Hot Rods 1 man engine swap on slopes drwy 63 Impala

Do we even know what is supposed to be wrong with the motor? It could be an easy in engine bay fix like rebuilding the heads or changing the main seals out. Heck I’ve been known to rebuild an engine while it’s still in the car (spun bearing).

 

The tool places around here will rent an engine hoist. Most of the engine swaps that I have done, and it is quite a few, I did by myself. On a slope, it can be done but you need to make sure the car will not roll backwards. The hoists that I've rented have wheels on them. I would use the garage if possible.

 

That’s a nice gesture, California plates. Last I heard he was planning an LS swap?

 

What is supposedly wrong with your motor? You were asking about the high idle recently. Why do you think it needs replacing?

 

It should be a requirement when joining the HAMB to indicate where you're located. As has been said there are possibly members close who can lend a hand and advice.

 

If you can't get in garage, a sheet of plywood makes rolling easier. I'd get it in as neighbors like to pitch a fit at that sort of thing.

 

He’s in San Diego.

 

I work in a small two stall, if I need to pull a engine I pull the engine lift in the middle of the stall, I keep it outside, and then pull the front of car in and go to work. Usually I don’t even need to move the engine lift I just push the car back out the door. I put the engine on a stand and the lift goes back outside and the car can come back inside.
You will need help with the hood and maybe pushing the car out and then stopping it, blocking the wheels so it doesn’t roll whatever. If you don’t have a pickup maybe your shop could help with picking it up.
I’ve worked by myself especially at home for most of my life and I found that there’s really not much you can’t do working on your own it just requires being a little creative at times.

 

Before ya tank it out, post the compression numbers. Vacuum gauge readings.
Is it knocking?
You had an issue with a new carb. The adapter was incorrect. I’ve had that same issue. Get the correct adapter and run the new carb
Then make a decision on yanking it

 

Obviously you've never seen my garage, it has a 4 degree pitch, like stadium seating !



I've pulled many engines in here by myself, it's relatively easy too. Disconnect everything so the engine can come out with the car being able to roll.
Wheel chock behind a tire, lift engine up a bit, let car roll back a bit and repeat the process. The engine hoist won't move but the car does, might have to chock the engine host so it doesn't try and roll during the process.

 

First off, I'm actually quite glad to hear so many people here wanting to help this guy, instead of just ****ting all over his sometimes beginner-level questions. That's refreshing.

Second, even if I could pull an engine on that sloped driveway, that's an awfully nice driveway to risk getting drenched in oil or coolant. Sure, it is possible to swap an engine without spilling anything but I've never done it.

Third, I agree with the others who are asking why you feel like the engine needs to be rebuilt or replaced. I fear you may have gotten some bad advice from someone. If you're lucky, whatever issue the car has can be fixed much cheaper and easier than an engine swap.

Can you get it to run, and maybe take a short video? Is it smoking, knocking, hard to start, seized, or? A compression test would be a good idea, as mentioned above. That's a lot easier than pulling the engine out, maybe start there.

As an example, another HAMB member recently bought an early 50's Chevy that was most of the way through an engine rebuild when the owner gave up, and it was discovered that the generator was squealing and howling and maybe even keeping it from turning over very fast, that may have been the whole issue and the engine was fine. Not saying that's what you have happening, but it's worth covering all of those bases first, before you get into the really difficult and pricey stuff.

I'm a pretty good sheetmetal welder but an awful mechanic, I have to ask a lot of questions too, some of them probably pretty obvious to the more experienced around here. But so far, I've made it through all of my mechanic's tasks, going slow and careful and asking lots of questions. I'm sure you can, too.

 

Watching from the sidelines, with this one, the struggle is going to be real.

