Hello Everyone! I’m going to go into details on how to replace and upgrade your old worn out engine frame mounts on a Daihatsu Hijet S83P. Now I’m not talking about the motor mounts. This is the round tube that bolts to the frame. There’s a upper and lower rubber, I have tried to get new ones but no success. All of your aftermarket body bushings are made of 90A polyurethane. I have searched and searched for the right heights and diameter, but no success. I even called a few places to have them made, forget that!!! $$$$$ bukoo bucks!! So I started looking at poly rod. Different sizes, colors and hardness. After doing a lot of internet search’s and calling off road racing places. They all recommended using 85A to 95A polyurethane for my mounts, it’s not to hard and not to soft. I found a company that sells all types of polyurethane shapes, sizes and colors. I measured my old body rubbers with a calipers and it read 1.900 inch. My options where either 2” or 1 3/4” O.D. After looking at the frame and putting a stack of 2” & 1 3/4” washers up their and looking at it, the 2” washers looked just a little wider than the frame & the 1 3/4” washers looked at lot nicer and clean looking. I ordered the polyurethane rod in 90A red to dress the look up. Order 3 feet of it, which was about $85 with tax/shipping. The poly rod got here within a week. Now the work begins. Pulled the first mount off, I found the inter bushing sleeves were old, rusting so bad they were flaking out, being in rural America, we don’t have a lowes or Home cheapo to go too! So started asking farmers around town if they had any old pipe or round stock. I found a piece for free!!!$$$& score$$$, I measured the old ones and cut the new ones, cleaned them up on the grinder and wire wheel. In the pictures you will see the calipers on the old bushing sleeves and new sleeves, the old rubber & new polyurethane bushings. Next I measured the old top rubber for thickness and the bottom thickness. The only thing that the new bushing don’t do is Slip down into the eyelet like the old rubber bushings. I got all five cut to specs (actually cut 5 uppers and 5 lowers) remember you upper bushings are the thicker ones. I also used 2 1 3/4” round x 1/8” thick washer, in between the frame, one on top of the lower & one on the bottom of the upper. Now drilling your poly rod out for the bushing sleeve. Due to my drill press being down. I used a vise but when you put the poly rod (soon to be bushing) in the vise don’t tighten it down tight, just snug! Just enough it won’t spin when drilling out. I used four different drill bits to bore it out and stepped up in size each time. (I tried a 3/4” spade bit the on the first one and ruined it) so no spade bit, maybe on a drill press. Got them all bored out and checked to see if the sleeves all fit tight, you don’t want your sleeves to wobble around inside the bushing. Everything is all ready to install now. Now you have 3 on the right side of the mini and two on the left side. I start with the one on the right side furthest back. I used a little dielectric grease on the inside of each bushing. My old bushings were dry rotted and shot. First one is in and looks good. Make sure to use a jack of some sort to raise up and let down the engine frame, the right front side is a little hard to do, I recommend taking the right front wheel off. Now the left side, there’s only two the back one is easy to do but the front one, you need to take the skid plate off to get to it, but don’t tighten the back one up all the way, otherwise the you can’t get the front one completely off, I used my floor jack and lowered the whole thing down put both new ones in the front and rear and then jacked it back up to tight the bolts( make sure to start the bolts before raising the jack all the way up, makes it easier to adjust things. I used all new bolts and retaining washers with some blue loctite, now putting the skid plate back I also used blue loctite. I now have a lot lease mystery noises and rattles, little blue mini seams to ride better and looks better. Hope this helps anyone out there with this problem!
