Toga

Hi guys I’m back for another session! Yesterday I left you stuck on the oil return line which needed a 36mm open wrench! Lesson learnt, never run to the shop, ask your neighbor first!!

Following an advise received yesterday, I started by heating the nut with an electric paint striper (?) Then I took an adjustable wrench open at 36mm to unscrew the outer nut while trying to maintain the inner one with the 32mm wrench. I say trying, because the wrench is a bit too thick . And surprise it was easy going!


I did not separate the other end of the tube from the oil tank. I just left the end you see on the picture in a small plastic box to recover the oil and put it under the right side of the car.

On the right side of the engine there is another oil line I disconnected. Starting from the oil tank I disconnect the first half:

then under the car


and finally the rest of the line out of the engine:


From now on, there is nothing left on the path of the engine!

I placed my chopper lift well centered on the engine, and far enough to hold the gear box at the same time. I used some piece of wood not to have metal/metal contact which could be slippery. And doing this, I built my wooden spacers to be as tight as possible to keep the tilting of the assembly when every thing will come down. I think this will be then easier when replacing the engine and tranny back to place…But that’s another movie!

So this is how it looks before releasing the transmission cross member and the engine mount:


The front shaft was maintained in position by a piece of wood


I put the engine and tranny under light pressure from the lift before releasing the bolts.
To find the engine mount bolts, go back to the back in the engine compartment. Remove the cover shown on the picture by simply pushing on it:


then under the car you’ll find the engine mount to unbolt. BUT you will need a long socket 19mm to do it. (Here I ran again to the shop!).

And when everything is free, that’s the moment! Gentlemen at 13:00 Z I opened slowly the hydraulic lift release button and the engine moved slowly down. I this point I noticed I forgot to unbolt the engine mounts from the car. So I did it. Then I pulled the engine a little bit backward to release the tranny from the front shaft. During all the descend process, go very slowly, because the two drive shafts are on the way! I attached the left one in a maximum possible forward position and it stayed clear all the time. But on the right side, the starter is really hard to turn around. So I went down by just a few centimeter at a time.


here you see the gearbox disconnected from the front shaft. Notice the point to position it correctly back to it during reassembly:

I still had to disconnect the clutch slave cylinder, and the throttle cable.
Here is the throttle cable mounting:

the small cylinder you see was "clipsed" in the openig shown by the arrow. It’s hard to explain how to do it, but really easy to release the cable from the mounting. Then I followed the cable and pulled all the rubber seals I saw to allow the cable end to pass through. One plastic clip on the gear box, and the cable was free. On the next picture you see the cable still attached to the gearbox.


here you see the cable free, and notice all the rubber parts I took with it.


Next step was to replace the thick wooden block by thinner ones to have the right clearance from the car. And here it goes:


Ladies and Gentlemen, I proud to present you my 3.8 engine



Of course reassembling will be another game. But here there was a lot of discoveries to be done. I think, by proceeding slowly I avoided dangerous mistakes, and by using correct tools, I also avoided damaging bolt or screw. Which could have been a real problem to solve with engine on. But honestly it's not really difficult. The workshop manual and Rennlist are instrumental in the success.
I would like to thank all of you who helped me by giving some advises through their posts, PM’s or e-mail. But also the ones who supported me “morally” by their nice comments or encouragement. Thank you guys. Thank you Rennlist.

Now I’m gonna take a break. Look at what has to be done, and take my time to do it.
If you have ideas please post them. Let me know what you would do?
My target is to fit a LWF and replace the lifter covers gasket. I’d like to clean everything also, and probably replace the belts.

I’ll keep you informed.
And now I go for a beer!
P.S. excuse my english! it must by "funny" sometime!

TomF

JP, great writeup! Thanks for all the pics and descriptions. This will make it so much easier for all of us to do this project in the future.

Rick Lee

Isn't that a great feeling? My first engine drop was a very happy moment indeed.

Hey, it looks like you might want to consider using your engine tray for winter driving. I've never seen CV flanges with rust on them and your exhaust looked rough too. I drive my 993 in all weather and the underside has not a single hint of rust or oxidation.

kkim

Congrats, JP!! Looks like a 993 giving birth to an engine.

Thanks for inviting us in these past couple of days. Your post will be a guiding light when the day comes for me to do the same. I do believe this should qualify you onto the DIY page on Robin's site.

This has made for great TV. BTW, when are the sequels due out???... LWF Install and Engine Reinstallation!!

Time to have some beer... you have more than earned it!!

Father of 3

Congrat's on the success of phase I. There should be lots of things you can do now with the engine sitting on your garage floor. I look forward to hearing the details.

mike cap

JP,

Thoroughly enjoying your series, thanks. But who's the funny looking guy standing in your engine compartment? Enjoy your beer(s) !!

slapshot

Wow, and I lose sleep over worrying about DIYing the oil, brakes and suspesnsion. Outstanding effort JP!

Toga

Great feeling indeed! But I too was suprised to see so much rust! What are CV flanges? Is it the tube we see on the first picture beside the oil line?

I'd like to look for the engine N° Anyone can tell me where to look?

Marc in AK

Thanks for the great detailed write up with pictures.....it was almost like being there......you are an inspiration to us budding DIYers......... AK

JohnJL

Awesome series, thanks so much for the great writeup and details pics w/narration.

Great job!

Ron

I was thinking the same thing. You must be handing out cigars since you were responsible for the birthing.


Exactly how far off the ground is the bottom of the car, if you use the rear jackpoint as a reference? In other words how high did you need to get the vehicle?

Monique

Well done JP,

You made it look easy.

The engine number is stamped on the right hand fan housing support.

Ciao

Toga

Thanks for your kind comments!

Monique thanks for the info.

Ron here is a picture with all the heights available.

Ron

Jp,

Thanks that's most impressive. I'm suprised the car does not need to be that high to remove the engine, obviously removing the rear bumper makes a big difference.

Toga

Ron I did a quick measurement of the bumper. The lip of the heat shield attached to it is 18cm (7.08") below the bumper attachment. So if I had left the bumper on I should have raised the rear of 22cm (8.66") more to keep the same clearance with the ground!!! And if you leave the bumper cover on it probably 1 or 2 (.8")cm more. I didn't realize that, but you're right it's a big difference.