Full body lift extreme engine removal

[MrTibbs]

Hi guys.

I've got a 924S I got really cheap that I'm taking apart for parts and experience.

I'm trying to remove as much as possible of the car, mainly because it's giving me a good insight into how the cars are put together (which will hopefully be applicable to other cars to some exent too, as I'm hoping eventually to restore cars part-time as a small business).

So far I've taken all the front suspension off, removed the bonnet (hood), one wing, the lights and front panel, bumpers, one door (can't quite open the other one far enough in my garage to remove it), the brakes including booster etc.

I'm intending to rebuild the engine for the experience and to make a really nice shiny one to go in my car, and to sort out the shifter play and a few other minor bits.

I saw a couple of photos here of someone who'd taken the whole body off the engine and drivetrain and it looked like it'd make it easier to get the TT off the engine and generally get to all those really inaccessible bolts.

Took a bit of planning and a lot of care as I've only got a small garage with a very cracked and uneven floor, and a smallish tool collection, but I managed to raise the body up after work today. I used one hydraulic trolley jack, a standard screw jack, 2 jack stands and 2 ramps.

The photos don't quite show it as well as they could, but thought I'd stick a few up and add to them later.

I'm aiming to raise the body a bit higher (need some taller jack stands) so i can get to the TT to bell housing bolts more easily, then slide the engine out. I'll get a scrap dealer to collect the body, but to get it out of the garage I'll probably have to re-attach the rear suspension temporarily and put a couple of spare wheels on it and lift the front with the trolley jack.

Anyway, in case you find it interesting here's a couple of pics showing the engine a bit lower in the bay than normal!

If anyone's interested in seeing more I can try to update this with progress.

Mike

[JoshB]

I've had good success dropping the entire drive train with the torque tube and torsion tube assembly. Much easier than to sepearte the motor and tt and then trans out. Keep the pics coming

[vdubr928]

Not something I would try in a garage. Just not that safe imo. I pull motor from the top then drop trans tt and rear suspension as one unit. (If I need the suspension out)

Just have a buddy nearby just in case something falls.

Keep fixing :-)

[MrTibbs]

I had safety in mind the whole time and did a lot of thinking about the best way to do it with what I had.

Rather than drop the engine and trans, I had the whole lot on the floor (with the transaxle resting on a railway sleeper and the engine cross member on a couple of old rear brake discs so I can get jacks underneath them if necessary.

Then unbolted the cross member, torsion tube mounts and trans mounts and gradually lifted the body; lifting each side a little at a time and raising/moving the jack stands to support it. THis meant I could pry the torsion bar assembly from the body safely as it could only drop a small way.

Only real snag I had was that I'd forgotton to disconnect rear brake flexis until I wondered why the torsion bar assembly wouldn't completely drop, and there's a brace under the TT just by the rear suspension assembly I'd forgotten to take out so had to remove that while the body was slightly raised.

I'd say it's not really any more dangerous than a lot of other stuff people do. Like any job on a car you just need to manage any of the risks.

Mike

[MrTibbs]

So I managed to get the engine out pretty easily. The bell housing to TT bolts came off easily (probably because they were easy to get to with the body raised.

Was planning to lift one side with my trolley jack and pull it out sideways to avoid it sitting on the sleepers covering my inspection pit, but that didn't work so I raised the front and pulled it out instead. It surprised me how easy it was to slide.

Hopefully get a chance tomorrow to start tearing it down a bit to see what it looks like inside.

Mike
Here are some more photos.

[jcommin]

Nice job. Gee, I'm thinking LS1 Chevy v8 conversion.

[MrTibbs]

This shell's only going to the big car park in the sky.

Not really interested in a V8 conversion (and particularly a Chevy one as I'm in the UK so a donor would be tricky to find). I am tempted to try putting a diesel in a 924 or even better a 928 at some point in the future. I'm thinking one with decent torque could provide a decent turn of speed combined with good fuel economy.

I did see something on the web about someone who'd put a BMW diesel in a 928 but there wasn't much detail. And there's a vid on youtube of a 924 with an Audi diesel in it. It seemed to be getting 50MPG but the guy had had to cut a hole in the hood.

They probably wouldn't be as fast as originally, but would be an interesting project for a truly practical daily driver.

Mike