First off, why exactly, did the shop say the motor has to come out? If there was not a specific reason, like: {"The motor has to come out because it has oil, but no oil pressure." or "It has rods knocking." or "There is antifreeze mixed in with the oil." or "There is no compression on one or more cylinders." (if two cylinders side by side have no compression, it may just need a head gasket and there may be no reason to pull the motor) or "There are internal parts (or cracks leaking stuff) visible from outside of the block."} then you probably need to get a second opinion from a different shop.
The next questions should be: {"How much will the repair cost, and does that price include the removal and installation of the motor?" then " How much would I save if I just brought the motor to you?" then "How long will it take to get my motor fixed?"} These real questions should come with at least estimated price tags or price ranges, and time frames, for the needed repairs. If no numbers are available, look for another shop.

Pulling them motor under your conditions. Pulling the motor isn't really the big problem. The big problem is how to get the motor, or the car body, out of the way in their separated position, so the motor can be transported away. You NEED to have that figured out before you start pulling the motor out of the car. That is where the steep, rough surface, driveway will be the problem.

Once the motor has been lifted out of the car high enough to clear the grill of the car, that motor hanging 4' above the ground is not going to be fun to move on the rough driveway (driveway steepness not even considered). The motor is going to bounce and swing wildly over each crack in the pavement, under each of the 4 wheels of the hoist. Once the car is out of the way, you can lower the motor to just off the ground and that sure helps with moving the engine hoist with a motor hanging on it. You can even set the motor on the ground, and move the hoist and lift the motor again.

I'm going to suggest that it is easier (and safer) to lift the motor, as you are moving the car. Given your driveway, it would be easier to have the car in the garage, front end facing out, moved far enough forward it can be moved backwards 4' or 5' inside of the garage. That will probably put the front end of the car outside of the garage, and starting to go down the drive way. If your garage is anything like my garage, having the front end of the car on the driveway would be OK anyway, because the 8' ceilings in my garage are not high enough for the hoist to lift the motor high enough to clear the grille anyway. The hoist has to be completely outside of my garage and the roof overhang. The car and the hoist can both be blocked so they don't roll down the driveway (block the rear wheels on the car so it can't roll towards the street, and block the hoist so it can't roll toward the street either. The problem with this set up is, you have to be able to get the car back up the driveway and into the garage (as the car comes back up the driveway, the motor will probably need to be lifted higher). Someone to help push the car would probably get the job done, but doing it alone may be pretty hard. You may want to rig something up to be able to pull the car back into the garage, before you start the motor pulling process.

With the car now back in the garage, block the rear tires so the car can't move either direction. Once the car is secured, you can set the motor on its oil pan on the ground, you may have to prop it up so it doesn't want to tip over. With the motor sitting securely on the ground, you can carefully disconnect the hoist from the motor and carefully move the hoist around to a position where you can lift the motor to put it into the transport vehicle. Be sure to block the lift in its new position so it can't roll down the driveway, before you start lifting the motor.

When its time to reinstall the motor, get someone (maybe a couple of someones) to help, the steep driveway will make the installation 5 x times harder if you are by yourself.

 

At first glance I thought the angle would be an advantage.
A couple of good points made.
Yes Squirel is right ( always ).
In the end, it may just be like the boat salesman line, " If you have to ask...
My way is, first make wood your friend. big blocks under the tires (wedges if BIG. )
4'X 8' plywood sheet for your work space, two half inchers should serve well for you.`
Get hold of a 'come a com-a-long' , they're around.
Use that anchored somehow in the garage, to help you pull your 'cherry picker' up hill,
The feeling you get when your 'suffering' is complete and you're tooling down the highway,
cannot be bought.

 

Tons of great advice here... BUT If you are renting, my advice is don't try it in the driveway.

What did the shop tell is wrong with the engine?

 

Plywood is your friend. The street looks level, too.

 

Hello,

From the look of the photo, the homes seem to be the early 60s style tract homes with almost every third house in a different, but similar structure. Several single story units, a two story unit and a flipped model of one of the two story models, etc. Basic tract home attempt at variety.

