tips for reinstalling an engine

[ADRay]

I'm at that great point in my refurb when I have dropped my A+ back in my Mini. I have new mounts with captive nuts (see pic)

I have placed it as close as possible, but it's just not completely seating (cap nuts look like crescents through all 4 holes). I've left it for a couple of days to see if the weight would compress the rubber a little.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to get past this issue?

Thanks

[skmini]

I'm sure someone else with more experience will chime in. I haven't used mounts with captive nuts, so this might not be applicable, but I usually align the mount to the subframe with a punch, wiggling it around to get the holes to line up.

Hard to say which would be more of a PIA: lining up the captive nuts without cross threading/damaging the threads or trying to drop the left rear bolt in without captive nuts.

[94touring]

I hate the bastards. Inevitably I cross thread one.  I think the last set I drilled out the captives and used my own nuts and washer on the back side.

[MiniDave]

I usually do as skmini suggests, use a punch to move it around and get it lined up.  If you still have it on the hoist, lift it slightly - if not put a jack under the sump and take the weight off so you can move it more easily.

The other thing you can do is drill out the holes in the subframe slightly - they're 5/16 now and you can go to 11/32 or even as much as 3/8 without causing any issues, just use a good flat washer under the head of the bolt......but it's better if you get them in as is. I like the idea of these mounts, but agree that sometimes they're just a complete PITA.

I've also found that they're not made accurately so the spacing of the holes doesn't match the subframe holes - close, but slightly off. That's when I get out the drill or a burr and make everything match. If you can get one in and threaded all the way into the nut, then see if the other one lines up to the hole, if not then make the hole match.

One quick question - you're not trying to mount a manual engine into an automatic subframe? Cause they are different....