Hey guys,

I was wondering what the best way would be to reinsert the engine and tranny back into my old Gal...

Is it cleverest to fit them as one unit (i.e. engine and transmission slipped in from the top) or would it make more sense to fit the engine and then the tranny from underneath? This may sound a little weird, but I am wanting to fit it all without damaging the engine bay after repairs are done and also keep the engine tidy (avoiding getting it hit somewhere etc.). I think it may be easier and less likely to cause any damage if the engine was fitted first... It could glide onto the engine mounts and then carefully lean back to accept the transmission. I know the tranny can be removed and refit without removing the engine, as it states so in the repairs book, but what would really be cleverest?

Cheers

Damien

Depends on what facilities you have. Unless you have a lift to raise the car and can work at head-height, personally I'd be putting them in as a single unit. Fitting the gearbox on its own, with the car just jacked up will be a real pain.

One unit, straight in, all done.

All in as a single unit. It will simplify things if you use a tilt adapter and a small trolley jack beneath car to pick up rear of gearbox as it all moves down and back.

Hmm okay. I had issues getting it out in one piece which is why I asked...

What problems did you have? I assume you were using an engine hoist and load leveller?

As the engine cranes you can get here are basically not long enough to get into the engine bay nor are te feel narrow enough to get under the engine between the front wheels, I was force to use a crank (not fully loadable) as well as a pulley on some scaffolding. All rollable. The pulley would hold the weight. The crank adjust the angle.

Put the car on stands and take the wheels off to get them out of the way. I can't imagine an engine crane in Germany is any different/shorter to the rest of the world?

Did that, didn't work well... Worked with the scaffold setup. But I'd like to do it with less riskieren of destrying either the engine bay or te engine. After all that time and money was invested...

Strange. Can you post a picture of the engine crane - I'm curious to see whether there's something odd about it.

I rented it 2016... Can't find a picture. Most have a capacity of like 500 kg with the arm fully extended...

Sounds like the one I have. I don't really understand why it won't work. Did you do anything different to this chap?

As said, the legs were a lot wider...

I had a definite "issue" using a crane / cherrypicker, as we say in the USA. The legs of the cherrypicker hit the lower control arms, and it was a real pain getting all the way into the engine, with the front bumper on, as I had to extend the arm on the crane. Then the weight with the arm extended, was such that it wanted to lift the back of the crane. So it took 2 people to pull it out. But we got it done. In hind sight I would have put the car on stands to lift the front a couple inches and pull the tires. Or put a couple pieces of 2"x 8" Board under each front tire which would have let the cherry picker legs clear the lower control arms, and it wouldn't have raised it so much as to complicate the angle needed to slide the engine and trans into the chassis. Just a few thoughts. From experience.

Jack

I basically got it out the same way, just that my chain pulley was moveable...

Problem is getting it in again...

just do it , get going, you would be surprised what little effort can do!