When we bought a single story tract home built in the 1963-64 time line, it had a nice two car garage. The driveway was also sloped down to the street. So, if I had to wash the car, the driveway made all waters run down hill away from our house, which was good. But, if a cart or stroller was left on the top of the driveway nearest the door and just got a whiff of wind direction, down the slope it went, until we could catch up to the wayward object.

So, we moved all car repair inside of the garage and used the overhead cross beams with supports holding up the span for heavy duty work, like removal of a motor, etc. they did not have the metal rolling engine lifts back then and would have been fine, except most 2 car garages did not have a lot of room with such a lift and the car on the flat concrete. We had to have part of our car outside of th opened door, so the motor compartment could fit under the supported cross beam.

The cross beam had the chain hoist/pulley set up to lift any heavy items in place or vice versa. But the cross beams were not strong enough to support such heavy weights by themselves. The span and stock supports could not take the added weight. So, a set of 4 x 4 fence posts were placed upright to support the cross beams. That made it much safer and could handle the weight on the cross beams.

Jnaki

If one moves out the other car out of the two car space, then you could put your car in at an angle. Now, if you use a modern motor lift on wheels, it may give you enough room to move around for the removal and installation.

If your tract had the expensive add on of dry wall installation in the garage, then the exposed cross beams aren’t available. So, you will have to finagle the rolling metal engine lift. At least you will not be on a slope and outside with a unusable car sitting in the driveway. YRMV

Note:

One time, I got into our car on the right side of the garage space. Started the motor and took the emergency brake off ready to back up and out. But, my wife called from inside the house and asked me to come inside. So, quickly, I stopped and got out of the car and went inside to see what was the matter.

During that time, the car started to roll backwards without the emergency brake engaged. Duh! And luckily, the car rolled straight back into the bushes up to the middle of the car. The front tires had an inkling to turn the car, but the driveway pulled it into the closest bushes. If it had turned, disaster would have happened… Yikes!

For the neighborhood and for your sake, do the work inside of the garage and not on the driveway.

 

If I had to do the work in the driveway I would turn the car around and have it face down hill moving it closer to the sidewalk. Then block the car securely and use the downhill driveway to help with moving the engine lift, you would be minimizing risks by having the engine moving at the bottom of hill plus making loading easier, it could be done in the street.

 

Op before you pull engine ,
Give up your Location
Somewhere it says San Diego?
GET A SECOND OPINION !!!
I'am sure someone will send you a private message that's trustworthy,
In or Near your location.
Sure engine can be done on that driveway ,, THOUGHT THOUGHT
Needs to be taken & a Plain .
Try to upload a Video , Im sure a Young
12 year old can do if you are unable to,
May be contact local High school
Talk to Mechanic cl*** teacher see if
There a student familiar with older vehicles ..
I also would recommend a leak down test but that requires air compressor

 

He has only posted once in this thread but if you go back to his previous posts on other threads, you can see he was experiencing carb problems.
I have to go to work, maybe someone can determine what's wrong by reading through his history of posts

 

It would be a lot easier for him to just tell us what the shop told him.

 

he did

Hey guys I got bad news from the shop. I need to rebuild or replace my motor in my 63 impala.

 

The first engine I pulled was the 283 in our 61 Impala. This was in 1975, I was 14 years old, and we lived out west of Tucson. My dad had bought the car several years earlier, with the intent of letting his sons take it apart to see how it works.

Back then, film cost money, so we didn't get pictures of everything. The only reason I have these is that we were also into photography, I would develop film and make lousy prints in the kitchen at night using a ****py enlarger I built.

anyways, we had 4 acres, and in back was "the corral", an area that we had cleared and fenced and built a tack shed, when my sister was at home and had "borrowed" a horse from a family friend. Since the horse and sister were gone by then, we took over the shed for electronics and mechanical work. There were some small hills in the corral, from waste dirt when we dug the pool? or the septic tank? anyways, I dug a small trench in one of them, so we could drive the car up over the "pit" and have room to work underneath. We had no concrete or floor jack or jack stands, life was difficult.



