Actuallly the bushings and donut are worn out. They are on the way so I was just intrigued to see what Freepers though of the reason it was there. I plan to replace the drivetrain with either an Ecotech 2.2 (an Opel design used since 97 in Europe) out of a rwd Pontiac Solstice or an injected 2.4 Liter engine out of an early 90’s Opel Tigra. Bored and stroked, would be a great ride. At that point, I will reconsider the transmission and rear drivetrain options. Input here has been great by the way!
Holy crap - in an 1800 lb car? LOL! You planning to drive this thing up telephone poles and cliffsides? But yeah, if the u-joints are whacking the car you're losing a lot of power. Gotta do something.
Could I ask as a favor that if you do the above you take some pix and share? And maybe think about some four-points while you're at it? You're gonna want to strap into that one... ;-)
If you want to get a Solstice engine, see if you can lay your hands on the turbo 2.0 liter in the GXP, at 250-ish HP, it’s a pretty hot little motor.