doing my first engine pull.....scared...

[webshot]

Well I went out and bought everything that I thought I may need to pull my 86 engine, (hoist, stand.....). But now that the task is in front of me, kinda chickened out. Any advice, pointers, links or pitfalls from you guys that have done it??

Doing this so I can prep out my engine compartment, it is rather rusty in there. Also going to clean off the engine (any advice ont hat is appreciated too).

Thanks

 

[timewarped1972]

don't sweat it.........make sure everything is disconnected.......and when you get to the point of lifting it, just doit slow and steady and as you lift continually look and make sure everythings disconnected........make sure your using strong chain, or the proper lift plate and lift points....

once she's up and your ready to roll it back, do it gently and slowly, then when it's clear of the car lower it down........( it's much easier wheeling it around when the engine's hanging low due to center of gravity, less scary too then having it 4 feet up in the air)

it'll be fine......gotta do it sometime.......those cherry pickers pick your first engine pull cherry as well........

once the engines out, tape up or foil any open ends to stuff you dont want water in and hose it real good.....you can do the same to the engine.......are you re building it??? if so just clean the parts as you take it off..........dont worry about the block or heads if their going to be re-done.......thats what the hot tanks at machine shops are for.....if not, just take your time covering any holes you dont want water in and have at it ...good luck!!!!!!!!

 

[Modular2v]

nothing to it...just make sure everything is disconnected

 

[ninety15.0]

LABELS.....if its your first time make sure you make little labels for every connection on the wiring harness and on the motor too. It will really help out when you go to put everything back together...i know it helped me my first time....especially if its going to be a long time before you toss it back in there. also i would suggest bagging up all the associated hardware and taping the bag to the part it goes to. good luck man...just take your time.

 

[webshot]

thanks guys.....I want to make sure I pull it right. where are the correct lift points? I bought a hoist, the brand escapes me right now but is there more that I need to the hoist? Anyone got a pic of their hoist set up. Sorry to sound so n00bish, but I want to make sure I do things right

Thanks for the advice to.

No I wont be building the engine maybe putting on headers thats about it. The guy I got it from used to take it to the snow so it is rusty all over.

 

[Tonys96Cobra]

LABELS.....if its your first time make sure you make little labels for every connection on the wiring harness and on the motor too. It will really help out when you go to put everything back together...i know it helped me my first time....especially if its going to be a long time before you toss it back in there. also i would suggest bagging up all the associated hardware and taping the bag to the part it goes to. good luck man...just take your time.

EXACTLY!! Label everything with masking tape or sumfin, it will make your life a whole lot easier!! And dont try to force anything too hard! If it doesnt feel fairly smooth, there is prolly a problem. Good luck!

 

[88Stangboy]

Agree'd, LABEL everything, i still do it if i know im going to have someting apart for awhile. Its helps alot to clear up any confusion if you don't remember where it goes. And mainly TAKE YOUR TIME! If you get in a hurry, things can go to **** really quick, just chill out, set a weekend aside and do it.

Good luck.

 

[04sleeper]

thanks guys.....I want to make sure I pull it right. where are the correct lift points?

I always have used either the factory engine lift brackets on the headers or use a bolt screwed into the front of one head and the back of the other head.

Once you start pulling off parts and getting into it you will see that it is nothing more than nuts and bolts.

 

[ninety15.0]

If you dont plan on tearing the engine down i would not use the head bolt pulling method....just because older engines can be real touch and go with their head gasket seals. Plus , unless im mistaken you need to pop the valve cover off on one side or the other to get to one of the inside head bolts or else the chains bind up/ or you cant get the bolt through. The header method or the lower intake method are the easiest i think.

 

[04sleeper]

I was refering to the acessory bolt holes on the front and back of the head, not the actual head bolts.

Don't want to confuse anyone.

 

[fastfutura]

I always pull the motor with the tranny together. I think its easier pulling it as a unit than seperating and trying to re-attach them in the car. By the time you disconnect the motor from the tranny, you could have pulled the motor/tranny together. Then it is much easier to seperate them once they are out.

However you do it, it isn't that difficult but make sure you do it safe. Label everything and DON'T FORCE ANYTHING. If it gets hung up, stop what you are doing and find out why. You don't want to smash something or burst an AC line.

 

[Foxfan88]

its not all that hard, i used to think it would be hard, but we pulled the motor out of my friends car, and it was straight forward.

get the small stuff out of the way. take the upper intake off completly. un-do the AC compressor from the bracket and move it aside, also remove the PS pump. both of these must stay with the car, unless u delete them or really want to remove them.

but there really isnt all that much to plug in, pretty much the injector harness and the vac lines the the intake and everything else is simple.

 

[webshot]

thanks guys.....I think I will have a friend over to help me anyway but I will be doing this this weekend....Any other advice greatly appreciated.

 

[wht93gtEd]

thanks guys.....I think I will have a friend over to help me anyway but I will be doing this this weekend....Any other advice greatly appreciated.

buy this...pop off upper intake, slap it on, pull the engine

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?Ntt=engine+pull+plate&searchinresults=false&Ntk=KeywordSearch&DDS=1&N=115&target=egnsearch.asp

oh-yeah, listen to the other remarks about labeling, and bagging everything...it'll definitely help.

 

[TheUser]

If you have a digital camera, take pictures of how everything is and a few general shots of the engine bay. You can do it w/ a normal camera too obviously, but digital is better so you can check them out on the PC w/ bigger resolution.

As mentioned above:
-Make accurate and legible labels
-Ziplock bags and a permenent marker are great for storing nuts/bolts, etc
-Take your time

 

[vristang]

I have been using 4 of the factory lift brackets (one on each corner of the heads) for a while now, and it works great. Add a load leveler (like in the link above) to the setup and the motor almost removes itself!

Take your time and enjoy it

 

[Busted07]

Listen to the guys about the labeling. i am going through hell right now finding bolts that have been lost, and almost got rid of the car because of the frustration. Take your cowl vent cover off while the motor is out.. look inside for rust and repair it while its out if you find any. Do the same thing for your master cylinder. that brake fluid causes a ton of rust and mine was a bear to fix. the one thing that most people overlook, is the ground wire that goes from the back of the drivers side head to the firewall

 

[dyb003]

I also find it alot easyer to move the car back instead of trying to role the cherry picker with the engine 4 feet in the air. After the engine is hight enough just start pushing the car back slowy, then once the car is out of the way set the engine down lower to move it around. Less risk of tipping over by doing it this way. The car will role alot easyer than the host. Remeber also, all your plug in's will only plug back into one spot so you cant re-conect to the wrong thing.

FYI If your going to have the engine out I would put a pan gasket,oil pump and shaft and a rear main seal ( lube the seal before putting it in ) The 5.0 where know for the oil pumps to lock up. So do it while you have it out. Good luck

 

[webshot]

good advice!!! good link too on the leveler..Going to pick one of those up from harbor freight this weekend. Keep it coming guys my courage is going up....lol.

many thanks

 

[webshot]

CRAP CRAP CRAP.......wife just reminded me this is valentines weekend....and I doubt she will want to spend the weekend in the garage. So this will be put off until next weekend.....but it will get done. Gonna be thinking about my engine over dinner.... *said like homer* mmmmmmmmm...engine