Question Preliminary to 3.0 Engine Drop/Headstud job

[lespaul]

Next weekend I plan to drop my engine and remove the 8 broken exhaust head studs on my '78 SC and check out the top end and clean up things. I am hoping to not get into the bottom end. My engine has 35,000 miles on it.

I understand I can drop the engine with or without dropping the transmission. Indeed I dropped the engine on my '73 without dropping the transmission.

What are the benefits/cons of dropping: a) with the transmission or b) without the transmission?

Thanks

Brad

[Robey5]

In the 79; I can say with great certainty that the engine was not coming out with out the trans.

Speaking from a standpoint of maneuverability, I'd rather have a little bit of a counterweight of the trans for when the engine comes down. Taking the engine out with out the trans will also require removing the shaft from the trans without damaging the clutch/flywheel. The reality is that you can pull the trans with the engine much more easily than with out.

Once you have the combo down together, you can clean the trans housing.

[lespaul]

Thanks Robey. Based on your input and input from the other forum (more viewers!), I am going to take both out. Make sense.

[Eagledriver]

I'll give you the contrary view. Leaving the tranny in saves time and work. You don't have to remove and replace those pesky CV bolts. You have a nice stable tranny to push the engine onto when you are mating them.

To make it work easily I remove the fan and anything else tall (like carbs or airboxes) before pulling the engine out.

Remove the shift coupler with the allen head pin, back off the tranny mount bolts about 2 turns or so (you want enough movement to lower the bell housing a few inches. Support the bell housing with a jackstand or other implement. I remove the clutch arm by pulling off the circlip and pulling the arm down. I don't even have to re adjust the clutch during installation by doing this. If you don't remove the arm it will hit the engine case while pulling the engine back.

-Andy

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by lespaul

Next weekend I plan to drop my engine and remove the 8 broken exhaust head studs on my '78 SC and check out the top end and clean up things. I am hoping to not get into the bottom end. My engine has 35,000 miles on it.

I understand I can drop the engine with or without dropping the transmission. Indeed I dropped the engine on my '73 without dropping the transmission.

What are the benefits/cons of dropping: a) with the transmission or b) without the transmission?

Thanks

Brad

Brad,

You could go either way (with or without transmission) for your first engine drop. They both work but doing it without the transmission specially for a first timer like you is not recommended. Why? It is more troublesome and time consuming unless you have the right set-up and experience. Those who invoke the 'engine drop without transmission method' for 911 are experienced people. They want to save time and take some more risk in the process.

I will give you a very good example. A Pelicanpart member onetime brought his car to a private garage the size of a large warehouse. Numerous English sports cars like Austin Healey and other vintage cars were parked and stored in this place. They have several professional mechanics that helped this PP member get his first engine drop. These were professional mechanics that maintained the fleet of vintage race cars and they do this for a living. To make the story short, they failed to drop the engine without the transmission. The car stayed on the lift for several days until he posted in the forum for help.

I live a few miles from the shop and met this PP member for the first time. Talked to the mechanics and told them to bolt the engine back and drop the engine/trans together. They got the whole thing down on a engine dolly in minutes. And the the engine rebuild soon followed. We've been good friends since then.

Remember one thing, these were professional mechanics both over 50 years old. But they have not dropped a 911 engine before. You'll probably find a few people in this forum who would recommend doing it without transmission like Andy and JW. These are not ordinary individual. They live and breath 911.

What does common wisdom tell you? Good luck.

Tony