Motor Plates

Whether you’re running an LS motor, big block Chevy (BBC), small block Chevy (SBC), Ford Windsor, Gen III Hemi, or any other popular race engine, a motor plate can have plenty of benefits in your race car.

For starters, when only using traditional engine mounts, a high-torque race motor can actually move around in an engine bay, front to back AND left to right. That can wreak havoc on driveline geometry and cause a host of transmission issues (including a broken transmission case). An engine plate can mitigate that movement and keep your motor and transmission firmly planted where they’re supposed to be.

Additionally, any time you stuff a high-performance motor into a mass-production car or truck that was never intended for that kind of horsepower, there’s a good chance the vehicle’s body isn’t going to like it. A motor plate can help suppress all of the extra torque and vibration created by a high revving engine and add critical rigidity to your engine bay. That can go a long way towards decreasing the rotational stress and chassis flex that occurs during a hard drag racing launch.

Motor plates open up a ton of mounting options too, giving you the ability to position the engine for the best vehicle weight balance. An engine plate system lets you mount the engine and transmission in three places. Typically, aluminum plates support the engine at the front while the center, or “midplate,” can be aluminum or steel, and that supports the engine’s rear. The rear engine mount is called the midplate mount because it is between the other two. A steel mount usually supports the transmission—depending upon the gearbox, at the tailshaft, or on the sides of the case.

And in really high horsepower scenarios, a motor plate can actually prevent your engine cylinders from distorting. Under the stress of extreme power, engine cylinders can deform and go out-of-round. And that’s particularly true for aluminum engines, like certain LS and aftermarket SBC and BBC engine applications, that trade the rigidity of a cast iron engine block for weight savings.

There are other benefits to using engine plates as well, beyond preventing engine and transmission damage, and improving you race car’s front/rear weight bias. A motor plate can free-up mounting and install options for other performance parts like custom headers, downpipes, and engine accessories.

Ready to find the right motor plates for your race car? You’ve got no shortage of engine plate options here, for popular engines like the small block/big block Chevy (SBC and BBC), Ford Cleveland and Windsor, and Chrysler small block LA, along with more modern motors like the GM LS and Mopar Gen. III Hemi. Use the handy search filters to pinpoint exactly what motor plate or plates you need now, at SummitRacing.com.