What happens when an engine mount fails....!!!

Well, we had a wicked weekend at the Goodwood revival show, and the van behaved really well all weekend. Since i tuned it last week with a vacuum gauge it has made a massive difference to how it runs. The auto gearbox also shifts gears much better now as well, due to the vacuum regulator receiving more vacuum.
However, we drove nearly 500 miles at the weekend and got within 10 miles of home, when disaster struck....!!!

As i tried to pull away from some traffic lights, there was an almighty bang, followed by a few more, and the van stalled. Followed about a second later by a plume of steam from the front of the van. My initial reaction was that the engine or gearbox had just blown, but when i opened the doghouse i could see that the fan had chewed a huge hole in the radiator....!



You can see at the top of the radiator that the cores have been completely trashed, and the fan was a very unusual shape....



You can see that all the fan blades are banana shaped now. This is how the radiator got destroyed, but i couldn't figure out what had caused the fan to bend....
It took a while, i straightened up the fan blades and started the engine just to see what was happening and all was fine, i put it in drive and pressed on the accelerator and the engine tipped right over towards the passenger side. The fan hit the radiator mounting brackets and bent again causing it to hit the radiator again.... At least i now know what the problem is....!!!! The drivers side engine mount had split apart, allowing the engine to move about 8 inches....!!!

So, we ended up on the back of a breakdown truck for the last 10 miles or so home. I am now without a radiator, so i will drop this one into a radiator shop tomorrow to see if it can be recored. The fan is going in the bin, and i am going to fit an electric fan on the front of the radiator, with one of these adjustable fan controllers....


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Revotec-Electronic-Fan-Controller-Fits-38mm-Hose-/300590335544?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item45fc948638

This should free up a few horses and make the engine a bit quieter too.
I also discovered that the previous owner had completely removed the thermostat, which would explain why it never gets up to temperature....!!!

So, the van is off the road until i can get all this done, but once sorted it should be better than it was before....! I'm also thinking about putting in some sort of upper engine steady bar to stop anything like this from happening again....

An old racer trick is to install a chain to the LF top of the engine (usually a bolt hole on the front face of the left head) and down to the frame. Make sure that it clears everything and is tight. This will hold the engine down so it doesn't pull the mount apart. It will increase Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) due to the solid connection.
On the mounts, there are cheap (made in China) and quality (Made in US) mounts available here. Don't know what the supplies are over there. Also research if they make a mount that interlocks in case the rubber portion shears, so that you don't damage the radiator again. I don't know if they do Fords like that.

I have some mounts on order from Macs over in the states. Don't know where they are made. I was thinking about some rubber straps with fibre reinforcement that could simply be wrapped around the engine mounts to help prevent too much force on the mounts.

when I bought Vanishing Breed the motor mounts were both broken and held down with "C" clamps. The previous owner drove it that way for 4 years.

[i]Rods Correct on the chain - chev years back on big block corvetts- had a steel cable with eyes on the ends that you can put a bolt thru -made for this same purpose too. like in 68 up vetts -73?- maybe - might still be some around?? also- you may also be able to find a cable wholeseller that will make some out os stainless cable for you with the eyes swaged on the ends- That way - you wont have any chains ratteling going down the road-Happy Vannin

The cables were one of the first safety recalls, back in the 60s. They were installed on V8 chevys with the linkage throttle (not cable). The reason was if the mount broke on acceleration, the engine came over like yours and pulled the throttle wide open.

http://www.autosafety.org/chevrolet-motor-mounts

Here's a picture of the Mopar style interlocking mounts.
DO NOT use the supplier of the picture (Jim's)!! They are bad news.
Hop0efully there is a Ford design you can use. If not, you should rig something up to hold the power in case the mount goes again.

I relate to your misfortune Sy.

When I put in a 200 cu in, the original mounts
tore out within a week, left and right simultaneously.
I was very lucky as I caught the failure just in time
and coasted the last block home.

I put in some cheap repopped mounts since the 200 is
coming out soon.

I'm still building my modified 250 cu in and plan to use
Ford Granada mounts very similar to what Rod St. Race
is showing above. (modded 250's are known torque monsters)

In one way you are very lucky as I have seen a motor/trans
go forward like that, the driveshaft disengage from the
trans (Slide Yoke) and the drive shaft acted like a pole
vault, and kicked the rear wheels off the ground!

i have had the cables on several '60's g.m. cars and liked them. i have used chains also but always left a very small amount of slack so the mount can still flex and absorb vibration. the chain can be forced threw a rubber hose to stop the links from rattleing.