[78T/A462]

I picked up a 81 nascar edition transam that had a sbc in it before. Im gonna be installing a 400 with 6x heads and bought new motor mounts and need to change them cause the old ones are worn. Ive owned my share of 2nd gen transams but ive never changed the mounts before and the look almost impossible to get to. The passenger side looks like the frame has a hole where I can get a boxed end wrench on the nut but the drivers side doesnt have the same hole in the frame. Any trick or advice to getting the bolts and nuts out?? Should I remove the A arm?? Thanks for the help and sorry for the newbie question.

Alvin

[dean7276]

Just replaced mine a few months ago,the control arms were installed but it would have been much easier if they were off.There should be a small hole to access the bolts with a box wrench.I was scratchin my head too at first, but there was a way to get to these bolts.
Good luck.

[78T/A462]

Thanks for responding Dean, im about to tackle it right now!

[72 Street Bird]

When putting the nuts back in use a small scrap of paper folded over as needed. Put the paper over the open end of the wrench and push the nut down into the wrench. The paper will hold the nut in place until the bolt is tight and you can pull the wrench out without having the nut stuck in the box end.

[dean7276]

78T/A462, how did you make out?were you able to get them?

[Grand73Am]

And I guess you know you need to be using pontiac engine brackets from a firebird/ta only on your engine....

[78T/A462]

Yea luckily Barney Moravits had some motor mount brackets for the 400 he gave me for free. We installed the mounts last night and it really wasnt bad at all. I used a big craftsman magnet to hold the nut to the bolt to get it started than used a swivel socket from the bottom to hold the nut in place while tightening the bolt from the top! The timing chain cover I have is a little beat so I might need to find another one. My dad is so excited and I can't wait to get it fired up! Thank you guys for the help and advice again!

Alvin

[Skip Fix]

I've got the control arms off the Camaro now , sure looks easier to get to that bottom one with it out!

I'll be doing the same on it soon, Pontiac instead of the 383.

[2manyT/A'S]

I took an (import) 9/16 combination wrench & bent the box end at a 90 degree angle.

Used some duct tape to hold the nut in the wrench for re-install & it sure made MY job easier.

[78T/A462]

Its been kind of hard locating pontiac parts for the car since it had a sbc in it before. I think I have all the parts now and should be doing the deed tonight hopefully.

[Darren.D]

I just changed mine also. I looked in the shop manual which shows the bolts coming up from under the frame. There are some holes under so i just used a socket and long extentions to hold the bolts. Found it fairly easy.