How high do you need to jack car to remove motor?

For 1st time removal (for myself) of my motor/trans on my 78SC I need to purchase taller jackstands/jack the ones I have looked at are 6ton and raise up to 24" and the jack I am looking at raises to 21" are these tall enough to clear my motor from car?

Thanks
Jeff

Yes, those sound more than adequate! My 25-year old 5-ton jack stands are also 24-inch lift, and my 3-ton jack is only rated for 19 inches, and several VW and Porsche engines have been pulled with them.

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

How high? Way too frikin' high!
Really, I don't know the number of inches, but on an SC, you have to jack the rear end WAY, WAY up there to get enough clearance.
I think it is the hairyest and worst part of the whole job, at least for the home garage mechanic.
The pelican site has some pic in the engine removal piece that will give you an idea, but those don't do justice to how high the rear really is, IMO!

I feel your pain, really . I have to do the same thing this weekend (Pull the motor/trans) because the guy who cut my bell housing to the wrong length created another problem besides the "stripped starter ring gear". This time I have an inop clutch. So I have to yank it out again.

The "bonus" is I may even get the opportunity to pay for a new case and main shaft and start over again. Oh boy, I can't wait!

Hoping 3rd time is really a charm.

s

[This message has been edited by H2O911 (edited 06-08-2000).]

I believe the PP Tech Article states that the torsion bar tubes need to be 24.5" off the floor. THis is about what I found. My 6-ton jacks barely accomplish this. I may have even used a 1/2" sheet of plywood under the jacks to avoid their full extension. The PP article also gives a measurement related to how far the rear valence needs to be from the floor.

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'83 SC

When I removed my engine, I had to raise the rear of the car approximately 34" to the sheet metal lip above the bumper. That is with the bumper removed.

I used 2x4 & 4x4 oak softners between the jack and the engine. Used floor stands to support the body at the longitudinal frame just in front of the rear wheels. Have some pics if you are interested. Send me a e-mail

Regards


Steve

Oh, by the way, one longstanding controversy (according to my understanding) among air cooled car fixers without fancy hoists, is whether you jack up the car and then drop the engine, or whether you drop the engine and then jack up the car.

While I agree that they need to be raised fairly far, I don't think this is the greatest danger. IMHO, 6-ton jackstands under the torsion tube covers in the wheel wells are a nice, wide, positive support even though they're holding the car HIGH. I felt comfortable with this. What gave me the creeps was trying to lower an engine from this height using a floor jack. To begin with, a floor jack will NOT reach the engien at this height. So, you extend the floor jack fully and still add several inches of plywood under it to get it high enough. I was very anxious.

So the next time I tried the other method, and I like it a lot better. Jack it up a LITTLE bit. Remove the engine, then jack the car up as far as you need.

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'83 SC

Thanks everyone great advice, saved me a few cusswords and time.

Jeff

After pulling out my engine without a decent way to lift the car I picked up a 2 ton folding engine hoist to lift the car higher. I couldn't get the engine under even with 6 ton stands. I put the engine on a jack between the hoist legs. I then lifted the car with the hoist the extra needed to get the engine under, pushed under the engine and let the car back down.


It worked way better than doing it with a jack and the hoist folds up and sits in a corner. I found it on sale for 300$ Canadian so its not that expensive considering how convenient it is. The second time I had to remove the engine (split oil cooler) I was glad I had purchased it.



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'76 911S

'80 924 M471

The PP Tech Article advises using a furniture dolly. I was able to get one for $16 at Harbor Freight Tools. It's as low as it can be over wheels that can handle the weight. Engine and tranny. worked well. 6-ton jacks and a small 1/2" plywood piece under each jackstand. The jackstands were $20/pair, also at Harbor Freight. This method worked for me. I also put a piece of wood under the belly pan and firewall just to be sure. I'm not going to die under a car. I felt very secure about the jackstand suppoort under the torsion tubes in spite of the height.

Finding the balance point of the engine/tranny was the "iff"iest part, until I found it.

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'83 SC

Instead of plywood under the engine and transaxle, I use a piece of fir 2 x 12, about 30" long ... being 'harder, denser' than plywood, it has less of a tendency to deform or have the jack platform 'dig in' so the adjustment for the CG (balance point) is easy by pulling or pushing while bracing ( or having someone else 'steady') the jack.

You may want to use several layers of cardboard scraps between the jack stand center-pieces, and the torsion bar tubes ... to keep from scratching or gouging the undercoating on the tubes. It will be damaged (most likely) by the bare metal, otherwise!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Cherry picker ie. engine hoist is really cool. Bought mine for less than 200 bucks at Sam's. Stuck a couple of long bolts with washers through the chain links and stuck the bolts in the engine mount holes. Put the chain on the hook and presto my 80 SC sits on a stack of 3 993 wheels and tires with a 4x4 on top to make a T to the suspension mounts. The nose of the 928 goes right up to almost the center of the rear tires. Lotsa room to open the door of the 32' garage. Mine's in storage(yeah, I know that with the wheels off the ground, the pistons in the shocks could lose some of their luster, that's what white lithium spray is for.) But for engine r & r Gary Peters knows the route. P.S. You could use a long channel to attach the chain to to avoid the weird angle on the pulling chain.

Hi I posted a reply earlier but this thing said illegal procedure and shut down. Anyhow, Gary Peters is on the right track. I bought my cherry picker from Sams for less than $200 a year ago. Sting about a four or five foot chain from the motor mount bolts and loop it over the hook on the hoist and up and up she goes. My 80 euro SC now sits on a 4 x 4 which rests on a stack of 993 wheels with tires. My old 928S's nose is three feet deeper in the garage and I have lots of room to get in and out the man door in my 32' deep garage. Don't lower the engine, raise the car up and slide the engine out on a nice little dolly!

I've got my '85 911 up on stands as we speak. I used a floor jack under the engine to lower it onto a furniture dolly, then rolled it out from under the car. The Jack stands that support the car via the torsion bar tube caps is extended 23.5". This raises the rear bumper lower sheet metal trim to 34.25" from the floor. The dolly with fully dressed engine cleared the car by about 1.5". I was quite pleased with how easy the task was. Don't forget to disconnect the ground strap connection to the trans. Good luck.

I've got my '85 911 up on stands as we speak. I used a floor jack under the engine to lower it onto a furniture dolly, then rolled it out from under the car. The Jack stands that support the car via the torsion bar tube caps is extended 23.5". This raises the rear bumper lower sheet metal trim to 34.25" from the floor. The dolly with fully dressed engine cleared the car by about 1.5". I was quite pleased with how easy the task was. Don't forget to disconnect the ground strap connection to the trans. Good luck.