Better to remove engine or eng/tranny?
 

I keep getting conflicting advice about whether it is better to remove just the engine or the engine/tranny together. Which do you think is better and why?

You can ask again and still get conflicting answers. For the first time, I'd recommend removing as a unit. Thereafter, you can decide your favorite procedure.

MHO,
Sherwood

My first time I removed both the engine and trans as a unit. After countless searches this looked like the way to go for a rookie. Its really not a great deal of extra work.

I'd recommend as a unit- much more stable. Just double and triple check you've disconnected everything first! I was able to do it myself with very little assistance from my father-in-law.

I have pulled my engine and put it back in by myself twice, both times without the tranny. I am not saying it is better, it's just the way i do it.
Lining the two up during re-assembly can be a PITA but if you pull the starter completely out and look through the hole it makes it much easier to line up the throwout arm etc.

Thats what I was thinking, that if the engine is removed by itself putting it back would be hard because of the difficulty in lining it up with the tranny.

When I did my rebuild I pulled the engine alone thinking it would be easier to handle by myself. Then I removed the transmission and reinstalled as a unit. Don't have the experience to say one is better but this worked for me. Used the ATV jack to remove the engine alone which was definantly a stable platform.

One benefit of removing them as a pair is so that the inner CV joints and bolts get looked at.
Two of my bolts were badly stretched and neede replacement.
If I had dropped just the engine as I have done in the past, these bolts would have failed and left me on the side of the road.
I found that when re-installing the pair, the front (trans) mounts were difficult to line up.
If you just barely connect the rear (motor) mounts and then start the trans mounts bolts, it's much easier.
Then make sure everything is tight.
Make a check list if necessary.
And....have fun....after all...you could be working on you uncles old tractor! ....LOL
Bob

We pull the engine and trans together when the trans needs rtepair. If repairing the engine is the goal we pull the engine alone.

I generally work alone with one jack. I couldn't imagine installing the engine without the trans under those circumstances. droping, no sweat gravity is on your side and everything tends to want to fall apart, but going back in is another story.

Does anyone have a picture of the tranny mounts? I don't know where they are and how many there are.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/911/911_...978-83/3-6.JPG

I do it either way. Each has it's own PITA procedures...

What is PITA? Thanks for the diagram! Shoud the tranny be disconnected where the support meets the tranny or where the tranny meets the frame?

Pain In The Ass.
You remove the number 8 bolt in the diagram.

I have only done one drop and I droped as a unit, it was pretty easy.
I guess its a little more work removing the cv-joints but its not hard...

Do you disconnect the tranny mounts before the engine mounts?

If you take the trans out with the engine, disconnect the trans bolts first and the package will be supported by the nose cone of the trans. Then as you lower the engine pull back on the lump and the nose cone will clear the hole.
Balancing the lump will prove to be the greatest challenge.

PITA? Well maybe an exageration...

Disconnect them with the trans remaining in the car means a tougher time lining up the clutch fork.

Disconnect together and you have to wrestle with a larger unit and disconnect all the CV bolts and risk tearing the CV-joint gaskets...

sO WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?

Re: Better to remove engine or eng/tranny?
 

and finally,
"sO WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND?"

Don,
We could continue this conversation ad infinitum, but I doubt everyone will agree there's just one way to do it. That's because ..... there's more than one way to do it.

You'll just have to decide to remove either one large hunk or one slightly smaller hunk. So get busy and let us know which way you prefer.

Sherwood

If you take both out, you can more easily clean the transmission and the chaise around it.

I have only done one drop and that was with the transmission, so I can't give you a recommendation based on that....

It is important to remember that if you drop the engine separately and decide the trans should come it's not too late. You can still remove the trans.

Does the anti-sway bar need to be moved out of the way to pull the tranny out?

yes it does.

dam................................

Its not difficult to remove

A question that kinda goes along with this thread; Do you have to remove the little arm off of the clutch release shaft to get the throwout arm to clear the bearing?

I am 99% ready to lower the engine/tranny from my 69S. I hope I can control the jack enough to lower it a little bit then pull it back, then lower it some more and then pull it back more. Sometime when I lower the jack it comes down faster than I expect!!!!!!

yes, to seperate the engine from the tranny you need to remove the clutch lever arm.

Thanks, Sammy. I removed it when I installed mine, but was unsure if it was necessary.

Once the engine/tranny are out how can I position it so it is stable and I can start to tear it down? Can I leave it on the jack?

I think most put them down on the heat exchangers with some 2x4s under them.
I made myself a little trolly that supported the engine under the mid seam and with supports (just for balance) under the heat-x.

If you do that how do you work on the bottom of the engine?

I stripped the top of mine then mounted it on an engine stand. Much easier to work on with the ability to flip.

Then you use your engine stand :)

If the fuel system (and fuel) is removed along with any oil, you can sit the engine on the flywheel. You could even flip the engine upside down and work on it if you remove any crushable components from the topside (e.g. engine shroud).

Sherwood

I can't imagine stripping an engine by flipping it on the floor. Then there is reassembly. Can you retime an engine and torque the cam nuts on the floor? I'm sure it has been done but I don't want to.

How do you do it?

How does one move the engine from the jack to the engiine stand?

Imagine the engine assy. on a bench, then imagine standing the engine on the flywheel end or bottom to work on it. That's how I did it with my limited work space augmented by a rotating bearing assy supporting it underneath. If it can be done on a bench, it can be done on the floor - whatever works. BTW, the only assy. procedures under the engine I can think of include installing the oil drain tubes and the sump plate, and for these operations, the engine can sit on the flywheel end.

You can work on an engine at any convenient working height be that on the ground, bench level or .....? However, if you feel most comfortable working with an engine stand, then that's the way you'll go. But it's not the only way.

Sherwood