2 rule changes for 2013 – motor mounts and oil pans

The rules I have linked to here were for the 2011 season, and it’s looking like 2013 will be the first real season the car gets.

The SCCA released its October Fastrack recently, and besides the controversial classing of the new Scion/Subaru FT86 twins in STX, two new allowances were communicated.

One, the ST category is now free to run motor mounts of unrestricted origin, so long as they are no lighter than stock.

Two, the ST category is now allowed to run aftermarket oil pans and pickups.

The oil pan allowance will be a great help to the Camaro, as the car is not known for its good oil control from the factory, under heavy lateral loads.  The motor mount allowance is less of a boon, but in theory, having the engine solidly mounted could contribute to overall vehicle stiffness, which is a weak point of the Camaro. 

So solid mounts it is.  First, I weighed the brand new Prothane mount as a baseline.  The original motor mounts were long long gone, so I don’t know exactly what they weighed.  The Prothane units are quite beefy, made of solid polyurethane, whereas factory mounts tend to be soft rubber with voids, allowing for more movement.  I figure as long as my solid mounts weigh at least as much as the Prothane mounts, I’ll be ok.  If anyone out there has a perfect OEM motor mount they can weigh, I’d appreciate it.

Here’s the Prothane, not light at over 35 ounces:

And here’s a new Moroso solid mount:

12.4 ounces, almost 23 ounces lighter, so between the two, almost 3 pounds difference!  Ugg.  Going to have to figure out how to add 3 pounds to these mounts to stay legal.

The oil pan is another project, haven’t quite started on yet.