dehavens

I have been dropping the engine and trans using a jack with some wood. It is unstable and seems unsafe so I did some searching on the forum and found some people using a lift table to lower the engine. I found a relatively cheap one at harbor freight, brought it home put my engine without the trans on it and it lifted the engine without problem. However, when I bolted the trans to the engine it wouldn't lift until I reduced the weight by jacking up the trans a little. The lift table is rated for 500 lbs. so I figure the engine and trans weighs more than 500 lbs. Is anyone using this lift table? If I replace the hydraulic fluid will it work better? Do I have a bad one?

Here is a link to the lift table. http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-...ble-94822.html

They make a 1000 lb lift table but it is too tall.

supark

This is a great idea - I'm curious if this would work for our cars as well..

Rocket Rob

Sorry no experience with that unit. I use a Sears ATV jack. It works well and has no trouble lifting both the engine and tranny combined.


http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_101...7&blockType=L7

No affiliations. Yada yada

Cosmos99

Great idea with the ATV jack. I will be picking one up for my winter projects this year.

hawk911

damn... I used to have one of those for my motorcycle, but sold it off when I got rid of the bike!

Rocket Rob

Just to clarify, I use a piece of plywood (1" x 24" x 24") between the engine and the ATV jack to spread the load. I placed pieces of 2x4 on the bottom of the plywood to make sure that the plywood can't shift. It seems to work well. The only downside of the extra plywood is it raises the height of the engine when the jack is fully lowered. You have to raise the car a bit higher to slide the engine out from under the rear of the car.



If you need, I can try to take pictures of the plywood to help you visualize.

LouZ

I got an ATV jack from Harbor Freight for around the same money, looks similar to the Craftsman one.

hawk911

so how do you clean the engine then, once it's out? best method, chemicals, etc. I have to change out motor mounts and do valves so this is on my list for winter

Rocket Rob

When I did my clutch a couple years ago, I used a combination of methods, wire brushes to get the heavy junk off, then simple green and tooth brushes and finally brake clean for final rinses. You can see the grease stains on my wood platform.

I now have a parts washer and use it when I can. I still use the simple green and brake clean for parts than cannot be taken to the parts washer.

I'll be curious to hear how others clean then engines.

ilko

I've dropped an engine with nothing more than 2 floor jacks and a dolly. Technically speaking I lifted the car off the engine, but the end result was the same.

vespam5

Wow what wonderful timing for this thread .

Boeing 717

Yup worth its weight in gold!!!

vespam5

Anyone have this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...art-93116.html

The only downside is having to store this monster once you are finished using it.

LouZ

You can always use it as a dining room table.

I went with this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/lightwe...ift-94715.html

tgage

I have both the Harbor Freight ATV jack (like the craftsman) and a shop crane. The issue I have with the ATV jack is getting it forward enough in the car to balance out the transmission while having room to move the jack pump up and down. From experience, it was easier to use it on my old C2 and SC than my C4. If you put too thick of a piece of wood in, you run out of clearance space or lift height reach.... had to been there.

On my last drop/install on the C4, I happened to see this crane on sale for $120 or so at Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...ane-35915.html

Now were talking.... Rolled the engine back under the car, grabbed the engine by the rear engine support (there are two holes near the pulley), and up and in. Real, Real easy. I used a bottle jack to lift the front part of the transmission.

tom