2 Engine Drop Questions????? Please

[herman maire]

1-Do I have to remove the alternator wire leads ?
2- where the heck is the speedometer cable and the reverse switch wire?


I cant see anything under all the grease and everything I try to clean finds someway to fall in my eyes.

For the record Wayne's book is in the mail.

This is for my 72.
thanks

also do I have to remove any hard fuel lines to the left (driver side)of the motor?
Thanks again.

[Jim Sims]

Are you dropping the engine only or the engine and tranmission together (later is advised for a first timer)?

[ischmitz]

A 72 has the mechanic speedo at the nose of the transmission. And you need to remove the leads to the starter and the ground strap at the body. No need to remove the alternator or its wiring.

Of course that's assuming you drop the engine/tranny as one unit.

[herman maire]

Yup, Engine+trans for sure.

I pretty much have everything covered except for those 2 things.

[Jim Sims]

If the battery ground up front (or grounds - you may have two batteries) are not disconnected stop and do this now. The starter cable is hot and unfused. There should be at least two fuel connections on the driver's side of the engine compartment to disconnect along with two vapor hoses (that go to the tunnel) on the top of the engine. More later but disconnect those batteries!

[herman maire]

Originally posted by ischmitz
A 72 has the mechanic speedo at the nose of the transmission. And you need to remove the leads to the starter and the ground strap at the body.

Wooohooo
thanks for the quick replys.

Mechanic speedo thats what I thought so I looked besides the shifter coupler but I dont see anything that resembles a speedo cable only wires and the steel throttle linkage stuff. Or does the speedo cable unbolt outside the car?

[herman maire]

Originally posted by Jim Sims
If the battery ground up front (or grounds - you may have two batteries) are not disconnected stop and do this now. The starter cable is hot and unfused. There should be at least two fuel connections on the driver's side of the engine compartment to disconnect along with two vapor hoses (that go to the tunnel) on the top of the engine. More later but disconnect those batteries!

Thanks Jim
Yeah I disconnected the batterys. Although I did not do this until I was reaching for the starter cable nut with my wrench. Pretty dumb on my part.

[ischmitz]

the speedo input is back there. You have to crawl underneath the car. It's sort of tugged away above the transmission cross member

[Jim Sims]

Put on safety glasses or goggles to keep the debris out of your eyes.

Disconnect the following:
-Shift coupler through interior tunnel cover.
-Inboard CV joints.
-Fabric strap holding clutch cable and out of the way of throttle bell crank on DS of transmission.
-Clutch cable.
-Throttle linkage rod from bell crank to top of engine.
-Oil and breather lines to oil tank, etc.
-14-pin connector.
-Other wiring (likely ignition) to electrical chassis on DS of engine compartment.
-Transmission ground strap to body.
-Starter cable.
-Hose clamps on heater hoses from heater boxes to heater valves on body.
- Speedometer cable fitting screws off; it may be helpful to support the front of the transmission and remove the front support member to gain access.
- It is also sometimes helpful to remove the ignition coil to get additional clearence when lowering the engine.

[herman maire]

Im going to go look for that speedo cable and those fuel lines now.

[herman maire]

Originally posted by Jim Sims
Put on safety glasses or goggles to keep the debris out of your eyes.

Disconnect the following:
-Shift coupler through interior tunnel cover.
-Inboard CV joints.
-Fabric strap holding clutch cable and out of the way of throttle bell crank on DS of transmission.
-Clutch cable.
-Throttle linkage rod from bell crank to top of engine.
-Oil and breather lines to oil tank, etc.
-14-pin connector.
-Other wiring (likely ignition) to electrical chassis on DS of engine compartment.
-Transmission ground strap to body.
-Starter cable.
-Hose clamps on heater hoses from heater boxes to heater valves on body.
- Speedometer cable fitting screws off; it may be helpful to support the front of the transmission and remove the front support member to gain access.
- It is also sometimes helpful to remove the ignition coil to get additional clearence when lowering the engine.

Thanks Jim
I am going to print this off and use this as check list. The fabric strap for the clutch cable looked more like paper on mine it just crumbled.
I will post if I have any other problems/questions.
thanks again
really apreciate it.

[herman maire]

One other question.
Is it okay to raise the car on the engine case ( a few inches in front of the oil sump cover towards the transmission ) or the diff housing?

I raised it on the case. Is this a No No? Im thinking it was not a good thing.

Man I really need Wayne's book.

[911pcars]

You can find the speedo cable and tube very easily as it's the item that supports the drivetrain as you try to remove it from the chassis.

Try looking between the nose of the gearbox and the rear of the tunnel sheet metal.

IMHO, I would place the floor jack w/a block of wood under the crossmember to lift the car.

Sherwood

[ischmitz]

Originally posted by herman maire
One other question.
Is it okay to raise the car on the engine case ( a few inches in front of the oil sump cover towards the transmission ) or the diff housing?

I raised it on the case. Is this a No No? Im thinking it was not a good thing.

Man I really need Wayne's book.

Lot's of people do it that way but I is not ideal and can lead to cracks in the case. I would recommend using a 2x4 placed right at the seam where the rear footwells end and the firewall begins. Put it across the entire width of car and place the jack in the center coming in from one side. That makes a good jack point and gets the car up pretty high.

[herman maire]

Originally posted by ischmitz
Lot's of people do it that way but I is not ideal and can lead to cracks in the case. I would recommend using a 2x4 placed right at the seam where the rear footwells end and the firewall begins. Put it across the entire width of car and place the jack in the center coming in from one side. That makes a good jack point and gets the car up pretty high.

Ischmitz- Thats a cool idea for raising/lowering the car, I will definitely try it this way next time.

As for the drop everything went well, no hook ups nothing . It just slid right out, it was a bit of a balancing act with the floor jack pad sliding around on the oily case though.

The only bummer is when I went to loosing the speedo cable it came off a little to easy.

Gotta love magnesium corossion.
Its also pretty pitted around the transmission to diff housing bolts. I guess I will have to find some doner part for the rebuild. I am starting to have second thoughts if the tranny is rebuildable.

[911pcars]

Herman,
Here's another "cool" idea. Can't you find a warmer place to drop the drivetrain? That is snow we see around the gearbox isn't it? Ahh, the feel of 32º magnesium on the fingertips.

Keep warm,
Sherwood