Probably not long after these pictures were taken, dad rented a big pipe tripod and a chainfall, and we lifted up the engine/transmission, and rolled the car back, then took the transmission off, and took the engine all apart. Heads went to a local machine shop, dad ordered rings and bearings from JC Whitney, and we rented a few more tools like a hone and torque wrench, and I put it all back together and got it running. Maybe I'll be able to find some more pictures of working on the engine, I know they're around somewhere.

 

If you are buying a new engine, and this is your FIRST engine swap.

Consider the relative costs of:

(A) The cost of the labor and the cost of the engine to have the swap professionally done. There will probably be a multi-year warranty with this option.
(B) The cost of the SECOND engine if you happen to miss a necessary step in the swap. I seriously doubt you will get any warranty if the engine is not professionally installed.

Just for the record, I have read the comments in this thread from folks I respect about doing it by one's self. I would respectfully point out that things CAN and sometimes DO go wrong. Nothing wrong with the buddy system even if the buddy does nothing but watch. I lost a friend when a hydraulic system on a lift failed and he was working alone. His wife was the one to find him.

But good luck, however you proceed.

Jon

 

We all understand that you're trying to be a positive influence and encouraging by relating your experience and those of your students, but with what the OP has shown us in the past and the potential dangers here I think an abundance of caution is necessary.

Based on the OP's level and willingness to forge ahead without heeding warnings, there is significant risk including:

1. Getting over his head and giving up on the project.
2. Significant damage to the car and his personal property.
3. Significant damage to other's property.
4. Personal injury, including and up to death.

The level of risk is much higher than if you or I or were doing it, based on what has been demonstrated to us. I personally would hope people would discourage me from trying it on the slope and surface he has shown if I showed his level of learning and understanding.

We appreciate your encouragement, but there appears to be a need for a lot of caution in this case.

 

Hey guys Thanks for all the replies. There is so much great information so bear with me if I dont reply to everything. I'm trying to update my about me info to add location but it isnt working.
I'm in San Diego,CA . I'm solo with this project,wife can help lift off hood and pump jack.
This car has always had issues hence why I got it for cheap. I did a compression test last year and posted the results on a older post. pretty much most of the issues ive posted on here and have dealt with them.
I took it to a shop called FTS for them to diagnose the smoking engine issue. I wasted $389 for FTS to tell me the engine needs to either be rebuilt or replaced, and that theres a leak at the base of the carb.
On the way over there the carb got stuck briefly at 2500rpm. yeah that was scary good thing it came back to 1200. I need to also mention that it does burn some oil. I didnt get all the specifics from FTS auto repair about what was done and how they came to the conclusion for their diagnosis. I'm going to call them back and find out specifically why. The engine definately sounds different lately and its not a exhaust leak. So I dont know. I am going to put the old carter carb back on and take it from there.

 

time for another compression test?

Thanks for the clarifications.

 

Done it many times. Lift up the engine and let the car roll back. Best if you have help so the engine doesn't hang up. One person in the car on the brake and the other guiding the engine out. Slow and easy does it.

 

He did start one but didn't continue it. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/‘63-impala-build-thread-novice.1338211/

 

Before I did anything, I would want to sort out the issue with the carb. If you have a leak at the base of the carb, that will give you the high idle and poor running. Get the proper adapter and gaskets to get rid of the leak and go from there. If the compression is not too bad you might be getting smoke from the valve seals. They can be changed on the motor with the motor still in the car. Don't be so quick to pull it. I have a hydraulic cam in my motor with adjustable rockers. I had it in a well known speed shop years ago for some minor work. The guys there saw my rockers and adjusted them like it was a solid lifter cam. It was making some noise and when I got it home I pulled the valve covers and reset them. Thankfully by some miracle there was no damage. I am telling you this because even the best can make mistakes.