Engine Removal

Hollywood · Post by **Hollywood** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:02 pm

Any advice on how in the world i can lift the frame of my car high enough to slide the engine from underneath it? I obviously don't have access to a lift. What methods have some of you used? Thanks guys.

stimpy · Post by **stimpy** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:31 pm

Engine hoist on the dogbone mount.

Hollywood · Post by **Hollywood** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:51 pm

So i will need two engine hoist or can i just rest the cradle on something? I thought i had to support the engine with the hoist...

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:04 pm

Don't pull from the dogbone mount, that is off to the side of the car, and will pull unevenly, which can cause your front end to want to slide off of whatever is supporting it (My front wheels are on 12" wooden blocks).

I pull mine from the decklid latch. It pulls it on center, and woks perfectly. Plus you don't have to pull off any body panels. On my maroon 88GT, it bent the metal rod, but I just straightened it back up with a hammer, and it works perfect. On my black 88GT it did not bend at all.

crzyone · Post by **crzyone** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:15 pm

This works awesome. A 4x4 and 2 floor jacks. You can raise and lower your car easily while using your engine hoist for the engine.

I've done 2 engine swaps like this.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:33 pm

Lifting by a single point like stimpy and aaron suggest is very dangerous. What I do is take peices of 2x4 and put bots through them. Then put them in the strut tower holes. Bolt them to the chain used to lift the car. This way your spreading the load across both strut towers, and lifting evenly. If one side breaks you should have enough time to GTFO of there before getting hurt. Jack on wheels, and only one lifting point could potentially get you killed.

The Dark Side of Will · Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:17 pm

p8ntman442 wrote:Lifting by a single point like stimpy and aaron suggest is very dangerous. What I do is take peices of 2x4 and put bots through them. Then put them in the strut tower holes. Bolt them to the chain used to lift the car. This way your spreading the load across both strut towers, and lifting evenly. If one side breaks you should have enough time to GTFO of there before getting hurt. Jack on wheels, and only one lifting point could potentially get you killed.

This is essentially what I do. Can do with chainfall or even cherry picker.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:27 pm

p8ntman442 wrote:Lifting by a single point like stimpy and aaron suggest is very dangerous. What I do is take peices of 2x4 and put bots through them. Then put them in the strut tower holes. Bolt them to the chain used to lift the car. This way your spreading the load across both strut towers, and lifting evenly. If one side breaks you should have enough time to GTFO of there before getting hurt. Jack on wheels, and only one lifting point could potentially get you killed.

I shouldn't suggest lifting from one point, it is unstable.

But my wooden blocks on the font wheels have a decent dish into them that the tire sits in, so the tires can't move side to side, and need quite a lot of force to go over the dish front to back. So it is less stable than your methods, but the car can't really go anywhere. But I wouldn't do it with just jackstands on the front end.

Mach10 · Post by **Mach10** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:30 pm

Or...

Use a length of chain with 2 hooks, and hook them into the rear crossmember that runs along the inside of the trunk between both struts.

No single point of failure, solid to the frame, and well balanced. All you need to do is yank the carpet down, out of the way. :salute:

To hold the car up, I use a pair of truck stands sitting on a couple of "boxes" made up of stacked 2x4s sitting on a wider 2x6 base.

My setup doesn't even creak when you put it down, and it's sturdy enough that you can break the strut bolts with a 6ft cheater bar... without shifting the car a milimeter.

crzyone · Post by **crzyone** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:33 pm

With my car on the 4x4s I've crawled all over my car at full height. Its very stable.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:49 pm

look, I guess i came across as a dick, but when its life safety, the wrong way just dosent cut it. I would never go under a car supported like yours crazyone. Sorry, you can do as you please, but I never would.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:56 pm

p8ntman442 wrote:look, I guess i came across as a dick, but when its life safety, the wrong way just dosent cut it. I would never go under a car supported like yours crazyone. Sorry, you can do as you please, but I never would.

