Monday, January 18, 2010

Saturday Firefly engine removal


Since there was a break in the weather, and temperatures got to nearly above freezing, it was decided to remove the engine from the Firefly (that's the super cool blue car). This would allow us to get a better look at the transmission bellhousing and hopefully help with measuring and figuring things out.

I had posted on the Team Swift forums a question on how to go about this. The reply was just to unplug everything, then unbolt the engine and manhandle it out, since its only about 100lbs. I suspected that the manual was a bit more explicit, but what the hell could go wrong? I'll let another team member explain the engine removal procedure:
  • Drain coolant and oil
  • disconnect everything (hoses, wires, etc.)
  • unbolt transmission from engine and frame
  • wiggle engine using hands and a jack under the oil pan
  • go to the pub for lunch and beer
  • wrap straps around the engine and around a 2 by 4
  • get 2 guys to stand on the engine bay's cross members and hold on to the 2 by 4
  • jack the engine up as the guys lift the wood beam
  • continue until engine comes out
  • hand off engine to a few more guys
  • put engine on ground

It's that simple!

Well, not quite! A few things, if you wanted to keep your engine nice, it is likely that you'd use a crane instead of the jack to better protect the oil pan. Also, if you can remove the pulleys, it would give you way way more clearance with the frame, and make this much easier. We cheated, since the engine is FUBARed we just forced it out with the jack.

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