I forgot about that! I've got the skid plate as well to offer yet another place for dropped nuts to be trapped. At least I have a magnetic telescopic thingy.

 

A piece of advice I had said many times - take your time! It's not hard, it's just a little tight and if you try to rush it will only make your life harder!

Shoe

 

*edit* I'll also post this over in the non-S forum, as some of my comments relate specifically to an MC
Well, it finally warmed up enough here to install the LOTF engine damper. I would have to say that my initial impression is "mildly positive". The "connected" feel that others describe escapes me. However, there is a noticable difference in the lurching between shifts, an improvement that is worth the reasonable price of this mod. I only have a few miles on it, so I'll keep gathering some observations.

I have a couple of things to say about the installation. It is a biotch! To say that things are tight is an understatement. I have a couple of tips that may help others.

*On my MC the bolt in the engine block (holding a clip and wire) was a 16mm, so have an open ended 16mm handy.
*Definitely use the blue masking tape trick to hold the long bolt/bell washer in place.
*I needed to insert/remove the damper into the small space several times to get the length right. It helps if you slide the damper back toward the firewall, then forward when doing this.
*Put the car on jackstands or ramps...your back will thank you!
*On my 03 MC there was a grounding strap and relay in the way of the space where you want to put your hands during the install. I recommend removing these for the installation.
*Shoe is right about taking your time. Forget the 15 min install times you may have seen...for most of us it will take at least that long just to adjust the damper. 30 - 60 minutes is a more realistic start-to-finish time frame.

Now, back for more road testing!

 

Once you've done it once, and use the tape trick, it goes on in maybe 10 minutes, and mine came off in 5 when I had to make a trip to the dealer for the 10k oil change. I'm not noticing a night and day difference, but it's noticable.
- Magnetic pick up is useful.
- Stubby's not necessary if you have a 6" adjustable wrench.
- Don't forget to reconnect the ground strap or it won't start...

 

Got mine today in the mail (very fast shipment) installed and I definitely noticed the difference. My best description is that it puts each component ie... engine, tranny, and chassis in harmony. GREAT MOD!!!!!!!!!!
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just bought a used one off of Don (DMH Motorsports) and plan to install it today or tomorrow. I can't wait.

 

DixonL2,
Could you explain why you felt it was necessary to remove the damper for the dealer oil service. I wouldn't think this mod would have any effect on the warranty. If you've heard otherwise please post.
Thanks

 

Installed! Took about 15 min to do. Now for the fun part...

 

Do you have any photos of this style of install?

thanks

 

Poly engine bushings was once the best kept secret in autocrossing... i'm sure the feel is good but for my 4 year old daily driver, i would like to avoid anything that would give me MORE rattles!

Anyway, congrats on the purchase.

 

I removed it before the oil change just because I could, I know it'd likely have no affect on warranty issues but wanted the dealer to cheeck the engine mount and didn't want to leave any excuses.

I also wanted to really see, now that I've put a few thousand miles on, how noticable the difference is. Unless I'm just better at rev-matching, or gentler on shifts, or something (and my shifts are pretty precise with little slippage), I'm not noticing the night-and-day difference some are claiming. Yep, there's a difference, and yep it feels more direct, but it's subtle, not night and day.

Yes, I also fooled around with some preload, no preload, and slack installs. The preload just gave a little vibration, the "just long enough" seemed best, and no preload was most subtle.

No (or minimal) increase in vibration of any kind.

A great mod, worth the money, but pretty subtle IMHO, YMMV, etc.

 

I see that you have a 2006 MCS - this is probably why you are not seeing the night and day difference that many others have pointed out.

On my 04 MCS with 45K (after having blown the stock motor mount twice now), it is certainly a night and day difference.

I took it off and have been driving it for the past week and the engine just bucks around like crazy. (Reason I took it off is that I'm due to have my valve cover gasket replaced on Sat so I just took it off early to test).

How many miles are on your car?

Glad you are enjoying the damper and thanks for posting your impressions.

Shoe

 

My '06 has 11k now, I definitely enjoy the dampner (don't get me wrong, more than worth the money and definitely feels more precise). I needed a washer between the dampner and the block to get the clearance "just right" but once done it's great.

The install really wasn't that bad at all, I put the front bolt in from the bottom and just had to hold it in place with a small wrench, I used a regular old 17mmm box-end. Kind of had to thread the wrench in there by putting the open end under and toward the driver's side, then moving the wrench backk to the bolt, but it worked fine.

 

Why does the fact that it's a 2006 vs. an earlier model matter in the effect that can be felt?

 

Well it's also dependent on how many power mods you've done but as you increase the miles on a car, your pliable parts (bushings, motor mounts, etc.) start to get worn more and aren't as stiff as they originally were.

