Lifting car for engine drop

[BlueWing]

I don't think my jackstands will be tall enough to safely hold the car up for a lengthy period of time, the steep angle to manuever the engine in and out and general awkwardness of the steep angle.

So after several searches here I like the idea of disconnecting everything needed to drop at a lower flatter position, lower the engine with my ATV jack and than raise the car for the short duration to slide the engine from underneath and return it to the lower position.

I have an engine hoist (cherry picker) and a heavy duty floor jack. Any suggestions on lifting the car for those few minutes with either of these pieces of equipment?

I will be doing this solo so the safest and best for the car method is what I am asking. I will have the wife on standby as second eyes, hands and safety.

Terry

[fanaudical]

My process:

- Removed rear bumper
- Support rear of car on jackstands off rear torsion bar covers (put rear of car at high angle up). I used my floor jack and a jack pad in the side lift points to raise the car a little at a time on each side.
- Made small cradle for floor jack with 2x6's and dropped engine/trans with floor jack

Engine made it out with 0.5" vertical height to spare.

[Brown747]

Terry,
Email sent.

[pete3799]

That's how i do it.
After the motor is on the ground slide the jack in from the side ahead of the rear wheels and jack (With a 12" piece of wood to dist. the weight) the center of the car up right under the shift linkage access cover.

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by BlueWing

I don't think my jackstands will be tall enough to safely hold the car up for a lengthy period of time, the steep angle to manuever the engine in and out and general awkwardness of the steep angle.

So after several searches here I like the idea of disconnecting everything needed to drop at a lower flatter position, lower the engine with my ATV jack and than raise the car for the short duration to slide the engine from underneath and return it to the lower position.

I have an engine hoist (cherry picker) and a heavy duty floor jack. Any suggestions on lifting the car for those few minutes with either of these pieces of equipment?

I will be doing this solo so the safest and best for the car method is what I am asking. I will have the wife on standby as second eyes, hands and safety.

Terry

Terry,

Before I had my hydraulic lift, I used the method of lifting the car's rear end using hoists to clear the engine sitting on a dolly. I've done it for years safely and effectively. Friends had used and borrowed my set-up till they switched to hydraulic lifts.

After you have dropped the engine on a suitable carrier of your choice (cart, furniture dolly, ATV jack, etc.), getting the rear end up could be done in several ways like engine hoist, cherry picker, floor jacks, etc. In your case, using a cherry picker or engine hoist would be to fabricate something to hold the car by the rear engine mounts and use chains for lifting. In my case, I used the side mountings for the factory jack and lift it from there.

Some pictures of my old set-up before switching to hydraulic car lift:




There are several pictures of the different techniques people used in the past and posted in this forum. My only advise is to stay safe and take your time. I used jack stands as additional safety device just in case something happens unexpectedly. I worked solo most of the time so safety is my main concern when doing job like this. Keep us posted.

Tony

[Brown747]

Terry,
Like Pete is describing above. I used a 2x6 to raise it the last couple of inches.
Thor

[BlueWing]

Thanks for the input.
fanaudical - I really don't want to tackle the bumper removal. I checked it out earlier on my approach but with the amount of corrosion on all the hardware it will become another chapter of repair. I am holding out until I eventually do a respray. Body is solid but the hardware is crusty.

Thor and Pete - sounds like the jacking on wood at the rear bulkhead area from the side might work for me. I usually use the side jack points to raise and lower the car just don't like using the motor as a jacking structural point.

Tony I was thinking of using the factory points for lifting but thought that puts some twisting factor in the square recepticle, the engine hoist might be an alternative using unistrut for a carrier with some grade 8 hardware in the motormounts.

Today I'll start disconnecting what I can and while under there size up a 2x4 to span that area and do a trial fit.



Terry

[boyt911sc]

Originally Posted by BlueWing

Thanks for the input.
fanaudical - I really don't want to tackle the bumper removal. I checked it out earlier on my approach but with the amount of corrosion on all the hardware it will become another chapter of repair. I am holding out until I eventually do a respray. Body is solid but the hardware is crusty.

Thor and Pete - sounds like the jacking on wood at the rear bulkhead area from the side might work for me. I usually use the side jack points to raise and lower the car just don't like using the motor as a jacking structural point.

Tony I was thinking of using the factory points for lifting but thought that puts some twisting factor in the square recepticle, the engine hoist might be an alternative using unistrut for a carrier with some grade 8 hardware in the motormounts.

Today I'll start disconnecting what I can and while under there size up a 2x4 to span that area and do a trial fit.

Terry

Terry,

If you are just a 100 miles away from me, I'll offer to drop your engine for a big slice of pizza and soda. I could drop the engine faster using the hoist compared with my hydraulic under an hour (everything ready and disconnected). Without the engine, the car will be very light and easy to lift on two (2) front wheels.

Go search for the pictures about lifting car for engine drop and you'll find them very useful and helpful for your project. Keep us posted.

Tony

[gregwils]

You need about 32" of clearance if you use an ATV jack. If you take the bumper off, the car really isn't that high. I did buy 6 ton jack stands and I have a few 2 x 12s under each jack stand because I don't like to have them near full extension. The farther they are extended, the less stable the whole set up feels.

[wildcat077]

Terry,

I made a sling and used my engine hoist to lift the rear of my car to pull the engine out ... I'm away from home until tomorrow night so i can't post any pictures as i don't have them in my laptop but if you do a search on the forum in some of the engine drop threads you'll see my setup !

I used the motor mount bolts and it was a piece of cake ...

Cheers !
Phil

[lonewolf]

If it's close and you can't raise the rear any more then lower the front.
Flatten the tires or take your front wheels off . that will give you some extra room by increasing the angle.
make sure you have a full tank or put weight in the trunk to keep the front down.

[DohertyCM]

I know how you feel...
This is before I knew about the Pelican forums!
Im doing things a little differently now..

[porwolf]

Here is another way to lift the car, by the rear engine mounts: see the Wildcat77 post.

First time engine drop

[rusnak]

Wow, some scary pictures here.

Rear bumpe removal is not necessary, nor the easiest way.

To raise the car high enough to clear the lowered engine, you can use a jack pad, and go side to side with some wooden blocks. The jack pad I'm talking about is a simple 1" square box steel bar welded to a 1/4" pad.

Use 6-ton jackstands at the rear, and you may have to lower the front without wheels in order to clear the last bit if you have not removed the rear valence. I've done this now several times, and it's not too difficult. If you are leaving the car outside while the engine is out, cover the car with plastic in the event of rain.

[porwolf]

The Wildcat77 post reminds me of a situation where in the middle of nowhere, near Bakersfield, CA, a roadside gas station dropped my 69 WV engine for a piston replacement. They lifted it up by the bumper brackets with chains, keeping the front wheels on the ground. It worked.

[philip j]

then put a couple of blocks of wood under the tires. She aint going nowhere

[lonewolf]

[QUOTE=rusnak;6554344]Wow, some scary pictures here.

I didn't want to say anything but your right.
Some ,downright dangerous.

[Hugh R]

Cherry picker throught the rear engine mount holes. Remove mounts and put large plates underneath with holes and welded eye hooks.

[DohertyCM]

HughR...thats a fantastic Idea...
I have to do the engine drop myself here in the next week....Can you post a photo
of what you are talking about so I can try that idea?

[timmy2]

This way is safe: