Or how not to start. (well, not needing to start is the first goal in all of our lives... but if you must, be prepared). This is the car, and the engine to be removed.






You NEED to have tools (selection of metric sockets and wrenches, along with extensions, wobles, a breaker bar, screwdrivers, softheaded hammer, etc). A duplicae set (or sets if more than 1 person is assisting) is a good idea so everyone can be working on the car at the same time. A floor jack and jack stands are Imparitive ~ you want a floor jack that can left more than 21" and jack-stands that match. And engine hoist with all the associated bits to hold your engine (chain and hooks that attach to the engine lift points). LOTS of parts cleaner, WD-40/liquid wrench, a system of organization (boxes for each set of components) and a general idea of what you're going to be doing. It'd be a Great idea to have read, reread and rereread the pages from the service manual that describe the engine removal procedure. Acutally, there are some pretty good writeups on here too (I found one that Brian Perry wrote in brief that was the guide for most of what we did today).

I'm only stating these, because none of them were true for the wrenching that happened outside of Atlanta today. LOL

This is the engine that's going back in the car ~ brought back from 944Fest in the back of Ilikemy944's car.



This was the car, basically unchanged 8 hours after starting:



We did manage to get the Alt, AC, PS, Radiator, exhaust, starter and some suspension bits removed by this point though:



The happy P-car owner (slacker isn't even on Rennlist, yet he's a computer geek and gets Ilikemy944 to solicite our help.. heh):



Ilikemy944 doing some dirty work (finally, he got me to show up and PROMPTLY left for work, leaving me incharge since the car owner had no previous wrenching experience):



The exhaust had been worked on in the past, and WELDED to the car, thus making removal with easy reinstalation virtually impossible - it's still hanging there..





When I left, after 10 hours or so, they were working on the crossmember, but the engine should be sitting on the ground now. I hope they have the best of luck getting things put together and running well on the EXTREMELY limited budget. If anyone has good motor mounts that can be donated, they can sure be used by these guys. Same's true for anything else related to putting an engine back in (they have belts and a head gasket kit).

If you try this at home, PLEASE be prepared ~ it makes things so much smoother and your volunteers will be so much less stressed if they don't have to organize and run everything.

 

I wish that I could have found the time to help. With another set of hands and another set of tools, it should have gone a lot smoother.

 

Geez... looks like like we were doing the same thing in different ends of the continent this weekend! https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...threadid=87162

Hope you guys get it out soon!

K27 had a great - actually brilliant - way to slide the engine out from under the car without using a dolly or hoist. We dropped the engine onto wood blocks - which were on top of a large 3 x 3 sheet of thick cardboard. This in turn was on top of a thick doubled up plastic sheet - like vapor barrier plastic. When we raised the body high enough, it was easy to just PULL the engine forward and slide it on the plastic sheet! Smooth level concrete floor is a must however. Piece of cake! Try it if you are stuck at that point.

 

Yeh, I felt bad about leaving this morning...
I forgot I had most of my tools still in my car... (heh)
We didn't get it out tonight, had some issues with power steering lines in the way that did NOT want to move. Tomorrow
We did however, get the suspension detached from the crossmember, the rack is being held in 'unremovable' by one damn line... almost...
I don't think that it was lack of wrenching experience, cause I his dad made him do work with him on other cars, not quite this in depth, but I think he was just scared to work on it... but whatever...
Btw Brian, the help was much appreciated and next time I promise I'll even stay for the whole thing

 

Bout time you guys work on getting that motor in,lol. If you need any online support you got my AIM ID Brad. Good luck on the swap guys. BTW, Brad, did a guy get ahold of you for the front pullies and PS pully, he had a post up a week or so ago. I posted and told him to get ahold of you and see if he could get your buddie's old ones.

 

I feel your pain>

you can leave the line attatched to the crossmember, just undo it from the rack and the pump.

cheers
Lance

 

Lance, we were attempting to keep as many systems complete as possible so as to skip the need of bleeding everything. not like the PS system is hard to bleed, but it's just an extra hassle.

Randy, we were going to drop the engine all the way to the floor, then just pick up the front end of the car and roll it backwards (rear wheels are on ramps) till the engine was clear. Probably easier to move the car at that point than the engine.

Brad, sucks that you didn't get the thing out last night - I thought for sure it'd be on the ground by now. Hopefully it'll be an easy day today and you can focus on getting the other motor rebuit and ready to go back in the car.

 

I have some questions.

You took the engine out from under the car?

Could you have taken it out from the top and not had to remove the suspension and steering?

 

Based on the suggestions of the few people who've done both, we went with the default of taking it out the bottom. The claims of it being "multiples easier" than trying to squeeze it through the top were enough of a sway. It's the way listed in the Factory Service Manuals too I believe.

To remove from the top, you have to remove the header pannel, light system and still use lots of lube to squeeze it out ~ IIRC from those previous posts.

 

That just doesnt make sense to me to have to remove the lights and stuff.

I just looked at mine and there is a clear line to pull the engine right out the top.

Maybe it just hard because you need a really tall engine stand.

What did the claims say about bringing it out the bottom?

 

Am I insane for wanting to do this to my car to freshen up the motor after almost 150k???

 

The engine has to move forward 8~10" to clear the drive shaft/torque tube. But beyond that, Porsche says to take it out the bottom ~ there's a reason they say that. I believe they know best when it comes to working on their cars. couple that with the claims here on Rennlist (the Search option is at the top right if you choose to go back and read all the comments I've read over the past 16 months) and the engine goes out and comes in from the bottom. Don't take my word for it, please look into the reasons for yourself.

Pete, yes - at 150k miles if the engines had even reasonable care it's only half way through its life, if even that far. You can replace everything in the engine with the thing installed if you feel the need though.

 

i pulled my turbo engine out through the top. it wasn't that bad, i just had to use a 2x4 to pry it out the last 2 inches. i did have to take the heat shield off for the brake booster, and i had to take the headlight lifter things out. i could have gotten away without doing that if i could have gotten the crank pulley off. did not have to take the header panel off.

any way, i put it back in from the bottom. i must admit, it was WAY easier putting it back in through the bottom then it was to manipulate that hunk out from the top. but if i had to pull it out again, i think i could do it much easier (it was my first engine work ever too...) either from the bottom or the top.

 

Looking at that 4th picture (lift attached): It looks like your chain is 20 feet long!

Sliding the engine: Last year I did something similar, but simpler. Flattened corruragted carton on the floor, two sheets of clear poly plastic from a roll, another carton on top. Lowered engine until it laid on its side and pulled it out. Pretty easy and it went in the same way, just pushing. And no helpers, just me.

Out the top: I have dropped two engines out the bottom, but next time I'm going out the top. You have to take off the belts and pulleys and radiator, but not touch the headlight stuff. And you need a balance bar on the lift to tilt the engine out. You can leave the exhaust in the car and the crossmember and the PS rack, so you save lots of time and money (no alignment afterwards). Anyway, that's the theory, I hope it's a long time until I have to test it!

 

The top rad support(the one with the hood latch on it) is why it's easier out the bottom.

Lance