How to: Corksport Inserts on your CX-7

[Raider]

From Supystretch18, who has a pink subaru now.

So after much anticipation, I put my motor mount inserts in today. It was a beautiful day too; perfect day for modding! Anyway, after doing it, there are a couple of things that aren't noted in the instructions Corksport sent, so I figured I might as well do a write up. Here we go...

Disclaimer: Neither cx7forums.org, corksport or myself are responsible for any damage done to your car or yourself by following these instructions. Be safe, be sensible and double check everything.

Tools:
Rachet and sockets (10mm, 17mm and 19mm)
Torque wrench
Either a 17mm wrench or an adjustable wrench
Large channel lock wrench
CX-7 scissor jack with attachments
Floor jack & jack stands or ramps

Step #1: Jack up or otherwise get the car in the air (Safety first people, you'll be working under the car most of the time, so make sure you chock the tires, set the parking brake, etc.)

Step #2: Use a 10mm socket to remove the plastic underpinning. There are eight bolts and a plastic clip that need to be removed. Surprisingly, this is actually the first time I've removed it myself!

Step #3: Support the engine! This step is omitted from the Corksport instructions, but will make your life much easier when trying to get everything back together. If you have a floor jack, that would probably be the best thing to use. Make sure you support the engine from the transmission housing on the driver's side and NOT by the oil pan on the passenger side.

Step#4: This is what you are trying to get at:

Start by loosening the motor mount bolts. This is easier said than done. I found these bolts to be a real PITA! It was impossible with my hand ratchet, but my extended handle wrench took care of these pretty well. The inserts will go into the larger end of the mount, so you want to fully remove the bolt on that end. You will also need to loosen the bolt on the smaller end. Do not fully remove that one, as it can stay in place. The corksport instructions also say that you should loosen the two larger bolts that connect the mount to the transmission. I found this unnecessary. I didn't have a 19mm socket anyway, so rather than stripping the hell out of them with an adjustable wrench, it was better for me to just leave them alone.

Step #5: Once those bolts are loose and out, pry out the larger end, so that you can get the inserts in. Again, this was easier said than done. I found that using a screwdriver to open up the bolt bearing did the trick (See photo below). For me, this is where my engine dropped about 1".


Step #6: Swivel out the mount so you have room to put in the insert. Once you have access, you can install the corksport inserts. I found that using a large set of channel locks was helpful to get them in. The two inserts can go on either side of the mount.
(I can't believe that I didn't take a photo of the inserts installed!)

Step #7: Reseat the engine mount. For me, this involved jacking up the engine at an angle, to bring it up and to the rear. Fortunately, my parking lot has concrete markers that I was cursing during the first part of the install but allowed me to bring the engine back up at the perfect angle! Because you read this install and supported the engine from the start, you can skip this step.

Step #8: Put everything back together. The two engine mount bolts need to be torqued to 50 ft/lbs & 70 ft/lbs. Reinstall the plastic underpinning and you are done!

Impressions: The version I got were the 70 durometer, which is the softer of the two. There is a noticeable vibration on idle, but about what I anticipated. It is only on idle, there is no change in vibrations while driving. If anything, there are less vibrations while driving than before. I expect that this will ease up as the mounts break in.

There is a definite difference in responsiveness and overall driving feel. It feels like your foot is directly connected to the engine. Once you get over 40 mph or so, I haven't felt a difference, but lower speeds is very apparent.

Overall, I'm very happy with the final result. I'll be sending my feedback to Corksport, along with the few items that should probably be updated in the instructions. Enjoy everyone!
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[BillsFan]

Dang - having a lot of trouble lining up the bolt on the smaller end - I had the engine supported but when I took it out it didn't stay lined up.

How do I shift the engine/tranny back an 1"? (maybe less)

Not sure how to jack at an angle.

[Raider]

I had to have a friend put the bolt through as I did a leg press to push the engine back. Having 2 jacks to hold engine and trans from moving helped when I tool the inserts out.

[BillsFan]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuudge.

This part is a PITA (I hate when you're so close to being done and then stuff like this hits)

Thanks Raider

[BillsFan]

Posting my saga in the SURE Torq R7 thread...