I just drug my ass in from the driveway. That engine install had to be just about the hardest damn thing I've done in a while.
Car is 2 feet in the air,....I have the engine and trans bolted together w/ only the starter bolted on as far as accys go. I set the chain to allow the trans to just hang a a slight down angle.
The first obstacle: The combo weighs a ton!! trying to drag the heavy assed combo up onto the slab where the car is proves beyond me. Fortunately,..my 15 year old is around to help. With him pushing,...and me pulling,...I get it up on the slab,
while this doesn't show how high the slab was, suffice it to say that I had to drag the damn mess up a 7" rise. It does show how clean I've managed to get everything up front.
The next hurdle comes from the fact that the damn engine is huge! And w/ the trans hooked to it, I had to jack the thing to the 13th floor to get it high enough to clear the radiator saddle.
The problem was,..at that high angle the engine would not tip,..so I couldn't tip the tail shaft into the trans tunnel.
After readjusting the hoist lift point to extend the top another 6" to allow more height ( while simultaneously dropping the load rating from 1 ton to 3/4 ton,...I send the whole mess up to the roof again.
It's still a son of a bi tch. The hoist cylinder is against the bumper, and the engine will not go any further forward,....I pi ss and moan,...yank and tug,..until I decide to get a motorcycle tie down, and ratchet the tail shaft down into the tunnel.
( keep in mind,..that all of this is being supported by a 199.00 harbor freight engine hoist,....the engine weighs a bazillion lbs,....and now I'm adding additional stress by ratcheting the tailshaft down.)
I get it only as far as the harmonic balancer,..it was now hanging up on the radiator saddle. It still will not go,..and now it's kinda past the point of no return.
Some more pi ssing, some more moaning, yanking and tugging,.both me and my son pushing for all we're worth, and now it's dark. Finally it slides past the saddle. ( but not before scratching it, and the firewall above the tunnel opening though)
I finally got it,..but it was the WORST of the 20 or so engine installs I've done in my life. I will NOT be doing that again soon.
Car is 2 feet in the air,....I have the engine and trans bolted together w/ only the starter bolted on as far as accys go. I set the chain to allow the trans to just hang a a slight down angle.
The first obstacle: The combo weighs a ton!! trying to drag the heavy assed combo up onto the slab where the car is proves beyond me. Fortunately,..my 15 year old is around to help. With him pushing,...and me pulling,...I get it up on the slab,
while this doesn't show how high the slab was, suffice it to say that I had to drag the damn mess up a 7" rise. It does show how clean I've managed to get everything up front.
The next hurdle comes from the fact that the damn engine is huge! And w/ the trans hooked to it, I had to jack the thing to the 13th floor to get it high enough to clear the radiator saddle.
The problem was,..at that high angle the engine would not tip,..so I couldn't tip the tail shaft into the trans tunnel.
After readjusting the hoist lift point to extend the top another 6" to allow more height ( while simultaneously dropping the load rating from 1 ton to 3/4 ton,...I send the whole mess up to the roof again.
It's still a son of a bi tch. The hoist cylinder is against the bumper, and the engine will not go any further forward,....I pi ss and moan,...yank and tug,..until I decide to get a motorcycle tie down, and ratchet the tail shaft down into the tunnel.
( keep in mind,..that all of this is being supported by a 199.00 harbor freight engine hoist,....the engine weighs a bazillion lbs,....and now I'm adding additional stress by ratcheting the tailshaft down.)
I get it only as far as the harmonic balancer,..it was now hanging up on the radiator saddle. It still will not go,..and now it's kinda past the point of no return.
Some more pi ssing, some more moaning, yanking and tugging,.both me and my son pushing for all we're worth, and now it's dark. Finally it slides past the saddle. ( but not before scratching it, and the firewall above the tunnel opening though)
I finally got it,..but it was the WORST of the 20 or so engine installs I've done in my life. I will NOT be doing that again soon.