Front Subframe Bushings

Anyone here need front subframe bushings? Mine makes a noise once in a while and I think it is the subframe banging against the unibody. I looked for these a while ago and was unable to find anything. Is there an old Chevy model which is the same? If not, I am considering making a mold and molding a set for mine. Does anyone have the measurements or a set that they could measure? I do not want to have to take it off the road to do this or it would be down for months. This is the left front:
Pic of Bushing

Keith

Seems I saw them some place - you've checked with Steele and AMES performance correct?  Maybe as a Tempest part?

Tried: Kanter, Year One, Ames, Clarks Corvair, Steele. No dice. I found them at one point, too, but cannot remember where. I thought they were NOS and really expensive, but could be mistaken. NOS for a rubber part is probably not what we want. Cannot find my old link.

Ok yeah maybe I saw NOS ones on fleabay - that definitely could've been the case.

So far as I know, no one makes these.
One of the members on the old yahoo group contacted me.
I have some NOS bushings (rubber covered washers) that I have offered to him to produce some polyurethane ones.
I will try to remember to post when available.
I will encourage him to join the forum.
dave-TX

That would be great - please keep us posted!

There seems to be some debate on this and I may be wrong but I believe the 61 bushings are different from the 62-63 bushings. Just to be clear, the picture only shows the washers, the mounts/bushings are inside the barrel above the washer. Either here or on the Jetfire site there is a guy who posted a thread where he had a 62 with damaged bushings and used some 61 bushings. While they fit in the subframe pocket the car did not seat fully on them and sat a little high, didn't look too stable. The 61 bushings have a jagged top to the rubber while the 62-63 does not. It would be great to get some new mounts, although mine are not damaged I think the old rubber contributes to some of the cowl shake in my convertible.

I believe Skylarkman2 is Dave from the Yahoo forum. (correct me if I am wrong) I was the guy asking him for mounts to make a mold/drawings. I want to make a mold so we can have mounts. There is no way that 55 year old mounts have any give to them. I can see mine are moving around as I drive it and hear clunks when I do. I have not taken mine apart as it would be off the road indefinitely until I made something and they would be destroyed as I removed them. Can anyone point me to the pictures showing what all the components look like?

You don't need a mold. The mount is a metal shell with a metal tube in the center surrounded by rubber in the shell. It's a vulcanizing process to stick it all together. There are shops who do this but not cheap.

So here is the deal. I get that. That is what I thought it would be, a sleeve with a vulcanized doughnut and a central sleeve.
image from chassis manual
This is what is in the manual. I believe this can be re-designed as 2 rubber top hats and a sleeve plus a washer. Anything will be better than what is in there now. The problem is I do not know how big to make it all unless I can get a used one or a NOS one or measurements off a subframe that is no longer on a car. If I can leverage this group for that bit, I can design a replacement. What I am thinking is something like this:

What durometer level are you thinking?

Well, I am guessing the OEM was 70 when they were new. I'll have to see what I can get. I want them to be soft as these will be a more stiff of a connection between the subframe and the unibody than the OEM bushing arrangement.

I measured them last night. The OD is 2" and the OD of the hat will be 2-5/8  and it will be ~3/8" thick. The center tube will be 5/8"ID by 3/4 or so OD. Still working on this.

Here's a picture of the difference between the 61 mounts and 62-63 mounts. 61 mounts have the jagged top. Sorry, not removing the mounts at this time.

Do you have any of them on hand even the original ones? I am wondering what the diameter of the center tube is and what the step diameter is. I am sure I can figure it out and if I am off, I can just put it in teh lathe and turn off a bit. Pretty sure I'll destroy mine getting them out. The pictures are of the R and L mounts. The front one is smaller.

Keith

I sold the 61 mounts to one of the members here I think. He may still have them loose, I'll look back to see who they went to and draw him into this thread.

The 62 mounts are in the front subframe sitting on the shop floor so I can get some measurements out of those in the next few days. Won't remove them though, don't want to damage them.

Yes the front mount is shorter but I think otherwise the same. I'll measure it too as much as possible.

Custom880 has or had the 61 mounts for the sides. Maybe he can get some measurements for those. He is currently active on the What I'm starting with and Front disc brakes threads. I'll see if I can draw his attention here.

I have a few 61 mounts sitting around may even have a extra front mount, just going to have to look around. pay shipping and give me a great discount if you make a few and I'll send them .

I have not forgotten this, it has just moved farther back in the queue. I have a sample mount with the corrugated rubber on the washer. Mine is the 'other style'. When I had the front end apart, I added a couple sheets of 70 duro buna n to keep it from moving, but I need to make a mold and see what I get. Maybe this winter...

Keith, did you ever manufacture those mounts for a 62 special? if so, let me know how much and if you need mine for a core? 217 597-0000
Troy Noble

Not yet. One is on my desk at work. I didn't get my Skylark out this year. So out of sight out of mind. When I get a mold made I'll let the group here know

Thanks...truly appreciate it!

I do have the GM part numbers for the front isolation mount and the side mounts. The sides are 587851 and the front one is 585270. These numbers are for 61-63

The bottom washer for the sides and front isolation mount are the same depending on the year. 61 the part number is 579608 and for 62-63 it is 584382

The way I will do this, I think we will have to use our existing lower washers and will have to make tubes for the center to replace the part that is vulcanized into the OEM mount.
The front mount is shorter than the side mounts. I have a 62 and the 61 has different mounts, but I think the solution I propose will work for both as the body is the same where it mounts and the subframe is also the same. I think the geometry is similar enough that it will work. I propose having one mold cavity geometry and 2 core geometries so that we can get 2 different sizes out of it. It will require 2 pieces per location, or 4 and 2 plus 3 tubes. I intend to re-use the bolts and washers.
Basically something that looks like this:
Typical Replacement Mounts

Good morning Keith,

Not clear on whether this is applicable to your design or not. You may well be addressing this with you design and I’m not getting it.

I have only seen a pic of someone who used a 61 mount on a 62 car and the car did not sit right, there was a space between the subframe and the body frame. The body frame did not appear to sit down all the way on the subframe, don’t know why.

Sooooo, thinking more of a difference than top configuration?