Engine drop tool list
 

I am about to do my first 911 engine drop on my 1978 911 SC. Does anyone have a specific list of tools I will need, and any tips or advice I should know?

Thanks,
~Eric

I may be attending this one. First thing you need is a cube of Pabst.

Also get:

2 floor jacks
2 jack pads
1 motorcycle jack
a few cinder blocks
a few 4x4 blocks
a few 2x6's
36mm hard oil line wrench
a good breaker bar
misc. metric sockets, wrenches and screwdrivers
good metric hex wrenches
a beater of a pallet stolen from some loading dock

Not all this stuff is necessary (well, the Pabst is), but it goes a lot faster with a floor jack on each side of the car, raise it up real high, unbolt everything and lower it onto the pallet and motocycle jack.

Are you separating tranny and engine? Removing heat x'ers?

I had more luck w/ a big adjustable wrench than the expensive 36mm oil line thingy. If you're taking the tranny out you'll need CV joint gaskets & the correct allen socket for your socket wrench.
Good luck & have fun!

I'm with Richard on this one, just a set of regular tools works, but you will need jacks and blocks of every known configuration!

I dropped mine this spring using two scissors jacks, and a stockpile of wood blocks. I just took my time, and it all worked fine.

Suggestions:
Do the engine\tranny together.
Careful of the intake stuff hitting the engine bay walls as it comes down (slowly.)
Don't forget the ground cable, speedo cable, and throttle linkage.
As the motor comes down it also goes forward to let the tranny shift rod slip out of its hole in the bodywork.
It's easier with the muffler off.

Good luck-

Be sure to get a shot of you drinking a cold one in the space where the engine used to be. That's the first time you feel like you really own the car.

Richard, what are the cinder blocks for? I don't want to assume anything, but i'm guessing or chocking the wheels?

I use the cinder blocks for holding the jack stands, covered, of course by a 2x6 on the flat side. Jack stands don't go high enough without putting them on top of something.

Richard you are just using the wrong jack stands. I got a set of heavy duty ones at Sears that will go up to 26" which, when placing them under the rear torsion bar covers, gives you almost 40" of lift at the rear bumper assuming the front tires are still on the ground. I would NEVER use cinder blocks for anything related to cars, even to block the wheels. Cinder blocks are notorious for have weak spots and cracks in them and can break without notice.

I always get called on this. They're not regular cinder blocks, but rather cinder cubes and they weigh a few times as much as cinder blocks. This is only for getting the engine out and no one every gets underneath the car when this stuff is going on.

Agreed. Harbor Freight sells HD jackstands as well (for $10!). Cinder blocks basically implode if they're loaded too much. Under compression they're fine, but there are more dynamic loads present during an engine drop- get some shear & tension forces on the block & you're in trouble.

Maybe we are all trying to tell you that we are more concerned for your safety than you are!

Kurt, I mean I always forget to elaborate that these are not regular cinder blocks. Now, perhaps I should be concerned that the NoVA ganga has done so many engine drops in Marc's garage with these things, that we should retire, maybe bronze;), them. Again, no one gets under the car with this stuff and we' ve never had the slightest problem with sliding or anything. Since we do this stuff with a floor jack on each side, it goes very fast and the blocks are used for less than 10 min. usually.

Richard, I didn't want to insult or offend, I brought up the cinder blocks in case some newbie picked up on it and thought it was a good idea. We don't need someone pinned under a car. The ones you describe are apparently much stronger so they prolly aren't a problem.

It sounds like we are all in agreement that the regular concrete cinder blocks should never be used to support anything but a wall ;)

Thanks for the info everyone, I have just about everything I need to get this done. My goal is to get the engine out of the car, seperated from the transmission and on the engine stand to start the rebuild. If I can get the heat exchangers off, it would be great but I am not trying to pack too much into one day.

Richard ~ I am going to go 'find' a pallet tonight, do I need to modify it in any way to fit on my ATV jack? And don't worry, I will have plenty of Pabst!

Thanks everyone!
~Eric

One thing to add, when removing the CV bolts, it is always good to get the grease out of the bolt heads and make sure the your allen wrench fits nice and snug in there to avoid stripping. . . My brother stripped one and it took a long time, a propane torch and one hellacious grip with a pair of visegrips to get the thing loose :)

206AA
1968 Porsche 911 2.4T

I just thought of the most valuable tool you can have to do an engine drop, (besides Wayne's 101 projects) round up a buddy who's BTDT.

Offer to feed him and supply the beer if he hangs out. Even if he never touches a wrench you'll be glad to have him there.
When I dropped mine I was constantly wondering "is it supposed to look like that" or "I wonder if I'm doing this part right? "

It would have been nice to have some experience on my side the first time.

If you cut a piece of 3/4 plywood shaped like the bottom of your engine and part of your tranny, You won't need all the 2x4s and such, and you won't have to lift the body so high

Cinder blocks, pallets, ATV jacks...???

I think this is complicating things a bit. Here are a few pics of my most recent engine drop.

http://members.cox.net/chris911rs/2.7%20RS

You can see how I use a piano dolly over the jack (the only jack you will need) to support the motor. Once you lower the jack down, the motor sits directly on the piano dolly and can be wheeled easily out from under the car and wherever you want it.

Also, don't worry about getting the car dangerously high in the air. Once the motor is down on the piano dolly (still under the car) then you can take you jack out and with a length of 2x4 to distribute the force, jack the car up a bit more underneath the rear part of the floor...right in front of the torsion tube. Without the weight of the motor/trans, this can be done safely without any damage to your car. This will allow you or a buddy to wheel the motor out from under the car and you can lower the car back down to a safe working height and back on your sturdy, not overextended jack stands.

I don't mean to insult anybody's techniques but I have done this a lot and have learned what works safely and what does not...you know the saying...learn from someone elses mistakes and not your own.

Good luck and be safe!!!

Chris

P.S. Another tip...wrap the C.V. joints with a rubber glove so you don't bump them and destroy your best work clothes! :) Your wife will kill you when you get C.V. joint grease all over the inside of her washer!

The cool jack attachment Pelican sells, as well as the lifting tool for after it's out.

I mean no disrespect, Richard, but I must disagree with the use of "cinder blocks" for supporting the car, even for the briefest period of time.

IF the blocks you're using are truly SOLID concrete they will certainly support the load, they will also weigh about 130 pounds each. However, I think what you're using are "heavy's" or "solids" (i.e. the block is a minimum 75% concrete in it's gross cross-sectional area, measured parallel to it's bearing plane, not truly SOLID) I'm happy you guys have used CMU's (concrete masonry units or "cinder blocks") successfully, but I wouldn't do it, nor would I advise anyone else to. CMU's are strong (in compression only) in only one direction (in their vertical orientation) and when used in multiples (that's what they're designed for). They are also VERY susceptible to unseen cracks or fractures (especially from repeated handling) that weaken them, even when in their correct position, this is less important when used in multiples (i.e. in a wall) but is, obviously, very important when used alone. When, and if, they do fail, it will be very sudden with no warning, they will just catastrophically collapse. I was in the construction\bulding trades for over 25 years, now I inspect it (I'm reasonably familiar with CMU's), and I would not use CMU's to support any load (like my car) that I care about.

Happy Holidays,

Jerry M
'78 SC