Hey guys, i'm planning to taking my engine out, so i can do a swap. I a complete novice, and have no experience with engine removal. i'm not going to be removing the tranny, in my 83, i just wanted to know what the most difficult part would be, where i will most likely go wrong. I have a haynes manual, a shop manual, and i'll be renting a cherry picker, but what should i look out for, and will i most likely screw up, and mess up my car. I would love any advice or tips. and lastly how long should it take me to install an engine, with a few friends?


Thanks alot guys, Matt

 

be carefull not to shear any bolts or loose any of the bits , taking it out is the easy bit , putting it back is the tricky bit

 

Just unbolt everything and unclip wires and such. Make sure the motor is being supported by the cherry picker before you undo the motor mount bolts. You may want to remove your carb and exhaust manifold first if you are going to use them again.

 

Oh yeah LABEL EVERYTHING! You won't know which bolts and stuff you will have to reuse so keep it all. Buy some new gaskets for the intake and exhaust. Label all the wires too. The motor should weigh about 250 lbs. Take the oil pan off and set the motor onto something soft. Goodluck.

NATE

 

I kept all components' bolts in separate labelled ziplock bags. What I meant to do (but isn't that big of a deal) is to also label with tape where each of the electrical connections go.

It's not that hard. Just be methodical and remove everything in chunks. Or else remove the harness and coolant lines and remove everything together.

 

how about removing the clutch release cylinder, it looks pretty trickey to get at

 

And what is so trickey about putting it back in?

 

Putting it back in is just a matter of geometry. I just reinstalled my engine with exhaust header and transmission still attached. Took about 15 minutes with a hoist/crane and a floor jack.

Once you have the engine on the mounts, jack up the tranny (hopefully you remembered to mate the driveshaft as you were lowering the engine/tranny) secure the tranny, then lower all jacks and tighten away!

Speaking of which, my headache has gone down enough to get me out to start reattaching things.

Cheers!

 

How do I tackle rusty/siezed bolts, and nuts.
Do they usually present a problem when taking out or putting in an engine.


Thanks for all the quick replys

~Matt

 

I second that motion

My first swap was done as a complete novice

Every wire that MAY provide confusion when reassembling should be clearly marked to facilitate proper reconnection. Specially the order of the 5-6 emission plugs to the driver side of the carb (to this day I could not place them properly without proper markings )

As for all the bolts, might be overkill but I have a tendency to lose things... I put them all in their seperate little zip lock bags and marked where they go.
(ex: one ziplock for tranny bolts and so on)

BE patient take your time, when lifting the engine always stop and look around to make sure no wires have been forgoten or caught on the engine.

Once taken out I park the engine in a used tire.

 

what about removing the clutch release cylinder?

 

PB blaster works wonders. Soak any bolts you think might be a problem like 2 days before hand, and keep soaking them with it until you actually go to take them out. Rusty bolts present problems when doing anything, so yes, they could be a problem in your case, but it should be no biggie.

 

Removal and especially installation is a lot easier if you remove the radiator.

 

Unbolt the slave cylinder on the bellhousing. Since it's on a flexible line, use some hardwire to tie it up on the firewall out of the way. Tape the rod and boot to the slave cylinder. The pressure from the clutch fork pushing the rod into the cylinder will be gone once its unbolted and will fall out if you're not careful. Taping the thing to the slave cylinder will maintain some kind of pressure in the system so you won't have to bleed it late when you bolt it again onto the bell-housing. No need to open the hydraulics there at all.

 

I dread the day that I have to do this. Please let us know how it goes.

 

It's really not that hard. I pulled an engine for my first time a year and a half ago, and it only took me 5 days to get it out, pull the actual block apart, un-stick the stuck-down apex seals (all of them, don't ask), put it back together with new rubber seals, etc, and then put the engine back in.

Last time I removed and replaced the engine, it only took me about 2 hours complete job, start to finish. I've pulled the engine a total of about 4 times... it gets easier each time


Jeff

 

On the first engine you mention, can you give a little history?

• How many miles did it have prior to you pulling it?
• Was it smoking or have a bad idle? Why did you pull it?
• After it went back in, was it "cured"?
• Did it smoke at all?
• How long did it last after this "simple" freshen-up job?

Inquiring minds need to know!

Thanks! Mario3

 

Its mounted to the tranny. Why would you want to pull it? You said your only pulling the engine not the tranny right? BTW, the tranny will hang on the aft mount so no need to support it, just watch that you dont stretch the clutch slave hose (if your tranny mount is bad itll hang lower than normal, possibly damaging the hose).

 

you can leave it or remove but the key is not to put stress on the hose.