partial engine drop.. questions
 

Well, im currently in the process of cleaning up the engine bay of my 83 SC, replacing all the vacuum hoses, and readjusting everything, although the CIS air boot on top is going to be difficult to remove..

I was wondering about lowering the engine a few inches in order to accomplish this. It looks as though all I'll have to do is loosen the two bolts that secure the engine bar to the chassis. Based on the thread length of the bolts, I would estimate I have about 2 inches to work with.. That should be enough... I also plan to secure the engine with my floor jack.

Now, in order to do this, should i disconnect the shift linkage, or will the angle be unaffected? Oil Lines?

Jared -

to gain any amount of room to work, you'll need to remove the rear engine mount bolts, entirely. That's standard procedure and usually no problem to re-fasten when done.

What I do is put the transmission into first or third gear. That pushes the shift coupler rearward and allows it to fully flex when you lower the engine. Just watch for hoses & wires that might get tight when lowering. Go slowly, and you'll gain a good 5-6" of space in which to work. the rubber boot is really very easy to remove.

best of luck.

Seems like it would be really easy to perform a lot of basic hose replacement this way... all I know is that I cant access the two vacuum connections to the air boot as it is right now...

you can do some things with the engine lowered, but not as many as you might think. even with the air boot removed and the engine lowered, it's really tight in there. You can troll around a bit with a mirror and light, and you can do some things by feel.

Jared,

Follow Hald's recommendations. I just did a partial drop and was able to replace all fuel and vacuum lines, rear shocks, soundproof pad, rear motor mounts and rear engine bracket with no problems. Use an impact wrench to remove the two motor mounts so you don't bend or break the rear engine bracket like I did... Very easy way to gain access to just about everything on the top of the engine!