Mass911

Greetings fellows.
Getting ready to drop my engine.
First time with this car (89 911 Carrera.
Done a good amount of reading in preparation for this event.
One thing I would love some input on is:
Exactly how high the car should be off the ground (my kingdom for a lift) and approx. how much area should I count on to move the engine around comfortably.

Also, does anybody have any advise in regards to floor jack type?
What works best for the drop ?

Currently my work space is a two car garage.

Any thoughts on this subject would be more than appreciated.
thanks!

rusnak

Mass, I suggest you get at least two 6 ton jackstands. You should plan ahead so you can find some for a good price. I'm a little bit busy at work right now, but I'll do some searching and post a link to a helpful thread on Pelican.

I made a engine platform that bolts onto an ATV jack. It's cheap and works extremely well, especially when it's time to bolt the engine back in the car. You should do the drop with the car in the middle of the garage to allow space. Also, plan on it being at least a 2-3 day job the first time you attempt it.

Double, triple, and quadruple check that you have disconnected all hoses, links, wires, lines, etc from the body to the engine and the transmission, including all ground cables. Any damage from not doing so will occur in the first 2-3 feet of the drop. A 6 ton jack stand will get you all the clearance that you need. I followed the engine drop procedure outlined by Fred Cook on Pelican.

theiceman

2-3 days ? the first one i did took about 2 hours !!!!

I used a 3 ton jack for the engine and a smaller 2 ton jack to guide that transmision down. If you can borrow an ATV jack even better. I can't remember the specific height but i do remember we took the back bumper off , took about 10 minutes but was TOTALLY worth it. it is kinda heavy so use a budy to help.

After that I just jacked up a dolly onto the bottom of the engine and when i lowered it it was already on the dolly.

The only tricky thing that most people forget is the reverse switch. cause it is not easy to spot.

You can take it out with or without the transmision. We tok it with because it was the ransmision we were after. Taking without is about 4 bolts and you can leave your CV in tact , it is just a little trickier engaging the clutch when you put it back in .
We did it in one side of the garage and it gave the other side to do the work in . Then of course is the issue of getting it up to the engine stand , depending on what you want to do of course ... and it won't spin around with the exhaust on.

Good luck .

rusnak

yup. 2-3 days, start to finish including re-installing and hooking everything back up, re-filling the oil, reinstalling cv joints, putting the car back on the ground, and tightening the lug nuts. If you can't start it up and drive it off, the job ain't done yet. I would not advise a first-timer to count on doing it in 2 hours, especially if working alone. Take your time and make sure everything is disconnected.

In the interest of saving time and trying to be helpful to the OP, here's a really great thread on supporting the engine upon removal. Mitch Leland had the most coolest engine removal method. I followed Fred Cook's method, as mentioned: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=401955

Jack the car up, place on stands. Drop engine with ATV jack. Raise car side-to-side with a rocker panel pad http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/cata...TOOLS_pg1.htm# a little at a time until the rear of the car clears the motor. You may have to lower the front back on to the ground to get enough lift at the rear, unless you opt to remove the bumper or the valance panel. The ATV jack comes with a ratcheting strap that is handy for securing the engine. If you are careful, there will be absolutely no damage to the car or the engine, even if a novice does it.

Post #7 of this thread shows the platform that I made.
https://rennlist.com/forums/911-foru...ets+doohickies

Also, Harbor Freight sells an ATV jack that is a knockoff of the Sears professional one that I bought. It is much cheaper and it looks to be made well for this type of use.

gsmith660

You got measurements on that platform thats great I would love to add one to my ATV lift.

theiceman

oh I thought you meant 2-3 days to take it out

Depending on what you want to do while it is out will determine the legnth of time in my books. But count on a couple of hours the first time to GET it out .

gsmith660

Last drop took me 90 minutes start to finish and on the engine stand. With practice it gets faster and better.

Norske

Make sure your floor jack goes up at least 19 inches. Any lower & you are asking for lots more work.

Last time I did mine on my 85 took about 90 minutes. I used a flat piece of plywood to balance engine and tranny. I found removing both together to be the easiest, but each to his own. If you have air or electric tools, the job is much easier.

rusnak

gsmith, I need to make a diagram. Give me a day or so, and I'll get back to this thread with measurements.

gsmith660

Thanks I will use it to put my motor back in a month or so from now.

rusnak

ok, cool that gives me time to head out there (to the shop) to take measurements and write down a hardware list. Now is the time to perhaps order the cv gaskets, grease, schnoor washers, and replace damaged fasteners.

rusnak

..

Mitch Leland

Just one more idea if you're using a 2 or 3 ton floor jack that has a hole in the center of the jack pad. You can use a pipe nipple screwed into the pipe flange that I've bolted to the plywood with carriage bolts.

Mitch Leland

Here's another idea for safely raising the car. Albeit you have to borrow two engine hoists, and have two fixtures made to fit over the axle hubs. I had a local welding shop do that for less than $100. The benefit was that I had complete control of raising the car and I didn't have to worry about the car falling off the jack stands in the process.

rusnak

Mitch, your solution is my all-time favorite for safe, repeatable and fast engine removal and installation.

I forgot to point out, and your last pic does a good job of showing, a block at the transmission/engine joint. This supports the transmission. The balance point is roughly half a foot aft of this block.