Tony

Knowing what a PITA the two upper belhousing bolts are to get at when installing and removing the motor i thought a modifiaction may work. (actually all the bolts are a PITA)

I think Bill Ball may have done this already...chime in Bill

What i was looking at doing was removing a section of material from the upper bellhousing as shown. Its the redish/brown square area directly below the drive shaft.

The width would allow the drive shaft to pass through. Similar to the gap that the shaft sits in now

The idea is to preattatch the upper bellhousing to the motor with the 4 PITA bolts already TQ'd to spec and then lower the motor in. ON the way "down" the drive shaft would pass through the slot i made. Once in postion i bolt the front of the torque tube to the belhousing via the 4 bolts shown in the pic. Four bolts that are VERY easy to get at!

I honestly dont think the structure of the upper front bellhousing would really be compromised because the lower half bolts up to it and would in essence help reinforce the area where material was removed.

Also shown in the pic is a square green rectangle where i could make a steel/aluminum plate with two appropriaely spaced holes on either end to bridge the gap if i had to.

At this point its just an idea, but im getting ready to drop this in this week. I put the tranny, TT and rear suspension in last night.

Doing this is there still room to lower and manuever the motor in? Obviously the radiator is out...so i think there is?

I really dont want to deal with those 2 upper bellhousing bolts that arre tough to get a wrench on.

Bill Ball

I didn't do this, although we debated it when we did a torque tube replacement while leaving the tranny in the car. Jim Bailey and Greg Brown reported they have seen a number of cars with this "modification" although neither liked the idea. It is a short-cut for sure over getting to the upper bellhousing bolts in the car. I like your replacement bridge idea. My guess was that cutting out the bridge wouldn't cause any problems either, but that bridge replacement piece would nullify any concern.

Having the bellhousing installed will make installing the motor a little more challenging in terms of firewall clearance, and the motor will have to be angled more during the drop.

ZEUS+

I suggested this awhile ago, plenty of negative feedback though. It does work well and saves hours of work.
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-forum/323155-help-how-far-can-xmission-be-lowered-b4-something-breaks.html

Tony

thanks for the link.

those that raise the argument that it may be prone to some sort of failure, im sure you could be right. Remember though that the lower bellhousing bolts to the upper half in that area and the area that is removed is actually bridged by the lower housing with bolts at either side.(green in the pic) As said i can also add a simple piece of steel bar with two holes for the TT bolts on either end to bridge the gap as well.

Knowing that this motor will probably be out again in the future, perhaps many times, ease of removal is a key for me...as well as properly TQing the bellhouisng bolts to the engine. Speaking of which, How would you get a TQ wrench on those bolts in the sapce your left with?

Input is appreicate...on either case, thanks


tooke the pic from the link zues gave.

dprantl

Has anyone ever successfully lifted the body off the driveline using a 4-post lift?

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

ZEUS+

When replacing motor mounts, I support the engine with a trans jack. Can easily access bolts by lowering. Not all people have equipment available. You would need an extension and swivel which distorts torque value, so you have to compensate.

BC

I did it with four jack stands and some cinder blocks.

Jim bailey - 928 International

We use a two post lift and have lifted 500-600 bodies off the driveline.... the quick and easy way to take one apart....no engine hoist needed just drop the suspension. It is how Porsche designed the car to be assembled , just in reverse

dprantl

I think if someone could come up with a safe and repeatable procedure to do this in a garage, there would be no need for these modifications.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

atb

Tony,

Is the issue that the TT and tranny are already in the car?
Just leave the bell housing loose around the drive shaft, lower the motor into the hole, and then bolt up the bellhousing to the motor while it is still on the hoist, but with the drive shaft coming through it.
With the motor still on the cherry picker you have more room between the bell housing and the firewall to access the top BH bolts. Torque them, and the drop the motor onto the mounts.

Lizard928

I have done this mod to my bellhousing as well, I have had no ill side affects.

When the bottom cover is bolted on that holds it together more than enough.

mark kibort

isnt the real reason for doing this , to get away from clutch removal ? This way, everthing but the headers are attached to the engine and just pulls right out. (if there is room)

Interesting. What is really needed is a new header design that stays on the engine for engine pulling!

AO

Tony,
I used a long-reach 19mm(IIRC) combination wrench on the two uppers with great success. I got it at Harbor freight. I might have added a second wrench for some extra leverage.

Tony

Brilliant! you win! I will look into that.

atb

Since you've removed the flex plate from the hub, you shouldn't have any problems, but if the hub/flex plate were left intact, you'd have to slide the hub assembly onto the driveshaft before bolting the bell housing to the block, since the hub/plate assembly won't fit from below after the TT/BH/Motor are all bolted together. ALSO, if you removed the starter mount, make sure you bolt it back on BEFORE bolting the flywheel to the crank.

Have fun.