my engine fell, i need advice on how to secure it

I was attempting to put my engine and transmission together as a unit in my car and the bolt in the back of the engine broke, dropping the engine on the floor. Luckily, I was only sitting it on a tire and it wasn't way up in the air.
When you all install your engine and transmission together, where specifically do you bolt it to and how many chains do you use? I am pretty afraid of trying this now and want to make 100% sure, for my safety and the car, that it is safely secured.
Thanks,
Brandon

 

What is the engine and trans in question??

I just use a carb plate and in and out is a breeze.

I use no chains either. Just the hook on the picker.

 

I ALWAYS use a load leveler, with the chain in front and in back equalized so as to properly spread the load. Chains attached with 3/8 grade 5 bolts through the link with a good washer. 4 points to lift the motor never gave me any trouble lifting a complete big Mopar with the attached Torqueflight. About 900-1000 lbs together.

 

"the bolt"

you only put one in?

if im reading you wrong let me know..but you should put them all in..and tight.

and if you have the additional weight of the trans on there i wouldnt use a carb plate..use a leveler device and chain to each corner..preferably use an accessory hole on each head and bolt your chain to that, so you will be able to adjust the angle of the assembly as it goes in.
with only a carb plate is hard to hold the angle

 

I've pulled many engines and I only use one chain. Most of the time, I will hook into the factory lift rings on the intake with a clevis/pin thru the chain if they are still present. If not, I will use the factory accessory bracket bolt holes and grade 8 bolts with fender washers on them and bolt the chain from the rear of the pass side head to the front of the drivers side head. If I use the bolt method, I make sure that I have the chain bolted in more than one spot. If I'm yanking one from a junkyard, seatbelts are great for yanking them out

**Edit- I have a leveler and a carb plate. I haven't used the leveler as of yet but I have heard great things about them. The carb plate on the other hand, I wouldn't use. Something about 4 tiny bolts holding a 454/T400 doesn't make me feel comfortable. Maybe for a V6 but not an 8. I also wouldn't recommend a carb plate with an aluminum intake.

Again, USE GRADE 8 BOLTS. They only cost a couple of cents more...

 

use grade 8 bolts or better..

 

I have used a carb plate on an aluminum manifold with both BBC and 460 Ford many times. Even did a Nailhead 425 that way. With transmissions. Never had a problem. Just did a 502 with a turbo 400 that way.
Having said that I do prefer using my tilter with 1 bolt in the end of each head (4 total) because of the ability to angle the motor as necessary to go in and out.

 

Carb plate as well.....

 

**Edit- I have a leveler and a carb plate. I haven't used the leveler as of yet but I have heard great things about them. The carb plate on the other hand, I wouldn't use. Something about 4 tiny bolts holding a 454/T400 doesn't make me feel comfortable. Maybe for a V6 but not an 8. I also wouldn't recommend a carb plate with an aluminum intake.

Again, USE GRADE 8 BOLTS. They only cost a couple of cents more...[/QUOTE]

I agree. Carb plates scare me. I tried it once, and it worked well, but it was only the engine (sbc 327). But i don't see how a carb plate would work well with tranny in tow. I think it would be back heavy. I have an engine chain. It has a braket on both ends that can attach to back of head or intake bolt, and and adjustable metal tab to hood to the hoist. the tab and be moved to adjust the balance.

 

I have used carb plates for years sbc bbc 409 you name it. No problems. If the trans is on there just hook to the bak eyelet. Before that I would use a chain and bolt it to the intake in two places. I think th four 5/16 studs on a carb plate are stronger than two 3/8 bolts through a chain JMHO

 

i'm lucky enough to own a couple of 1/2-20 self-centering swiveling d-rings and a few varieties of clevises and nylon slings for lifting (left over from my days building paper machines). i also have a sturdy lift chain with quality forged hooks (made up from all new components a few years back) and also use a pair of universal lift eyes that i made from 2" i.d. flat-washers (5/16 of an inch thick!) with a 2" tab tig-welded on. using overhead cranes in industry taught me how to make good, safe lifts with the best equipment you can lay your hands on.

 

Tell the truth, you screwed a 3/8" fine thread bolt into the oil sender hole, didn't you? I "heard" that this can happen, but I don't(do) have first hand experience. I am "told" from 5 ft it will hit hard enough to beark off the oil pump if you do it right.

 

Yeah, if you're going to hook a chain to bolts on the block I always go for whatever is easiest and most likely to help me keep it level of the intake, head or exhuast bolts.

I save a lot of those eyes that come on Pontiac motors, too, no reason you can't stick one on another engine and use it.

