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Ok – a couple of pictures to support a tech posting on Blatchat, about taking an engine out. See here: http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?Id=168183

I’ve got a few pictures to post which may help with some elements. Main element you need is a ‘Mark Collins’ who has a nice garage with a nice winch. This helps a great deal.

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The picture above does show where we have looped the strops around the engine – these positions will be different if you are lifting the gearbox out at the same time, in order to balance the load:

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Carpet or similar over the front of the chassis will stop a swinging engine scraping your powder coating on the chassis rails:

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The next picture shows the engine going ‘in’ – note the apollo tank still connected, but tied up on-top of the engine. The breather pipe has been disconnected to enable this:

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Also note the jack at the front of the car that has been used to raise the car and make the entry angle of the gearbox better.

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Engine (and car) fully lowered.

I made a quick video clip using the pictures that were taken during the process of the engine being put back in the car, as seen above. It is almost brilliant – but sadly we didn’t actually take any pictures of the moment the engine is finally lowered in place – so we have just before, and fully in – next time I take the engine out I’ll take some more pictures, as it could be useful…

A winch on a rail above the car certainly makes life easier – but you can do the same with an engine crane….

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*WARNING* – when doing so, always remember to undo the fixings holding the engine in the car (mounts, cables, etc etc) BEFORE trying to lift the engine out….

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Some more shots of the engine bay, again showing the strapped-up apollo tank. Also note the location of straps…

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Engine Out:

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Slightly more serious warning – make sure you connect the pipes up again in the correct place. If someone accidently should connect the fuel and coolant pipes the wrong way around on the intake manifold, this is the result…

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The shot below shows a few things. You can see where we have stuck some self-adhesive, ali-coated insulating blanket on the passenger pedal box. You can see the clutch release bearing – if you are taking the engine out for something else, and you have never touched the bearing, may be worth at least checking, and maybe replacing anyway…

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BUT – more importantly, note the strap that is holding the gearbox up once the engine has been removed. The strap is wrapped around a black metal bar that has been placed on-top of the chassis. Advantage of doing this, as opposed to using a jack to support the gearbox, is that it is far easier to move the car around, which can be useful when lowering the engine back into the car – trying to co-ordinate rolling the car and a jack that is under the gearbox can be a pain…

Just found another shot of the same principle:

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When lifting the engine/gearbox assembly, be aware that it gets pretty close to the pedal box/footwell near the bell housing-this is pre-rebuild…

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Oh yes – whilst you have the engine out, check the engine mounts. They can look ok when the engine is in and stationary, but look closely…

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And finally – here is one of the easier engine installation jobs we have undertaken. To be honest, we just chucked it in…

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