pulling motor with starter attached

[81SPIDERMATT]

i know about the concave ...cant seem to find a spec though...i am hoping it will look just fine but murphy has not creeped in just yet ..or lack of sockets my be my only setback .... the chili will be way to spicy for most ... and just right for me .... Matt

[Nut124]

It sounds like we each have methods for pulling the engine that work for us, so here's mine:

Remove hood. Drain coolant and remove the radiator. Drain engine oil. Remove the cylinder head (I just work out for 6 months until I'm buff and then lean over the front of the car and lift the head off by hand, intake manifold still attached). Remove the starter (much easier now with the head off). Support the transmission with a jack under the transmission oil pan. Remove nuts on the engine mounts. Raise the transmission just slightly with the jack (about an inch). Remove the 4 bolts that hold the transmission bellhousing to the engine. Wrap a rope around (or a chain attached to) the engine, whatever seems appropriate. Put a thick towel across the crossmember in front of the radiator. With one foot on that crossmember and one foot in front of the cowl, dead lift the engine up to clear the engine mount studs, forward a few inches, and then upwards, and place on the crossmember (see the part above about working out until totally buff). Jump down off the car and lift that bad boy onto the ground.

Part of the reason I do it this way is that I never had access to an engine hoist or a lift. Many engine pulls were done in parking lots or in someone's driveway. Anyway, about a good half day's work, assuming no issues.

-Bryan

Bryan, your are quite a stud if you can lift a short block out of the engine bay! I hope you are kidding.

No access to an engine hoist??? Ever heard of Harbor Freight? $180. It has an adjustable harness that allows the trans to be tilted down as needed to get it into the tunnel. Easy, relatively speaking.

Engine coming out:


Engine going in:

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Bryan, your are quite a stud if you can lift a short block out of the engine bay! I hope you are kidding.

Nope, I'm totally serious. In fact, I accumulated 3 engine blocks and about 5 cylinder heads in my time in Southern California, and when I moved to Northern California, I moved all this stuff myself in the back of my pickup. First to an apartment on the second floor (the stuff was stored on the balcony), then to the first house, then to the second house, and finally to the third house. All by me with that same pickup. At that point, I says to myself, "Bryan, what the heck are you doing lugging all these engines around from one place to the next? You'll never use them, and they just collect bugs and dust" So, I got rid of almost everything about 10 years ago. Of course, now that I have gotten back into working on Fiats, I wish I had kept some of that stuff. Isn't that always the case???

Yes, I have looked at the Harbor Freight hoist. Problem is, between two spiders, woodworking tools, bicycles, drill press, 12 foot workbench, two roll-around tool cabinets, floor jacks, jack stands, ramps, industrial size air compressor, parts storage, etc, there isn't much room... Not quite as bad as Dinghyguy in the Too Small Garage (since corrected), but you get the idea.

-Bryan

[18Fiatsandcounting]

the chili will be way to spicy for most ... and just right for me .... Matt

I can see it now! The great Chili Cookoff! The only requirement is that you bring enough to share, and that you drive your Fiat to the event.

-Bryan

[wetminkey]

I only weigh about 145lbs soaking wet, and am turning 65, so I don't heft even short blocks,...anymore.
Physics/leverage is a wonderful thing, and I've learned to use it to my advantage.
Bummed that I don't have a pic of the engine being pulled, but I'm usually busy at that time,...I do have this pic of the entire engine, resting on the garage floor, still in the improvised sling:

I just use an old 1/2 ton "CYCLONE" chain hoist, attached to a reinforced overhead beam in my garage, to pull engines - even V8s - and then I push the vehicle out from underneath. The hoist goes anywhere I have an overhead to pull with, and I can always go "semi-mobile" with my engine stand, if need be,...
I prefer the chain hoist because it does not have legs that need to be fit underneath the vehicle, like an engine hoist.
I drop trannys to the garage floor, with the cars' front wheels on steel stands with detachable ramps that my dad-in-law bought for me, long ago.
All low-tech and cheap, but have worked quite well for me for over forty years,...
Best of luck with all you projects, guys!
Todd.

[aj81spider]

If you're even thinking about working on the transmission I'd pull the engine and transmission together. You disconnect the transmission in the back where the bolts are easy to access and, like Nut124's pictures, just ease the combined assembly out. He shows a leveler on the hoist and I found that was pretty critical. I did it with almost the exact Harbor Freight setup shown in the pictures. It's a little tight getting past the center link, so you might remove that, but I didn't in either direction and was able to squeak by. Putting it back is pretty easy combined as well. In both directions I was able to do it without removing the shifter.

This let me get easy (not on my back with several extensions) access to the bell housing and starter bolts.

[RRoller123]

Hey to each his or her own, whatever works! Tim and I had great luck with the partial disassembly method, and as he said, if you are going to do head work or whatever, it helps a lot to just have the short block come up on the winch. Plenty of methods. Now let's start the oil discussion again.

[81SPIDERMATT]

lots of ways to skin a cat as they say .... and i would love to do so much more with the engine out.... but without getting into the sob story that is my financial reality ..... I am fixing what needs to be fixed and trying to find the best route to that end...appreciate all the help ...Matt

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I am fixing what needs to be fixed and trying to find the best route to that end

Matt, my apologies if you mentioned this and I missed it, but what is the issue that you are trying to fix?

-Bryan

[tima01864]

More than one way to peel a banana

[wetminkey]

My apologies for stating B.S. about the starter bolts - must have been 'project-amnesia' (so terrible, that the memory is blotted out, so that the chore is not as terrifying in the future,...).
All of the bolts are best started from below,...upper can be finished from above, but the two lowers are best done from below. Easy for me to say, since I can drive/raise my car onto steel ramp-stands,...
P.S. Pulling the engine/tranny in one piece requires an real "Cherry Picker" engine puller, and probably and equalizer bar, to angle the load as it's withdrawn,...a number of us would have to rent the resources. Therefore, the alternatives are quite tempting!
Best of luck Matt! Holler if I can help! Todd.