 

Sorry, I forgot to clarify. My engine is a 390 Cadillac going in a '60 Cadillac.
I had a single chain, but certainly had more than one bolt. I raised it to sit the engine/transmission on a tire for a moment, and that was it.
I'm definitely glad that it didn't break while it was way up high in the air, as I've jacked the car up high enough to help the angle going in.
I've never put a transmission and an engine in together, always separate. I think I'm going to invest in a leveler. The pictures I've seen always show them leveling left to right, but I assume it would be ok to level front to back. I am somewhat worried about the steep angle which will be necessary to get the engine to slide in, but everyone I've talked to that has put one of these Cadillac engine's in has done it the same way.
I'm really anxious about the thing now. I don't want it to fall from 6 foot up and land on my core support.
My nephew likes to help some too. On a side note, my father lets me use a corner of his dealership to work on my stuff. The building has been there since the 20's, and now the county has decided to tear it down and put a courthouse there, even though what they're doing is technically illegal. I fought at city hall and actually refuted all of their arguments until finally one last member of the board essentially said, "we can do this, and we're going to." Those engine hoists have been pulling engines since before anyone reading this was born.

 

any pics of the building?...too bad they are taking it from you.

 

You should have then said you'll be releasing the audio tape of that to the newspapers tomorrow.


A leveler would be a cheap investment when you're working on a big-$$ car like that.

 

That's a pretty broad statement considering how old some of us here are

 

Not to be a "know it all", but you're pic shows a lack of wheel blocking or tire chalks to keep it from rolling..

Safety First.. Cool car. have fun

 

One main reason for a bolt breaking when it is hooked through a chain when pulling an engine is having too long a bolt in a shear and having the weight of the engine bend and then break the bolt. I've seen this with both bolts stuck through the intake to head bolt holes and bolts screwed into the back of the head. The leverage from the chain being out on the end of the bolt is what breaks the bolt.

I built my own engine plate to pull and reinstall the 360 in my van and have used it on a couple of other engine swaps since and if the threads in the manifold are good and the bolts are good I have full faith in doing it that way.

 

I just fell in love with that tortilla maker carb plate thing.

Claean annd simple.

 

I also use a carb plate. It has very good balance. Have used it on quite a few engines. The bolts, used in the manner they are on the carb plate, have their maximum strength. No sidewise twisting or looseness.
Alden

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7636699@N04/

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t24/vetteman61/?start=0

Here's my flickr and photobucket streams. I mostly just use them to post pictures so I can have url's to post them to other places. I have a few pictures of the shop, but not an entire picture of the outside. There's also pictures of my other cars, my dads cars, and a couple of my friend's cars.

I got a load leveler tonight. I finally called enough people that I found a friend that had one, so I won't have to spring 40 bucks to get one, as I rarely ever would use one, and I'm still hurting from the price of the rebuild from my '57 chevy and the '60 having to have engine's rebuilt at the same time.
It's been a rough year car wise.
I'm also going to go make sure I'm fully stocked on grade 8 bolts.
Does anyone have advice on this topic:
Could I use the head bolts at each corner to lift the engine, or would that mess up the torque specs for the heads. I thought if I took 2 head bolts from each head, the front and rear, that should be strong enough to hold, I would hope.

Oh, also, the dealership was a horse stable since before the civil war. It was torn down in the 20's and rebuilt. There's always been a tale of the basement (the entrance to which is sealed) having parts to old model a's. apparently the last person to go down there was a GM rep in the early 80's and he said everything was so rotted you could poke your finger through it.
My girlfriend and I, being curious, plan to open up the entrance and attempt to explore. We've encountered snakes, HUGE rats and roaches the size of small dogs... but we're going to give it a shot just to see what it looks like down there.
Also, when my father bought the place in the late 70's, there were old cars from the 40's still sitting there..... get this.... they BURIED THEM UNDER WHERE THE CAR LOT IS NOW. I know they'd be completely wasted, but I've love to see when the (evil) city digs that parking lot up.

 

they BURIED THEM UNDER WHERE THE CAR LOT IS NOW.


Why did they bury them?

 

Apparently they were old junk cars left over from the previous dealership.... I asked the same question. They needed the lot, there were junk cars there, and there happened to be a backhoe available.

 

Leveler the way to go. Had mine since 1975, great many motors, friends motors, even used it and engine hoist to move a huge bird of paradise plant. It also helps prevent dings in firewall from tail shaft going in.

 

That,s what they did in the old day,s. Squash them first with a bulldozer and cover them up.

 

Whatever you do, don't go buying that load leveler at Harbor freight. Get a decent one if you value your car, limbs, life. There was a thread on here a while ago about a cheap one coming apart.
I've always had luck with a carb plate.

 

Nice Caddy, and interesting story about the dealership building. "Eminant Domain" I belive is how the city can take your property, although hopefully you (your family) is getting enough $$ to be happy. It's not illegal, but it sucks as it sounds like council members are being jerks about the whole matter.

You're lucky you didn't drop the engine on your fenders or your foot! I had the exact thing happen with an AMC 343 into a '41 Chrysler business coupe, had a chain bolted to the engine with two 3/8" bolts into the heads. I used too long a bolt, it bent, then broke, and dropped the rear of the engine/trans, breaking the bellhousing. That was the end of that project. Probably just as well.

Brian

 

I agree,,, It helps to have some rigging experience!!!!

 

Wow, that was doomed from the start - keep your Mopar all Mopar kids!