Today was a quiet day I was planning to drop the engine but the plans very quickly shuddered to a halt. First problem how to fix the crane to the engine and gearbox. There are no plans, or reason, to split the engine and gear box. Putting a strop around the gearbox wasn’t a problem but the fixing on the front of the engine was a different story. I did try a strop that looped under the engine through the sub frame and up the front of the engine. But I was concerned because the front of the engine is all plastic timing belt cover.
Shortly after that I realised another problem. The engine is massively wide and the legs of the crane extend under the car and although they would be sufficient for a normal in line or V configuration. It don’t work for a flat four! If I lower the engine it lands on the legs and I can’t pull the crane out to lift the car up to slide the engine out.
I don’t want to lift the whole car and engine up too high for fear it would be unstable on the stands with all the weight even with the back wheels on the ground.
I stood there for over an hour pacing round the car trying to come up with a solution. I was playing with blocks under the car, had a sandwich and call my mates and told them to hold off on the assistance. It was like one of those car park puzzles where you move the cars back and forth till you can get your car out of the car park. I could see there was a solution but I just couldn’t figure out how I was going to lift the car and with engine sat on the legs.
Then it hit me I didn’t need to have the crane in front of the car. I could use the crane on the side of the car and then I could pull the crane out and lift the car from the inside of the car. I’ll explain in the next post. It was too late to start anything so packed up for the day.
I sent Graham a quick email to ask him about crane mounting points on the engine. I added a few photos with the strop I had looped through the sub frame and up the front of the engine. To my surprise he rang me a few minutes later (that’s what I call service) he was finishing off the White car which does look stunning. Graham agreed with my concerns and told me that the alternator mounting bracket is the front crane attaching point. Armed with this information I was ready to have another go tomorrow.
I sent Graham a quick email to ask him about crane mounting points on the engine. I added a few photos with the strop I had looped through the sub frame and up the front of the engine. To my surprise he rang me a few minutes later (that’s what I call service) he was finishing off the White car which does look stunning. Graham agreed with my concerns and told me that the alternator mounting bracket is the front crane attaching point. Armed with this information I was ready to have another go tomorrow.
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