Topic: Engine swap - any tips?

[rlhammon]

I did a quick search, but all I found was discussion on various engine possibilities.

I'm looking for tips from anyone who has pulled the LNF out.  What all really needs to be removed before pulling the engine?  Did you pull the tranny out with the engine (just disconnect the drive shaft)?  Tips / pointers from doing the work?

I'll take any advise.. this is shaping up to be a lot of work in my garage.

Thanks!

[Critterman]

Talk to Dave at DDM, he does them in his sleep.  I have been there twice while it was being done and assisted.  If I remember correctly everything from the exhaust and driveshaft forward comes out.   Deepblue, or Baja Jimmy might have more information.

[elff]

I would advise to not drop the old or new one on your foot.
That would hurt.
 
You will need to drain the coolant
Disconnect all those hoses.
Take off a boatload of wiring
Fuel lines

I would seriously suggest that you make a list of everything you disconnect, so you know to put it back on when you drop the new engine in.

[rlhammon]

I would advise to not drop the old or new one on your foot.
That would hurt.
 
You will need to drain the coolant
Disconnect all those hoses.
Take off a boatload of wiring
Fuel lines

I would seriously suggest that you make a list of everything you disconnect, so you know to put it back on when you drop the new engine in.

Not sure if the whole post was joking or not... but I have the basics down.  I'm wondering if I have to pull the turbo, and exhaust / inlet manifolds in the car or not, if I can pull the tranny out through the hood, etc.  I'll begin the process tonight by pulling the hood and storing it away safely in the basement.  I haven't looked through the service manual yet to see.. but there is a LOT of work to get done.

[elff]

Nope
Only the dropping part.
I wasn't sure how basic of a start you needed.
There is alot of small stuff that needs to be disconnected and pulled away from the engine.

Im only speaking from watching them put Critterman's engine back in his car.  We did learn that spark plugs are important when trying to start the new engine.
Just ask Randy.


If you disconnect the cat, you could get away with leaving the turbo on as that will not be in the way of anything while you lift the engine up and forward. 

Taking the front bumper, IC and Radiator off will give you extra space, but I am not sure if that is necessary to remove the engine
and I can't remember if Critterman's engine was dropped back in with the trans attached

[Critterman]

I don't think it was.  and we removed all the manifolds. believe we stripped it back to a long block to pull and install the engine.

[rlhammon]

I'll need to strip everything eventually... as it needs to go on the new engine.

Service manual states to "remove the transmission" on step 11, so guess this will be the third time I've done that in my garage... ugh!  I was hoping to be able to leave it attached.

[Dave@DDMworks]

Hey there,

It really depends on how you are doing the swap, if you are going to be on a lift things are much easier. The biggest pain is the torque arm on the transmission and getting that off. The easiest way we have found is to drop the differential, and remove the torque arm. Then if you are doing this on jackstands and have some help, I would pull the engnine and transmission as one unit, as lining up the transmission to the engine, while under the car on jackstands does not sound like fun. If the the engine and trans are out of the car, you can re-assemble them much easier and put them back in.

As for removing the turbo, etc. Typically we pull the intake manifold which gives access to a bunch of wires underneath it that have to be disconnected. The downpipe has to come off, and if you have the downpipe off, the turbo is 4 bolts and 3 lines and it is off. So I would recommend pulling it off, it makes it just a little easier to get to everything when pulling the engine.

As for removing the hood, definitely just remove the 4 nuts holding the hood to the mounting brackes, if you only remove the nuts, the hood will go back on without any alignment issues.

Hope that helps a little,
Dave

[rlhammon]

Dave... appreciate the tips.

I'll be doing this on jack stands, and I just wasn't sure if we can pull the transmission out through the front or not.  My other question is the AC compressor.  The service manual states to purge the system (step 3) and then Tthe lines as one of the last steps before pulling the engine.  It *looks* like I can remove the three bolts on the compressor and slide the unit out of the way keeping it connected.  I'm hoping that works, because the car isn't moving from it's spot now until this is done. 

Tonight's task is to prep under the hood as much as possible, and then in the morning get the underside taken care of.  I'll get the drive shaft off the transmission and get the torque beam out of the way (I've done this before when installing a Spec clutch), and leave the transmission bolted on and we'll take a stab at pulling it out together.

Wish me luck!

[elff]

Good Luck and keep us in the loop.

[spdygxp]

take a lot of pictures it will help putting it back together. it's old restorer trick. good luck and god speed

[Sly Bob]

Yeah lots of pics and post them here. 

[rlhammon]

Not sure how many instructional pictures I'm going to post... but I'll try to put together some comments.

This morning started with draining the coolant system.  Not sure if there is a way to do this without getting coolant everywhere.  I thought about a plan of attack for about 30 minutes under the car. 

