[Mk2] [Turbo] omg help me.. removing engine ..im sooo stressed!

[RyanRs]

God! yesterday(1st day of starting the job of removing the engine) went amazing!! by the book, perfect! But..today has been absolute poo! shuld have had the engine out by today! but the person lending me the engine crane has not got it back from his mate yet.. and no one else has one !! Also, spent most of the day trying to figure out a safe way to raise the car up, high enough to work underneith -to drain the coolant, and get the engine out from under the car!!

But as many attempts we made, we couldnt get it high enough!!

does anyone know the best way to raise the car up, safely and so its not gona fall over, high enough to get the engine out?? i am using axel stands, they are not huge.. but all i got! also, where exactly can i put them under the car? btw, having tien flex makes it harder too as once you jack the back of the car up past 10" , the front comes off the floor too!!

is there any other way i can remove the engine , without using a engine crane?

Lol, in the whole of today.. the only progress i made was.. removing the cat to flexi exaust pipe (none of the 3 bolts snapped ) and removing the front bumper!! :S

-oh and i almost chopped me thumb off !!

i need a cup of tea

[Neal]

My mate usually uses a Jack on breeze blocks or something to get the car up!

[RyanRs]

lol , had 2 concrete blocks under me axel stand, but didnt look like enough!! would have had to put a block under the trolly jack to jack it up even furthur!

[Ian Geary]

Raising the car: it depends what tools you've got. A decent pro trolley jack should have over half a metre of range.

A DIY 2 tonne jack won't go high enough, so you'll have to keep resting it on stands, then using a bulk of timber to increase the height.

But this isn't safe, as the load isn't really stable. Using an engine crane to lift a plank underneath the car also works - but no good without a crane of course.

The engine has to come down really - there isn't space to come out upwards.

Getting clearance at the front: After having this problem when rebuilding mine, I'd recommend anyone rebuilding DIY to drive their car onto a set of these first



A bit late now I admit...

It might be possible to jack the front up using the OE scissor jack to get some support under the wheel (but be careful, as these jacks aren't at all stable)

Supporting the car: I supported my car with tree trunks -I kid you not. You can just see them in the left of the picture.



It helps if your Dad is obsessive compulsive about collecting firewood though...

More realistically, at the time I was recommended to get a few cheap wheels from the scrap yard, and use these stacked up to support the rear sills (where the jacking points are).

But of course you need the car high in the first place...

I wouldn't rely on just axle stands: the demonstration by the Top Gear teamn when building the Caterham 7 shows these are hardly reliable.

Where to put axle stands: the sills just in from the jacking points, but not the sub frame as this will have to come off.


Have you tried the Yellow Pages for tool hire places for a crane? I paid about £60 for a crane over 3 days from HSS I recall.


hth

Ian

[terminater2_uk]

I raised mine bit by bit with a 2 tonne trolley jack, 2 axle stands and lots of blocks of wood.
Jack it up, put axle stands under, then put jack on blocks and raise higher, build up blocks of wood/breeze blocks to floor of car, put jack on more blocks and raise higher, etc. until high enough. Jacked the car from the subframe in the middle so that both rear wheels went up together.

[RyanRs]

ah brilliant! thanx for the help! -- lol didnt fink of using old steel wheels!! well being as i have veilside skirts, that drop like 2" below the door seal, i fink ill get some old steel wheels then a wooden block at the top, so i dont damage the skirts.

wen i get hold of an engine crane, is it not a good idea to pick up the whole rear end with the crane, then fit the blocks etc underneith.... insted of jacking / stacking /jacking / stacking .... ??

also, is it ok jacking up at the middle of he subframe?? i fort that could make it bend?!

[TheRoadWarrior]

also, is it ok jacking up at the middle of he subframe?? i fort that could make it bend?!

Nah its fine, i always jack it there at the back its so much easier.. especially when working on the suspension as you dont twist the arb.

[RyanRs]

ooooo k

[SB]

Must be a day for it, I pulled the engine out of mine too

Thankfully I had hired a crane though - bargain at £30 a week That said, this is the third time I've hired one now, I could almost have bought one...

Got a late start as overslept (3pm ), but by close of play today engine was out and gearbox was split.

One way to reduce the amount of height you need to raise the car by if you're struggling without a crane could be to whip the head off quick?

[RyanRs]

Head off... humm, was thinkin that... but i havent looked at where you attach the chains of the crane yet, and being as on a ZETEC engine, the chain Eye's are on the head, i assumed this would be the same..

where do i link the chains up anyway?... mite take head off today??

[SB]

If the engine is on the ground, why do you need the chain hooks? You could always lower the engine on jacks anyway - I thought you didn´t have a crane so how would you use the chain hooks?!

Itś a lot of bother to have to do it, but if you physically can´t get the car high enough... either that or a dig a hole and drop the engine into it

Thankfully I could just wrap some chain round the engine mounts and use the crane to lift the car

[RyanRs]

noooo i ment i dont have one at mo.. needed it yesterday.. but i do have a friend that owns a crane.. just waiting for his mate to bring it back from NW london (45 miles away) ... so i will have a crane..

is the bottom end surverly heavy? if i was to be inpatient and not wait for the crane, could i remove the head, then put a trolly jack under the sump and lower it down on that? or will i just get meself into a piccle / damage something??

i wreali want this engine out! im like , quite excited in a way!! want to see whats been going on in there!

[SB]

The bottom end is pretty heavy yes, but you can lower it down on jacks easy enough. I'd lower it onto a dolly/crawler and then you can simply wheel it out from under the car

[dai21t]

I made 2 plates to bolt in the top of the rear shock towers. An eyebolt through each of these and I lifted the car using a winch onto an RSJ in my garage roof. Gave me plenty of space. Also made a wooden tray on wheels so the engine could be dropped onto it and moved about easily.

[Steve Horrocks]

Quite handily, my old unit had an overhead 3 phase gantry crane, which made life easier!




I had the front wheels on some metal ramps to clear the front bumber/splitter.

[cantfindausername]

I have 4 bits of 2x4 under the front wheels to stop the front grounding out. This is 2 wide, x 2 high.

Then used the engine hoist to raise the car by shackling the engine mount bolts.

Told you before dude... its all pictured on my site

And I also just use normal halfords axle stands. Put the on the jack points and raise them with wood/mdf slabs or what ever else you can find thats flat and sturdy. Its quite scary how high you can get the back of the car with this method.



Also used a clarke 150kg dolley from machine mart to move the engine on a false floor of MDF so it was smooth. Worked a treat.

Then when the engine is back under the car, use the hoist to hold it level (might need a leveler - again from machine mart), then get the gearbox on the dolley, and mate the 2 together. Did it on my own and it made very light work of what could have been a b1tch of a job.

[PFrazier]

Call me spoiled, but I prefer to use a car lift to raise the car after lowering the motor onto a dolly. I haven't done a MKII yet, but I can pull a MKI motor/trans pretty quickly.