I completely agree, and I won't/wouldn't go underneath mine either. I don't trust my life on a single hydraulic jack that's old, probably poorly maintained and cared for, etc.

When I do this, I have no reason to go underneath the car. All of the hose/wire rerouting can be done from above with milk crates and such to stand on. The only reason to go underneath is to get the cradle bolts in/out. But this can be done by laying besides the car, and reaching underneath, which is very little risk IMHO.

Mach10 · Post by **Mach10** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:17 am

crzyone wrote:With my car on the 4x4s I've crawled all over my car at full height. Its very stable.

It's not the 4x4 that's the weak point, it's the hydraulic jack. You're putting your life in the hands of two seals... One rubber seal on the piston, and a spring-loaded check-ball in the valve...

I've had one floor jack collapse on me, and the car fell nearly the full length of the jack's extension. Main piston seal failed, the there was fluid everywhere. Perhaps not as quick as free-fall (nothing was damaged on the car), but fast enough that if I'd been under it, there is NO way I'd have gotten out in time.

It'll work great for LIFTING the car, but I'd sure as hell put the damn thing down again on jackstands... ANYTHING fixed, as opposed to moveable.

The Dark Side of Will · Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:32 am

I just put jackstands in front of the forward cradle mounts.

crzyone · Post by **crzyone** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:51 pm

Mach10 wrote:
crzyone wrote:With my car on the 4x4s I've crawled all over my car at full height. Its very stable.

It's not the 4x4 that's the weak point, it's the hydraulic jack. You're putting your life in the hands of two seals... One rubber seal on the piston, and a spring-loaded check-ball in the valve... quote]

When the car is at working height I have the 2 jacks and a little farther in I have 2 jack stands. I also have the front end supported by jack stands so I don't crush the nose.

This pic shows one of the jack stands a little farther in.

Can't tell me this is unsafe, I have had engines in and out of fieros many times using this method. Skitime is the one that showed me this method and it works great.

crzyone · Post by **crzyone** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:57 pm

Aaron wrote:
I don't trust my life on a single hydraulic jack that's old, probably poorly maintained and cared for, etc.

Is this directed at me? All my lifting tools are under 5 years old and are really only used when swapping engines or taking them out. They are not old and they are not poorly maintained.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:05 pm

crzyone wrote: Is this directed at me? All my lifting tools are under 5 years old and are really only used when swapping engines or taking them out. They are not old and they are not poorly maintained.

No, this was directed to everyone, including myself. I don't care how new, how rarely used, or how a hydraulic unit is maintained. You should never put your life in its hands -- Because they do fail. Floor jacks, at least the ones I have and buy, do not have a mechanical interlock. Nor do engine hoists. Until they do, no one should ever go underneath an engine or car unless there is a mechanical stop in place, or there are multiple hydraulic jacks able to carry the entire load.

Mach10 · Post by **Mach10** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:19 pm

crzyone wrote:
Can't tell me this is unsafe, I have had engines in and out of fieros many times using this method. Skitime is the one that showed me this method and it works great.

The first pic showed the car being supported by two floor-jacks. THAT isn't safe--regardless of how new the jacks are. If you are supporting the car on jackstands, it's a different matter.

crzyone · Post by **crzyone** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:26 pm

You can see the jackstands in the 1st picture. They go in after the car is jacked up or before I go underneath.

p8ntman442 · Post by **p8ntman442** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:40 pm

Ok, sorry if this thread turned a little nasty. There are many ways to skin a cat, and as long as it is safe, and works I'm all for it. Crazyone's method is good if you dont have a cherry picker and dont go under the car when its up on the jacks. I have no problems with that method. I dont have any problems with The single lift point if you dont go under it when its supported that way. Its your car, if you want to drop it go for it.

The answer to the question is that you need to lift from two points under or over the car dosent matter. And you dont get under the car unless it is properly supported.