The radiator drain plug sits just above the lower rubber mount, making it seemingly impossible to drain without it just catching the metal structure it's mounted on.  Turns out it drains straight out the bottom through the rubber mount.  First time I've ever emptied a radiator... you learn something new all the time.

The water pump drain plug is located pointed downward and I started there.  Yep... coolant everywhere but my catch pan it seems.  I'll have to change out the cardboard I have on the floor, and spend some time cleaning up coolant so it doesn't drip on me for the next week.

The water pump is draining now (I'm sure it's done already), and I'll do the radiator drain plug next.  Then more removal of stuff...

[hammy221]

did you drain the radiator first or the water pump? if so next time do the radiator first then the water pump. if done that way draining the radiator will also drain some from the block. if you pull the water pump plug first your going to get some of the radiator fluid thus getting more coolant everywhere more then necessary. 

[rlhammon]

did you drain the radiator first or the water pump? if so next time do the radiator first then the water pump. if done that way draining the radiator will also drain some from the block. if you pull the water pump plug first your going to get some of the radiator fluid thus getting more coolant everywhere more then necessary. 

Yeah... I drained the water pump first... because I didn't understand how the radiator was going to drain and thought it would be a bigger mess.  I'm not an experienced mechanic, but I've done all the work on this car (suspension, clutch, and various others) and am comfortable working on it.  I didn't realize the radiator would drain down through the mount, and thought it would come out from the plug location... that looked like it was going to be more of mess.  Now I see how it works... and wish I had done the radiator first!

[rlhammon]

More progress... most everything under the hood, except for the engine, that needs to come out is removed.  Now it's time to raise up the back end and starting pulling the drive train.  If you've ever done this on these cars, you know that's a lot of parts to remove.  Hoping in a few hours I'm back up top working on all the various hoses and electrical connections.

Parts are bagged and tagged, wires / hoses under the hood are labeled as they are being disconnected.  Hoping this leads to a relatively painless install soon.

[elff]

Wow

You are knocking this out.

[Gentleman Jack]

Where is the video?

[rlhammon]

Wow

You are knocking this out.

Trying.  Got the underside cleared out, but can get the torque beam out without a second pair of hands.  I need to adjust the differential position and pry a bit on the torque beam... just can't seem to get my feet to work the dang jack! 

There are still a few connections in the engine area that need to be disconnected and labeled, and if I can get a pair of hands over here tonight / tomorrow morning I might be able to get this sucker pulled out yet this weekend.

[hammy221]

 he defiantly has more patience then me. I can't imagine doing this with just jack stands. I've pulled my transmission 3 times all on a lift in the auto craft shop on Fort Belvoir and pulling the toq arm then was a pain let alone installing it and for those of you who have done this before know the rear diff is a little bit of a pain in the a** to pull and get lined back up with the two half inch bolts that hold it on.

[rlhammon]

he defiantly has more patience then me. I can't imagine doing this with just jack stands. I've pulled my transmission 3 times all on a lift in the auto craft shop on Fort Belvoir and pulling the toq arm then was a pain let alone installing it and for those of you who have done this before know the rear diff is a little bit of a pain in the a** to pull and get lined back up with the two half inch bolts that hold it on.

I've pulled the transmission twice and the differential one additional time... all on jack stands in my garage.  It's certainly not my preferred method, but my buddy who built a new barn doesn't have his lift in yet. 

I stopped for the night... drive shaft / torque beam are still in the car.  I have a buddy coming tomorrow afternoon to help, so we'll crank that out pretty quick.  I've got the main bolts all loose, just have to drop the differential, then remove the drive shaft which takes 10 mins. or so to get all the bolts out of both ends.

Fluids are drained, but I have two hoses that don't want to yield to my lack of arm strength... they will have to wait until the morning.  The wiring harness has a *lot* of blue tape with labels on it currently, but since the transmission is still attached I haven't pulled the entire harness yet.

The engine crane hasn't arrived from another buddy's house, nor has the engine stand.  If they show up tomorrow with them... I'll have the engine out.

Tonight I shall sleep good... I'm tired!

[Gentleman Jack]

Nice work!  I get not taking video, but how about a few in progress pics?

[rlhammon]

Nice work!  I get not taking video, but how about a few in progress pics?

You want car pron?  You want to see my car NAK3D?  I'll see what I can do.

Hmm... that doesn't come across exactly the way I intended... since the board magically changes words.

[Gentleman Jack]

Magically to prevent us from falling in to the Government control. Or something.

[2kwk4u]

You want car pron?  You want to see my car NAK3D?  I'll see what I can do.

Hmm... that doesn't come across exactly the way I intended... since the board magically changes words.

That shit is FOREVER happening to Critterman!

So shit's OK, but corn and NAK3D aren't?