Removing X-flow engine

[Mikey UC]

I need to remove the engine, to install a lightened flywheel I have sitting around.

 

I normally take out the engine and gearbox as a unit, mostly because getting the gearbox and clutch to line up is such a pain.

 

However I now have one of those clutch aligning tools, so I was wondering if I dare risk removing the engine on its own, has anybody used one of these ? are they good enough to risk clutch aligning with the gearbox in situ ?

 

Also there doesn’t seem to be much space in front of the X-Flow to drag the engine forward and disengage it from the gearbox splines before it hits the front chassis member, has anybody removed the engine without the gearbox.

 

Thanks for the help

 

Michael

 

[ashaughnessy]

I removed my engine without the gearbox (though I put them back in as a unit). However, I did decouple the prop shaft and unbolt the gearbox from the chassis first. This meant I could slide the gearbox backwards to get the necessary clearance. If you're doing all this it might be just as easy to take the whole lot out as a unit. I don't think the gearbox removal adds much to the difficulty of the job, the gearbox/propshaft is the easy part of the whole affair.

Anthony

 

Edited by - ashaughnessy on 4 Apr 2006 13:42:03

[Midnight]

I've often removed just the engine. You need a bit of broom handle to rest on the diagonal tubes above the front of the gearbox. When the engine is being separated from the gearbox you can put a scissor jack or a suitably sized wooden block under the gearbox bellhousing to keep it at roughtly the right height and to prevent the whole weight of the engine gearbox from resting on the gearbox input shaft. You then need to feed a couple of heavy duty tie wraps through the top

gearbox bellhousing to engine bolt holes and round the broom handle to support the G/box while the engine is out. When putting the engine back in you just cut and pull the tie wraps out once you have a few of the bellhousing to block bolts started to keep things together. I then just use the engine hoist to position the block in the chassis to get the engine mounts on and bolted to the block

[John Ryan]

 

Just done the job. It was really easy to swing the gearbox/engine out as a unit, you just need a second person to help press the graebox down as it comes out.

 

It will also make reuniting them after a clutch change much easier.

 

Bottom line is that both methods work, but I think removing both together is easier.

 

John

[Nigel Riches]

Mikey, I think a lot depends on the chassis type you have, certainly on my 1982 frame there is no room to remove the engine seperate from the gearbox, however later chassis where changed, not sure when, and the tube which runs across the top of the engine bay (on mine)between the upper suspension mounts is changed to a diagonal arrangement, with a corresponding re-alignment of the tube from lower to upper suspension pick ups. Personally I'd be inclined to remove it all as a "lump", perhaps you'll need a hand to guide the tailend of the 'box in and out, but it's no big deal.

Hope this helps , regards Nigel.

 

1982. 5 speed, clamshells. B.R.G / Ali. The True Colours.

[Mikey UC]

 

Thanks chaps

 

Was just trying to save myself as much work as possible, but it sounds like I’ll heed the advice and take the gearbox out as well.

 

Cheers Callum for the blat mail, will remember to do lots of jiggling with the clutch alignment tool.