Reply to "Engine moved???"

Its fairly common in 30yr-old Panteras (and hard-driven newer ones) to find the motor mount bolts in the block broken, or the long central bolt connecting the two halves of the motor mounts is lost. What happens is, the rubber separator between the halves gradually colapses on the inboard side of each mount, putting a bending strain on the bolts, which snaps them. Or during a rebuild, someone installs urethane plastic separators which MELT from header heat. The long bolt is supposed to be put in from the top, but we always forget and do it too late from the bottom. This makes it difficult to install the cotter pin; vibration backs off the nut, the bolt drops out and the engine is now free to flop around. It will move back over, but remember, you're trying to shift 650 lbs of engine/transaxle, and the trans mounts have likely bent to one side, too.