Engine installation

[bbh]

Any tips / advice for installing the engine / gearbox single handed?

[dougie]

Nov 7, 2019 19:40:41 GMT bbh said:

Any tips / advice for installing the engine / gearbox single handed?

I have done it on my vintage racer way too many times to remember. I've had my wife help, son help, and done solo....The right hydrauic lift and adjustable load levler is the key. More slow and cover and areas that are finished and maybe scratched.

[healeyneil]

As above !

[bbh]

Dougie, Neil, Many thanks for the comments. One follow-up:

How did / do you manage the engine mounting brackets? If you have them pre installed to the block, then on one side it looks quite tight with the prop shaft. If you leave them off, then that gives a bit more clearance, but probably more awkward to bolt back on?

[healeyneil]

I found it easier to attach the mounts when the appropriate part of the engine was below shroud level

[healeyneil]

I found it easier to attach the mounts when the appropriate part of the engine was below shroud level

[dougie]

Nov 8, 2019 23:56:39 GMT healeyneil said:

I found it easier to attach the mounts when the appropriate part of the engine was below shroud level

I agree, I loosely attach the motor mounts once I have the engine and trans clear of the shroud.

[bbh]

Many thanks, I've stripped them off along with the oil filter and distributor. Overall quite a bit narrower.

[bbh]

Slow and steady did the trick ......



.... Now just need to align those bottom mounting holes.

[dougie]

Nov 17, 2019 20:15:14 GMT bbh said:

Slow and steady did the trick ......



.... Now just need to align those bottom mounting holes.

Looking good! 

[bbh]

Just to add a few more thoughts, which might help anyone who is less experienced at doing this (like me).

Hoist - The engine hoist I have, has castors all round (6), unlike the integrated wheels / rollers on the arms, such as those shown in Dougie's post above.   The implication of this is that the front arms don't fit under the front suspension, with the car on its wheels.  Solution was to remove the castors and replace with wooden blocks.  This makes the hoist stationary, but quite stable.   

           I had the arm out at the 0.5 Ton stage, to get the reach for the bay, but still OK.  The forward chain / hook needed to be shortened, to just a couple of links in order to get the right lift height.



Load Leveller -  As indicated above a must.  I attached via the rocker cover studs which worked well, but as with the hook chain on the hoist I had to shorten the chain length from the bar to the pick-up brackets on the leveller.   The leveller I have had a bar on one side and a bolt on the other.  The bar is fine for the initial adjustment, but once it tightens, you really need to use a socket wrench on the bolt side if you want to keep things stable.  

           I did a trial run with the engine and gearbox combo away from the car, with the full lift / tilt to check the height and tilt angle I could reach (... and to make sure things didn't fall over!!).  I needed almost the full adjustment on the load leveller.  It may have been my load leveller but as I increased the angle quite steeply you do get a few jumps as the chains etc adjust themselves.  Not a big issue, but having seen / heard this on the trial I was at least prepared once it happened over the engine bay.

Protection - The car that is!.  As well as the multitude of blankets etc, I also made up a hardboard template for the front bulkhead just in case the front of the gearbox got too close.  I also used a couple of hardboard sheets down the right hand side of the engine bay as the steering column and a few other bits were already in-place.  For me this was the tighter side and I am glad I did this.  I also has a sheet of thick foam pad which I placed over the front shroud.

           As advised above I removed the engine mounting brackets and re-attached once the engine was pretty much in-place.

Movement -  As indicated the hoist was stable but static, which meant that I adjusted front back movement by rolling the car on its wheels.  For me this was much easier / controllable than moving the hoist with engine attached, even if it had been on it's wheels.

           The overall sequence was place hoist in front of engine bay, move car back, bring in engine / gearbox on trolley, hoist up and angle as much as possible to allow clearance from front shroud, Roll car forward so that end of breadbox is close to bulkhead, the engine can be further tilted now to lower the gearbox end below the bulkhead, at the same time rolling the car forward in small increments.  Once the gearbox end is into the bellhousing gap in the bulkhead the engine can be levelled / lowered, slowly and in stages with he car being rolled forward as required.









And remember: If you have just had a paint job to run a tap down through the engine mount holes to clear them out - you don't want to be doing this with the engine hovering over the mount! Same with the gearbox mounts, have them ready and prepared.