<VV> engine only vs engine and trans removal review

Jedd Hebrink jhebrink at anvilcom.com
Thu Oct 1 12:20:14 EDT 2009


 Thanks Ray.  Great write up.  Would this procedure work the same for a car
with a PG as it would with a manual transmission?  The engine needs to come
out of my 66 Monza 110 PG.
Jedd
   

Message: 8
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 07:01:45 -0400
From: "Ray Rodriguez III" <grymm at echoes.net>
Subject: <VV> engine only vs engine and trans removal review (with
	procedure	outline)
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Message-ID: <97981357792147AB90DA4B54A358C599 at PWNT>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"

Someone mentioned I should post back after trying this out and give my
opinion, so here we go...



Last time I took the engine and trans out of my 65' Corsa the conventional
way.  This week I took the engine out of my 66' Corsa to change a bad pilot
bushing using the "engine ONLY" alternative removal method.

This being the first time, and not having detailed step by step instructions
it was a learning experience, and thus took me MUCH longer then it will the
next time (now that I know what order to things etc.).  I also moved VERY
slowly because I was afraid to damage anything.  Still I found it much less
work then the conventional removal procedure.  Re-installing the engine was
also much easier than I expected...  it took hardly any time at all and I
managed it alone and with a standard floor jack and a good size piece of
2x12.

Next time I expect I'll be able to have the engine out in no time at all,
which is good because I have to take the engine back out of the 65'.  

My biggest concern was all the warnings I got about the possibility of
damaging the differential "snout".  Using the "Guide pins" idea some of you
mentioned I found that this was no problem at all.....  I felt there was
zero risk to the snout.  I used three guide pins.





Here is a rough outline of the procedure for the archives:


Disconnect everything in the engine room that will interfere with engine
removal (throttle linkage, wiring, ground straps, air cleaner assy., heater
hose etc.).  Pop the perimiter seal loose of the engine shrouds.  

It is best you remove the oil filter mount assembly, you can get away
without doing this if its the kind of car you dont mind some scraping and
scratching in the engine room... it will make some scratches and dent the
perimiter seal retainer if you dont remove it... the filter adapter catches
on the perimiter seal retainer as the engine drops.  Since the 66' has an
unrestored engine room I just used a "shoehorn" method rather then remove
the adapter.

Jack up rear of car as high as possible and place safety stands (as high as
possible) just forward of the rear wheel arches.  Rear of the car 30" off
the ground recommended, My jack/stands wouldnt get that high (maybe 26") but
I didnt have any problem.  Be certain to chock the front wheels.

Under car disconnect fuel line, starter wiring, heater hoses etc. 

Remove rear body panel/grill.

Depending on your exhaust you might have to remove that, mine was able to
stay on the engine.

Place jack under engine and raise till its supported.

Remove rear mount nuts.

Slowly lower the engine until the engine is level (if you are less then 30"
up you might have to go down past level as I did).  It will get to the point
where it wont drop any lower, when this happens jack it back up a bit so its
not hanging and straining things more then need be.

Remove the heater hose adapter sheet metal from the front of the engine,
they are blocking two of the bellhousing bolts.

Remove Starter

Use wood blocks and/or a jack on TOP of the differential to prevent the
differential from moving back up when you remove the engine....  I used wood
blocks and a bottle jack.  Be sure to use a nice wide wood block on top of
the diff so you dont put strain on the sheetmetal top diff cover and damage
it.

Remove bellhousing bolts one at a time.  Replace removed bolts with home
made guide pins.  (Buy three or four 6 inch long bolts, cut off the heads...
cut to the longest length you can get in place and round off the cut end).
I got three guide pins in and it worked great, best bet is probably 4 for
added safety... the two bottom bolt holes and the two that were blocked by
the heater hose nozzles.

Roll the engine jack back away from the diff/trans a couple inches.

Use a pair of vice grips with tape on them to grab the trans input shaft and
slide it back into the trans/diff

Continue to inch the engine back away from the car untill it clears the
guide pins.  Guide pins will keep anything from even touching the snout.

Once clear of the guide pins lower jack all the way and roll out from under
the car.... depending on how tall your jack is and how high you got the car
it might be a tight squeeze.





To re-install simply reverse the procedure.

Make sure to match angles on engine and trans before starting onto the guide
pins, I wound up shimming the front of the engine up a little on my jack to
get it to line up nicely.

To get the splines lined up on the input shaft I put a breaker bar and
socket on the harmonic balancer bolt.  Set the e-brake to keep the rear
wheels (and therefore diff) from turning.   I used the breaker bar to turn
the engine a little at a time, and tried pushing the engine forward into
place untill it went.  If you have a hard time getting the input shaft
engaged fine tune your alignment of engine to diff up down, left and right.





Ray Rodriguez III
CORSA member
66' Corsa 140/4 coupe
65' Corsa 140/4 coupe (under construction)




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