First engine drop questions

[BRAIDusa]

Looks like great progress Jeff. I didn't get mine out yet, Family stuff too and I had to deliver my 12 year Subaru RallyCross car that I sold to make way for the 911. Very sad about that



So, with just the oil line and speedo wire to deal with I thoroughly expect to drop this thing today. One question though: what is the best thing to drop it on? floor, dolly, tranny jack, floor jack, Matco tool box (remove tools first)? I'm leaning to the tool box as it is a good working height and has wheels on it. Just wondering if I need wood supports under the engine. Can I sit it all on the headers/heat exchangers? How much does the engine and trans weigh?

[KTL]

Engine & trans weigh ~450 lbs. no worries about the weight being supported by the heat exchangers/exhaust

[BRAIDusa]

Jeff,

sorry to hijack you thread but mine is OUT.

Decided to drop it on the tool box we don't use.




Come on Jeff. catch up son.

[theclaw]

Originally Posted by KTL

Another potential source of that leakage on the trans is likely the shift rod access cover plate. Looks pretty dry to me. Just wet from the acetone/atf treatment. Usually don't need any penetrant for those CV bolts. They're so well lubricated with grease, they have NO problem coming loose. Hence the reason people occasionally have an axle come free that beats up the underside of the car.......

How about safety wire? While they're out, drill them and thread some safety wire around the all. Used to safety wire everything on my motorcycle.

[theclaw]

Originally Posted by BRAIDusa

Jeff,

sorry to hijack you thread but mine is OUT.

Decided to drop it on the tool box we don't use.




Come on Jeff. catch up son.

Nice Work! You beat me to it!! But not by much................

[theclaw]

So I had a decent amount of time today.

Got the axles disconnected. Kevin, You were right. Those bolts were pretty easy to take out. I had some pipe laying around and used it as a breaker on top of a little "L" shaped hex wrench.





Then I almost forgot the grounding strap. Darn thing was camouflaged with the undercoating and gunk down there. Also, noticed I forgot the the oil pipe! I didn't see that until I started dropping it (the first time)

[theclaw]

So, I mentioned above about the "FIRST" drop. I was using a some blocks I had laying around for supporting the car. Placed them on top of a dolly I use to stack the tires on and roll the around the garage.

Well the weight of the engine was too much for the dolly and it started to collapse.






So I ran to Harbor Freight and grabbed one of these! They were even having a parking lot sale and I saved $40 bucks.





Then it was much easier. Had to go back and forth to check the left axle and the throttle linkage. Also found that the speedo sender wires were a lot easier to pull through after the engine was lowered a bit.


So I started cranking up the lift.

[theclaw]

success!!

[BRAIDusa]

That's awesome man. I need to take that picture too.

How much was that motorcycle lift? Looks like a great solution.

[theclaw]

Paul, it was relatively cheap, $80 at Harbor Freight on sale. Rolls around VERY easily but a little rough going down. Totally worth it.

[BRAIDusa]

Originally Posted by theclaw

Paul, it was relatively cheap, $80 at Harbor Freight on sale. Rolls around VERY easily but a little rough going down. Totally worth it.

As you can see I dropped mine onto a tool box by lifting the car with our hoist. However, the hoist doesn't modulate very well so I am not looking forward to lowering the car back onto the engine with it. Having something under the engine that I can lift it into place with is very appealing.

[theclaw]

Originally Posted by theclaw

Nice Work! You beat me to it!! But not by much................

Originally Posted by BRAIDusa

As you can see I dropped mine onto a tool box by lifting the car with our hoist. However, the hoist doesn't modulate very well so I am not looking forward to lowering the car back onto the engine with it. Having something under the engine that I can lift it into place with is very appealing.

Yeah, moving the lift instead of the engine was I bit problematic. However, this thing is pretty jumpy going down. There may be a way to modify the release pedal to make it smoother.

[KTL]

Nice job dudes! Engines out w/out drama!!!!

Originally Posted by theclaw

How about safety wire? While they're out, drill them and thread some safety wire around the all. Used to safety wire everything on my motorcycle.

Yeah if you've been there done that before the safety wire routine is not a bad idea. Probably a little time consuming in the tight confines of the axle area though. And I don't think you'd have much success doing the outboard side on the trailing arm. It's a tight fit in there.

Another solution is to use some serrated washers and "moon plates" under the bolt head. The later cars with 108mm CV joints and M10 bolts do this and it works good. Serrated washers are cheap by the 100 at McMaster

McMaster-Carr

and the VW plates are only $1.75 each (12 needed)

TORQUE DISTRIBUTION WASHER [87-5081-0] - $1.75 : Vwbugworld, World Of Vintage Volkswagen

When you use the moon plates, some longer CV bolts are needed to make sure you get plenty of thread engagement in the receiving threads. M8 x 50mm is the size you want.

McMaster-Carr

[mreid]

Get the Sears ATV jack. It costs a little more, but it is smooth as butter.

Sears.com

[yelcab1]

I have a ATV jack as well, but have never used it for a 911 engine. Always used the 2 jack method instead.

Pipe with L shaped wrench? You will need better tools than that on the way in, for sure.

Good job nevertheless with the first drop.

[theclaw]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

Pipe with L shaped wrench? You will need better tools than that on the way in, for sure.

Good job nevertheless with the first drop.

I have a decent set of allen head sockets but the boot made it pretty tight to get it on and off. A simple L shaped allen with a breaker bar worked very well. Once it was cracked loose, I just spun the allen wrench and off they came.

[yelcab1]

The easy way to do that is with the wheels off the car, reach in with a super long extension and sit outside of the car to turn the allen bolt out. You reach the top 2 bolts at a time. Use a screw driver in a disc brake vent to keep the disc from turning.

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by mreid

Get the Sears ATV jack. It costs a little more, but it is smooth as butter.

Sears.com

+10 on the Sears ATV lift! I originally bought the Harbor Freight motorcycle lift, then bought the Sears to compare. Returned the HF, kept the Sears, much higher quality and modulates smoothly up and down. No contest!!

He's a pic from the 3.6 removal from my '80SC. The red dolly was made by a fellow Pcar
friend. When I admired it, he said "take it home, I can weld up another" great guy! It was originally made to use a floor jack slid into the "slot" at the back. You just lower the jack and rest the motor/trans on the dolly. When I found the Sears lift, I slid a HF furniture dolly under the steel dolly as it wasn't tall enough to slide the lift under. It all works smooth as silk.

[uwanna]

Here's a pic with the jack out of the dolly. I don't have the luxury of a car lift like you guys, but sometimes you just use what you have! LOL

[uwanna]

Here's some better pics of the red dolly. The guy that made it built it to "industrial" grade!
Steel casters no less.