5000S Transmission mount

[Michael Spiers <mikes@specnet.com>]

OK group, question time!  Over the weekend I prepared to put a new exhaust on
the 84 5kS (the flexpipe from the converter to the rear resonator is in pretty
bad shape, and two of my coffee cans rusted off.)  Put her up on ramps and
jackstands and got ready to do my thing.  After hacksawing the old extension
pipe of of the catalytic converter and installing a new one, I pushed off of
the new pipe to slide out from under the car.  The whole car lurched forward,
damn near knocking the rear end off of the jackstands!  I stayed under to
investigate.  Mind you, the front wheels were on ramps, rear supported by three
jackstands under the false axel, and the car was in first (5spd manual).  I
pushed on the extension pipe again, again the car lurched forward.  Seems I
could lift the whole engine and transmission about three inches in the rear
with just the extension pipe!  Since the car was in gear, and I was moving the
motor upward, I was actually causing the wheels to move forward in the ramps,
thus causing the whole car to lurch forward.  After some close investigation, I
saw that the rear transmission mounts were shot.  There is a bell-shaped metal
plate at the end of a bolt, that mounts into a large rubber bushing.  The metal
bell was a little more than an inch from the rubber on both sides.  I jacked up
the rear of the transmission with a jack and removed both transmission mounts.
 The right mount was both ripped apart and melted to a gooey (GUI) substance,
aparently because the return line on the rack & pinion is leaking like a seive
directly onto this mount.  The left transmision mount was also ripped in two.
 I pulled the Quattro up next to the 84 to compare notes, and found that the
bell-shaped thingy is about a half an inch away from the rubber mount on the
Quattro.  I went through countless exhausts on the 84, all of them breaking
right after the extension pipe.  Obviously this is because of the movement
allowed by the bad transmission mounts.  I'm wondering if the mounts on the
Quattro are bad now also.  At a cinsiderable discount, I got a new Walker
exhaust system for the 84 for $300, including both mufflers and extensin pipe
and all gaskets & clamps & rubber mounts.  I cannot get an exhaust for the
Quattro from Walker.  How low should the transmisssion mounts be on the
Quattro?  Is everyone elses bell-shaped thingy hanging about a half an inch
from the rubber mount also?  I was going to replace both mounts on the Quattro
also, but I called the Audi dealer here in Vienna and they want $45.00 per
mount!  Ouch!  However, this is much cheaper than a new exhaust, so I may go
that route if I need to.  Please help!  How low should these mounts be before
replaceing???  TIA

-Mike
87 5000CS TQ