Using a four post lift for dropping an engine?

[Woodyhfd]

I'm planning on adding a lift to my garage but I can't decide on what style. The current frontrunner is the BendPak HD-7P, but I was curious about how easy it would be to remove air cooled 911 engines with a four post lift. I'm sure that a two post or scissor lift would probably be an easier choice, but the option of stacking cars is pretty tempting.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks.

[philip j]

I do engine drops with the front wheels only on my 4 post lift. Plus its a bonus to be able to change the incline of the car to get the gearbox in/out of the tunnel Philip. pics must be too big to load.

[philip j]

[philip j]

[michael lang]

Phillip, once you get the car up that high, how do you get it back down again? With the engine being gone, where do you put your jack to lower the body back onto your garage floor?

As an aside, I have been wanting to put in a lift in my garage. I would prefer a two post for the versatility of it but because of my garage door I have to limit my choices to a scissors style mid-rise lift. Although at the shop, we do park cars under each other all the time and all we have are two post lifts.

[philip j]

Mike, I lift the car first with the floor jack using the lifting plates, then I use the axle stands (which also have a hydraulic bottle jack in them) under the torsion bar covers. Takes about 10 min to lift to this height. The blocks of wood I have under the wheels are just a backup safety. The wheel lift is very user friendly in a home garage, as you just drive on/off, especially with the height of our cars. Philip

[gumba]

I've been doing engine drops on my 4 post lift for years. I have an Eagle lift. I located the ramps slightly farther out than stock, and notched the inside of the ramps to clear the motor. I remove the muffler before the drop. I use a lifting table in conjunction with the lift. I lower the lift so the motor sits on the lifting table, unbolt the motor, then raise the lift. Lower the lifting table to clear lift and roll it out.
If you can afford it, also get a sliding jack. This lets you raise either end of the car off the lift to remove the tires and do brake work.

[gumba]

Here's a shot of the motor on the lifting table after the drop. The muffler cleared the ramps.

[theclaw]

Just did an engine drop using a mid rise lift. Very straight forward. Just disconnect everything then raise the lift.

First engine drop questions