Helped change an engine last night :)

[Tumble]

Well 2 actually... Went up to Alex's last night - he's got 3 3.9L rover V8s, a cut down Range Rover, a Ninety and a brand new, bare chassis....

The engine in the cut down is knackered... the case is cracked around 2 of the exhaust manifold mountings.. it runs but the manifolds won't tighten up and fire comes out so that one had to come out... That was easy, big hammer on the handbrake handle, gearbox free and resting on trolley jack, chain over cylinder head, hoist and a big bar and away the engine comes... Same for the Ninety, but easier, cos he's already stripped the bodywork completely off it to transfer onto the new chassis. The engine from the Ninety(out of a Rover saloon - nearly 200 BHP ) is going in the cut down, and the spare engine with the trick Janspeed exhausts is going in the new build...

It's time to put the engine back in the cut down... which still has all the body work on it..after hoisting it up.. it's sitting all wrong in the air.. the back is too far down - we lifted it in it's entirety, block, gearbox and transfer case - because the chain hasn't been made long enough when we attached it to the engine. So haul it out again, make the chain longer by 3 links and it makes all the difference.. the fan at the front can swing under the hoist arm now and we can push it all the way back... soooooo.. after getting it all lined up roughly, it's time to put the mounts on. Trolley jack goes under the car, with bricks and whatever blocks of wood come to hand and we start lifting the back end of the transfer case up to meet it's mounting points. While we're doing that, we're dropping the front of the engine slowly, causing it to slowly move back through the tunnel.. which is good... until the jack slipped and the transfer case caught my hand between it and the chassis rail... ouchees... luckily Alex had a bar on the gearbox and lifted it off enogh to get me hand out.. skinned and stiff knuckle.. lucky really... but by gum that mount went in the right place... after we got that one on, the other side went on easy, and we dropped the motor onto the front mounts.. put an alternator on it and bish bash bosh... cuppa tea time


Great fun

[Russ]

im dissapointed... no pictures!

how long it take you to do it? im guessin a good 3 or 4 hours?

[Jiff Lemon]

Pah! You've done nothing till you've tried taking an engine out of Mk1 R5.
Tow rope wrapped around the engine, under sump and through a scaffolding pole. One person either side and lift.

Struggle and sweat and nearly develop hernias then your mum points out that as you're trying to lift this engine out, the car itself is rising up....... Yup, we'd wrapped the tow rope under the cross member too!

Sounds like you had fun Tumble (apart from the knuckle) but shame no pics!

[Tumble]

I was debating bringing the camera..... I will do when I get a call to go and put the other motor on the new chassis

[Zak33]

piccies of engine out id hard....grease everywhere, you got MORE than enough to think about...and they come out all grey and balck anyway.

It's lovely when it all goes back together huh?

Nice one mate.....