fine day the engine mount rubbers may fail.

 

For what it's worth, I had the same dilemma as my Alpine was missing these
bits and they're mighty hard to find, as is the right water pump that they
mount to.  Find or fabricate, I think, as they can't really be got around;
at least the rubber mounts are obtainable though.  Hope this helps some,

 

Richard Atkinson

 

 

Tel. 01926 431006

Mob. 07979 917635

 <mailto:richard.atkinson at iese.net> richard.atkinson at iese.net

  _____  

From: staowners-bounces at sunbeamtalbot.info
[mailto:staowners-bounces at sunbeamtalbot.info] On Behalf Of Mal Clark
Sent: 07 September 2007 14:58
To: Staowners at sunbeamtalbot.info
Subject: [Staowners] ENGINE SUPPORT BARS

 

Hi everyone,have a think about this,the Alpine and Drophead Coupes,have
fitted to the front of the engine, support bars which are solid mounted at
the bottom,and rubber mounted at the top, Why don't sedans have these????
seeing the Alpine,and Coupe and most sedans share the same chassis,with
different bodies mounted on the top,I wonder if they are really
neccessary,the sedans are fitted with a rear rubber mount,onto the firewall,
if the support bars are neccessary,what is going to happen to my Alpine if I
dont (cant) fit them,I am going to fit the rear rubber mount to the
firewall,interested in your comments, Mal Clark.



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