Engine Drop with no Front Suspension
 

Is it possible to safely drop the engine (by raising the rear with a jack) without the front wheels attached? I have all suspension components removed and the front of the car is supported by axle stands under the usual points just aft of the wheel wheels, the rear supported under the inner torsion bar tube. If I remove the rear bumper, can I slide the engine out without creating too much of a rear-to-front angle? Or would it be best to lift the front as I lift the rear?

My first drop, so I don't have a sense for how high the rear needs to go for the engine to clear (rear bumper detached).

Stable front support.........
 

Ferrino,

Lifting/raising the rear end of the car while the front end sits on jack stands from an engine drop is something I would not recommend specially for a first timer. Why? Lifting the rear end at a certain angle would create a resultant force toward the front and could create instability to the jack stands. Once the weight of the car starts to shift forward, the two (2) jackstands supporting the front end are not stable to prevent accidental weight shift.

To prevent a catastrophe, using jack stands, avoid having a big differential height front to rear or vise versa that could result to weight shift or horizontal movement of the car during lifting. Raise front and rear ends at very similar height.

Someone has posted not too long ago about using wooden blocks for an engine drop. That's something you could use as a reference. Whatever you decide to do, err on the side of caution.

Tony

Thanks - do you have a link to the thread using wooden blocks, please?

Search for 'Doherty CM'..........
 

Ferrino,

Search for DohertyCM's posts in a thread about engine drop by 1200images.

Tony

Thanks, but the car has suspension connected in that system. I was looking for a way to raise the rear of the car without having to reconnect the front suspension.

Cut a bunch of 2x12x16 boards at Home Despot. Put at least 4 under each front stand. Remove the whole rear bumper assy. I believe you should be able to pull it out at that point. If the front stands are the 6 ton type that is even better as you can get them up higher.

I recommend pulling the engine out and leaving it under the car when the car is low. Then raise the car up. That way you are raising a much lighter object :)