engine removal - without a crane !

[tim wood]

I,m just mulling over the inevitable engine removal this winter ( see my other post on gearbox work) I would rather not remove the bonnet due to storage issues so have considered the following:-

Once the reaction plate and ancillaries are removed would it be possible to lower the engine using one of those motorcycle type cradle/lifting tables advertised by machine mart (and others). Appreciate I may need to modify this to provide a flat base to position under the sump.

Assuming I can get sufficient clearance then I could use this to move the engine out from under the car.

Then once its all done - just use the table to jack it back up into position.

Sounds simple doesn't it - must be missing something !!

any thoughts or comments welcome
Tim

[1954Etype]

I,m just mulling over the inevitable engine removal this winter ( see my other post on gearbox work) I would rather not remove the bonnet due to storage issues so have considered the following:-

Once the reaction plate and ancillaries are removed would it be possible to lower the engine using one of those motorcycle type cradle/lifting tables advertised by machine mart (and others). Appreciate I may need to modify this to provide a flat base to position under the sump.

Assuming I can get sufficient clearance then I could use this to move the engine out from under the car.

Then once its all done - just use the table to jack it back up into position.

Sounds simple doesn't it - must be missing something !!

any thoughts or comments welcome
Tim

Tim, I don't think you will get the clearance you need to do this. The best way I have found is to remove the bonnet and lift the front of the car using a hoist. If you have a 4 post lift, you can do it by leaving the bonnet on.

[Larry Wade]

Hi Tim,

I've done it both ways and I promise that dropping the engine is WAY easier, and safer, than lifting it.

Most people I know, including professional mechanics, choose to drop e-type engines.

Check the Jag-Lovers forum archives for many discussions on this topic.

[http://forums.jag-lovers.org/index.php3 ... LHCQCYx7gN]

Larry

[kingzetts]

As long as the gearbox output flange is forward of the leading edge of the propshaft tunnel floor the engine/box should drop out the bottom "on the level" and so using a lifting table is possible. But as others have said you need clearance - lots of it. I dropped the engine using a hoist onto a flat sheet of 1" plywood with 6 little castors on it - total height about 3" - and I needed (from memory) around 4 foot clearance under the frame rails to clear the top of the cam covers - it may have been a bit less.

I had the car on very high axle stands and still had to use a hoist to lift the front of the car, as Angus mentions.

Easy with a lift, tricky with the car on stands and with the bonnet in place.

Worth mentioning that anyone with one of the T5 conversions (and possibly other 5 speed boxes) which have slightly shortened prop shafts can't do it this way as the gearbox output flange lives "inside" the prop tunnel and you must angle the engine nose downwards and slide it diagonally forwards to get the flange clear. The only way this can be done I think is with the engine on a crane.

[christopher storey]

Taking the bonnet off is no great problem . It is most easily done with helpers, but if you do not have them , the technique used is to raise the front of the car about 6 inches, leaving room behind it to back it away. Then raise the bonnet to its limit and tie it off to a rafter above. Remove the springs or hydraulic ram, and re-tie it in a vertical position, with something soft beneath the nose. Then undo the bolts, pull the top hat bushes out, and wheel the car away from it . Engine removal is then best accomplished with a crane, which is necessary because you have to manoeuvre the engine round the mountings which are a welded part of the frames . Carburetters and inlet manifold have to be removed . Removal of the damper and water pump make it less likely that you will damage the frames . Lower the engine onto a trolley . Then use the crane to lift the front of the car - a rope with suitable padding round the upper frames is needed - and wheel the trolley away from underneath


The only snag to this method is that, although it saves you dangling nearly 7 cwt of machinery over the frames, the actual side clearances between engine and frames is very limited at crucial parts of the operation, (perhaps 6mm / 0.25 inches) and you are best having an assistant to guide the engine as you lower it, and even more so when it comes to lifting it back in

Once the engine is out, it is then reasonably easy to reconnect the bonnet until such time as you are ready to replace the engine