Big Dave

Ok...I will probably be known as the person that took the longest to remove an engine...but who cares...I've done it all alone and in my (almost non-existant) spare time.

ANYWAY....THE ENGINE IS IN THE AIR...although still in the engine bay. There are a couple things that need to be done to free it completely...like the A/C compressor which I forgot to undo. Duh. I've also got to get into the fuse panel and push the wiring through per the manual instructions.

Getting to this point I encountered very few snags...at least fewer than I expected (knock on wood). I only snapped one bolt: the 13mm bolt that holds the motor mount, but half the bolt came out so the mount is free. I can get the rest out (drill out) once the engine is on a stand.

I'M SOOOOO CLOSE!!!!!

Garth S

heinrich

Dave ... YOU GO DUDE!!

AO

Kick a$$ dude! So does this meant he engine pulling party is off? I was so looking forward to having pizza and beer while pulling that damn thing.

Big Dave

It ain't out yet. After giving that thing a hoist on the crane, I'm suspecting I'm going to need assistance to get the engine out of the bay. The first thing I realized (after noticing that some A/C stuff needed disconnecting) was that the legs on the crane need to be lengthened...the front end of the crane was lifting off the floor!

I'm just doing things whenever I have an hour or two of time. That makes it hard to organize anything. I may end up bugging Dennis to come over since he's only 5 minutes away. Maybe Jim D. since he's only a couple blocks from me and he's pulled a 928 engine before.

Chris

Dave, if you mean push from the fuse panel into the engine bay then don't do it ... much easier to unhook all the wires from the engine. I did it this way on removal and was the biggest mistake I made in the whole procedure.

Congrats though, your nearly there !!

Chris

Big Dave

Hmmm....I need to take a look to find out where those connections are on the engine.


On a wholly-unrelated noted...my new engine mounts arrived 5 minutes ago. $53 shipped.

jorj7

Dave,

The real success would be if you can beat Brendan in getting the engine reinstalled...

mark kibort

give us the overview of what it takes for a shade tree mechanic to get an engine out of an early car.

scot and i are going to pull his 4.5 and replace it with a 5 liter soon. i dont think ive really done an engine pull alone before. is it just pull the headers, pull the radiator and disconnect the clutch and out it comes with an engine lift??? ha ha.

mk

Big Dave

George: Without question, that engine will be back in and running by May if not sooner.

Mark: Pulling the engine is not technically challenging since I have the WSM and a book written specficially for the '85 model that details the engine removal process, step by step. In addition to disconnecting the headers, clutch and pulling the radiator, you need to:

- disconnect fuel lines
- disconnect steering lines
- disconnect various wiring components
- disconect bell housing (in my case, the torque tube from the bell housing since the housing is coming out after I couldn't get the housing-to-block bolts free)
- disconnect motor mounts

I never get to spend more than 2-3 hours at a time in the garage, and those times are usually once a week or so. I'm taking my time removing items since I'm being very careful not to strip or break anything. As I mentioned, I've only sheared off one bolt (1/2 of it) from the motor mounts. I also removed quite a few items that didn't need to be removed as a part of the engine pull just because I knew I wanted to detail the engine bay. I'm cleaning things as I go and storing them neatly in the corner.

A lot of time is wasted realizing that I need a different tool, going to the store, getting it, coming home and finding out that the next step requires yet another different tool. I now have quite a collection of different socket wrenches designed for getting at a variety of hidden fasteners. I make it a habit of putting every tool away between work sessions (1) because I'm a freak about making sure everything is in it's place, and (2) because I want everything locked up tight. I've had things stolen out of my garage in the past, and I'm not going to let it happen easily again.

Oh, and having a tree fall on the garage delayed things a bit.

JP Rodkey

You should be able to leave the headers/exhaust in place. The heads are much wider, and once clear of the spring towers, everything else is easy. I've used a cheapie Allied engine hoist for years, and had a problem with the length of the boom. Finally got some 2" X 2" square steel stock, four feet long, and drilled holes to replace in the Allied boom. Now I can reach as far back as needed without the hoist pushed against the nose of the car. Works well. You do want to make sure the hydraulics are strong because it adds quite a load beyond the 'normal' capacity of the hoist. The aluminum 928 engine is manageable, but a big ol' cast iron Detroit engine might well be too much to lift with an extended boom.

I'm not sure if you mean you're pulling the engine/clutch/housing together. I've done that, and won't do it again because the angle of the motor mounts and length of engine/clutch/housing make it really tough using a standard engine hoist. If you can still do it, you will probably be happier breaking the engine to housing bolts, dropping it back down and removing the clutch assembly - assuming it's a five-speed.

Have fun!

hupp

I pulled my '79 4.5 with the upper bell housing and clutch intact (and reinstalled this way). The starter gear would tend to get hung up on the upper bell when it was left attached to the torque tube (I tried it this way first.) Not to mention that one of the the upper bell housing bolts is a pain to reach. In my opinion, removing with bell housing intact vs. removing without bell housing is a wash. Although, it was nice to replacing and adjusting the clutch with the engine out of the shark. Dropping the engine back in took about 45 min - this included bolting up to mounts and torque tube only. Hooking up everything else took about a day.

Big Dave

I meant to say I disconnected the exhaust manifolds from my x-pipe....I don't have headers...

justin

I thought the engines came out the bottom,like my old 944?

FlyingDog

Pictures?