I have a 2006 MCS with only 6K on the clock and definitely feel that bone stock the engine does not slop around as much as my 04 MCS with 45.5K on that clock.

Shoe

 

Does anyone havwe any advice on torquing down the engine-side bolt? I had to use a washer as well to give me the additional clearance from the belt tensioner (I scraped the damper body up on first install because I thought it was clear of it and wasn't), but no matter how I try I don't feel like I can get sufficient grip on that bolt for adequate tightening. It's not loose or anyhting - feels solid more or less - but the **** retentive in me wishes I could get a proper ammount of "oomph" on the wrench. Every time I try tightening it, my wrench simply slips off.

Tried crescent wrenches and stubbies. Can't use sockets or box-ends (not enough clearance to get them over the bolt head). Even tried a crows-foot wrench, figuring the offset would help, but no dice - the wrench slips over the bolt head OK but when I try torquing it the wrench hits the motor mount and slips off. Maybe my '06 cabrio has slightly differet clearances?

 

I can use a "regular" 17mm wrench with no issues. A "stubby" works better but you can really only turn it 1/6 of a turn at a time.

Did you try flipping the wrench 180 degress to see if maybe one way works better than the other? And by any chance is the head of the bolt stripped a little?

Shoe

 

Tried flipping it, yes - no help. The corners are probably a bit rounded at this point due to the way the crescent end keeps popping off. Grrr...

 

If you were closer I'd lend you a wrench... I have a set of box/open end wrenches I got from Summit (cheap) that worked perfectly. They were just offset enough on the end to get at that bolt.

 

It took me a while but after a run to the store to buy the magnetic wand everthing went fine. My fingers are a bit large for this and I never knew my hands could bend like that. The magnet came in handy holding the bell washer in place while I got the bolt in and up thru the frame hole.

I have to say that I am glad I did this.

 

I just finished putting mine on this morning
Took me about 5 minutes after I figured out how to adjust it and after I realized I need anti-seizing paste because the hole on the engine side had quite a bit of rust . All in all, a VERY easy mod to install. It just takes a bit of tampering with because it's a very small space.

 

I finally got around to installing the damper last night. I will say that several key points are left out of the intructions. Basically, a place to pause after each step and curse Lord of the Flies/Shoe.


After I lost bolts a few times, I just took the wheel off to make it easier to pick up. (the magnet comes in handy for sure) I got it all together though in about an hour so it was not too bad. I was able to use a small pair of channel lock pliers instead of the stubby wrench, but the stubby would have been a little easier, no doubt.

I did not have too much trouble tightening the engine bolt with the 17 mm wrench. I did have to turn it over each time though to get a grip as I could not turn it much.

I drove it around last night and this mroning and the differnce, while subtle (you almost have to realize, hey, the car is not doing X any more), is quite noticeable. The car seems to be better off the line and when you let off the gas in stop and go traffic, the effect is definitely noticable. I have no vibrations at all so far. All in all a very worthwhile product.

I am amazed frankly that anyone was able to engineer this thing to begine with given the crazy tight tolerances. HAts off to you.

 

installed a tsw damper last night. Set it so it fights between the two brackets perfectly. I set the thing pretty stiff. I don't notice much if any of a difference. I was trying to do things to pronounce the differences this may cause but in all honesty the car feels about the same.

Maybe im so used to shifting that I have adjusted to the pause that happens in between shifts. I guess that's what this mod would be stopping right? That pause that happens as you are pulling and pushing from one gear the next.

I'm not giving up on it quite yet. I'm going to start fooling around with settings and go for an extended drive with a wrench set and figure out what works best.

As far as I can tell It's set fairly stiff and I have a very slight vibration @ idle. Where it's most apparent is in my left foot on the dead pedel. Not enough for my gf to notice that's for sure.

I have an 06 btw and I'm on my third motormount @ 32k miles. I basically got this hoping to extend my motormount life and any performance I get out of it is mearly a plus.

As for now. I'd spend my money elsewhere but my opinion may change.

 

For the engine mount side, i had to use one of the bell shaped washers to give me enough clearence from the tensioner. I also used a lockwasher on the outside since i didnt want to use locktite. To tighten this setup, only a 17mm stubby open face would work, and only like a 1/6 turn at a time. To get it extra tight, i tapped the stubby with a hammer to turn it. I've checked it after 1000ish miles, and it's still good and tight everywhere.

I will say that on my car (19k miles) It has had a profound effect. I notice the difference everytime I drive. Especially since i have removed it a couple of times, and driven without it.

This would be one of the first mods i'd do on any modern front drive car. It's that good.

 

Put mine on last week after going through the first motor mount at 16,000 miles on our 06 MCS. I've noticed that it has firmed up the shifts and removed a lot of the movement from the engine rocking. Great mod for the price and hopefully I can get the motor mount to last longer.