Engine Drivetrain 2nd Gen Most liked posts in thread: NM Torque Arm Inserts Question

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions; unfortunately, I ended up needing to run out, so I bolted it back together without the new bushings (at least I got to break in my new torque wrench!). The inserts were seating in just fine into the torque arm... the clearence on the subframe was just exceptionally tight. I'll give it another try this coming weekend with a few extra things on hand (had a few other suggestions from another site):

*Soap/grease/WD-40/slippery sort of substance to help fit it in.
*Rubber mallet for 'assistance'
*Large C clamp (hook one end over the subframe, the other under the arm, and screw it up into place... in theory)

I'll also make sure to have the camera on hand for documentation/further troubleshooting if need be.


Should also note for posterity... R56... 2010 MC

 

So I finally had the time and cooperative weather to go back out and take care of this. It's a nice, easy process... took maybe 15 minutes and that's with me taking my time and taking a few shots of the process.



Here's the inserts as they arrived from Outmotoring. The NM tag unfolds into a printed copy of the installation .pdf




For those who have never looked underneath their MINI, the torque arm is just a little ways in from the front, a little off to the right hand side of the car. If you look in the above picture, you can see my rachet driver hanging down from one of the bolts.



So here's the torque arm, itself. There are two 16mm bolts to deal with - the one the rachet is currently on is the connection to the subframe, and you can see the exposed bolt head that attaches to the engine.



Here, the bolt attaching the arm to the subframe has been removed; the second bolt has been loosened so the arm will move easily. I did not remove it due to very close spacing to the exhaust made it more trouble than it was worth. The inserts fit in easily enough that removal wasn't necessary. There is only one way the inserts can fit in and they go in fairly easily. There was one spot that didn't want to seat in with hand pressure, but that was easily fixed with a c-clamp (sorry, that pic didn't come out).

The arm is now a very tight fit and would not go back into place with hand pressure. I gave each side of the inserts and each side of the subframe a quick shot of WD-40 and tapped it back in with a rubber mallet.



Just a bit of figeting (and another tap or three with the mallet) and the arm is back in place. All that was needed after this picture was to tighten the bolts, make sure they are properly torqued in (80 fps) and it's done!

Having test driven it for a bit, I'm pleased with the initial results. There is a very slight vibration when at idle... so faint that I'm still not positive I'm just imagining it or not. The most noticable results have been on slow take-off from a stop... light pressure on the accelerator is immediately transferred to the drive instead of just moving the engine in it's mounts before moving the car. I'll post more once I've given the car a bit more thorough testing.

 

Just bits of tree branch... the tree in front of my house is constantly dropping branches, leaves, bark and who know what else. Even dropped a big ol' branch right through the windshield of my previous car. :incazzato:

One of these days, it's going.

 

You make due with what's at hand. Plus, it's very stable.

 

The mallet was used to get the torque arm to fit back into the subframe. I used a c-clamp to get the inserts seated all the way. The entire operation was done without ever completely removing the torque arm.

 

Way at WMW has said more than once this is one of the best investments for the dollar for a MINI... a $60 mod you can do yourself in a few minutes that has a noticable positive effect. Don't be afraid... just do it!