I participated in the LOTF group buy on these engine dampers and since I have an 02 MCS, I could not install the damper in the original area. Plus I could not install it in the second area using the LOTF brackets because I had an OCC in that area. I then decided to try my own way. Here are pictures of the carboard prototypes. I found a way to place the damper using the same front mounting position hole and using the 02 damper bolt as pictured. As for the final material, I found that door brackets from the local hardware store will do the trick.

 

It's damper, not dampener

 

Nice job Arly.

 

No offense...But.....You aren't an engineer are you?

Do you have any idea what material those are made from?

 

I am not an engineer. Those hold beams to lock a barn door, so I assume they will be strong enough. From what I observe, the brackets are zinc coated steel. About an 1/8 IN thick and they do not bent easily. If these do not work, I might go to our machine shop and get some scrap T6 AL or angle iron.

 

I am an engineer....those look like steel brackets to me.

Jason

 

And what do you suggest? A $55,000 dollar engineering study to determine load torque and material requirements.
Good grief:impatient .... It’s a brace! To limit engine movement, if it fails just double up the bracket on the frame rail.
This isn't a critical part that life depends on.

 

I just did a test fitting and the only concern is how close the bolt is to the OCC hoses. I might have to change bolt head shape, maybe a bolt style that used a hex key. I might be able to lengthen one of the hose so that it clears without rubbing. Again the steel versions will be slightly more accurate since the card board flexed when I bolted the OEM damper bolt. i'll see if this work. The brackets were a couple of bucks each so I am not out too much.

 

I'm an art student, and even i can tell those are steel brackets

Who needs an engineer for this?

Looks great Arly....props on working around hurdles

 

I could see that from your picture. I have some that I bought for another project that are truck stake body brackets used to hold the stakes. You might want to make a plate for underneath to sandwich the frame rail.

 

well, i'm an engineer and i think this kind of home depot engineering / monster garage tinkering is great!

the only comments i have:

what is the function of the 2 little tabs that are bent over on the rear side of the upper/aft bracket? to keep the bracket from rotating?

the lower bracket will also have a force trying to rotate it about the axis of the bolt. if you make the bracket a "u" shape with the sides of the u straddling the bolt, you'll reduce or eliminate that rotating force.

 

I'm gonna guess they are there to keep it from rotating up and down

 

I think you did a great job. But.....
The bad is, that the top mount is bolted through a rubber mount and the bracket that returns to the rear rubber mount, not directly where the movement is, the actual mount that is bolted to the engine ( where the ground strap is connected ).
You could build the same type of arangement, as the front horn, and bolt it through the engine mount.

 

Steve's right.
I discussed this with Shoe when we were figuring out brackets for his damper, he wanted to bolt it there.
I shot it down because you are trying to dampen a rubber bushed mount. Definitely relocate the engine side mount.
Other than that, nice job Arly.

 

No study needed. But the brackets are clearly the weakest link (depending on material and cross section) abd IF the brace is actually a brace at all and loaded at all under hard acceleration(I have my doubts that it is) then these brackets are likely to fail.....No its not life threatening, no harm in trying!

Well there are MANY types of steel and the type used IS important if you expect it to work

I do too! really! The best "engineers" I have seen are farmers with nothing more than a high school education fabricating thier own clever equipment to get a job done! I do encourage the tinkering spirit

 

I disagree with you on that 100%. For this bracket to work (to allow the damper to do it's job) the brackets need to be stiff and have minimal deflection. When it comes to stiffness, "steel is steel", the actual stiffness (modulus of elasticity) stays pretty much identical for different grades of steel, although the strength of the steel does vary. I am not going to judge Arly's design here (good or bad), but for a bracket like this using any grade of steel, one needs to design for stiffness. If it is stiff enough, than it's going to be strong enough. If it's flexible enough to break, then it wasn't stiff enough to be doing it's job anyways, no matter what grade of steel.

Jason


Jason

 

On the topic of stiffness, I wonder about the brackets stiffness. If they aren't stiff enough, or have any rotation (play) to them, this would allow the damper to move laterally which may cause additional wear on the piston and seal.

Justa thought... I agree that tinkering like this is fun! Looks nice

 

Idealy you want as little hardware, added mounts, point to point, as possible. This would elimate the possibility of flex. LOTF has made new mounts that address the mounting on the earlier cars. It does ad hardware but is as minimal as possible so that it is a bolt on application ( much the same as Arly - no customer holes required ). Except for 1 mounting point ( rubber mount isolateing the motor mount ) Arlys system would work fine. See Partsmans post #14
There is a Thread here somewhere, Lordof the flies, that has a picture of the damper installed... worth a look

 

If these dampers are hydraulic or not but I don’t think they are. So no piston and seal to worry about.
I think they are nothing more than a captured rubber bushing inside that shock absorber looking body.
Please somebody correct me if I’m wrong.

 

the bolt that is left in the picture is actually attached to the same part as the LOTF bracket. You will notice that I am reinforcing the OEM damper using that bolt. That bracket will be made out of the bought brackets and I will leave the back section where the "L" starts and grind down the area that the OEM bracket is at. This will prevent my bracket from rotating up and down. As for the frame bracket, the U shape will be better. I will explore if I can still use the brackets I bought and cut off the ears. I hope that the remaining bracket will be tall enough. I have to still clear the OCC and be not too tall and then I will hit the hood.

I appreciate most of the comments here. I am a tinkerer at heart and mechanically inclined. I just like making things work when others will give up.

 

Yor are correct in your assumption. The inner material is hard rubber material. The shock rod hits it to absord the movement of the engine.

 

no, you are right. in this application "if it dosnt bend it wont break". I guess my concern is that it WILL bend IF it does in fact carry a load.

If you clamped those brackets down in a vice can you bend them by hand? I think you could.

For a easy little experiment fab a cardboard link in there, fix them ridgidly together and go around the block and accelerate pretty hard a few times then check to see if the cardboard bent any. I think there may not be any movement to dampen in which case the conversation is a mute point and underhood style is the only factor.

 

You are correct that Shoe's bracket is bolted to that same part, but he is not using the same bolt that you are. His connection is more direct, as the bolt you are using is surrounded by a rubber bushing. The engine torque will move that bolt inside the bushing, unless you pre-load your setup by pulling the engine forward a little, adjusting the damper, bolting everything together tight, and then let the engine go.

 

I also made my own mount. The damper must attach to the motormount that is bolted to the block, no rubber bushed components.
I know that there is a LOTF post here on NAM. You would see that his mount is secured to the same piece.

 

Very nice, Steve. Great job!
Did you drill and tap the aluminum bracket? I can't really see what you used for fasteners.