you guys are telling this guy some dangerous stuff, " more beer and do it by yourself" this guy is already bumming and lacks experience so he really needs to keep his head straight. having somebody around in case something drops on you to help you is the only way to go or at least a portable phone nearby. drink the beer and celebrate when the motor is out and safely secured.
Theres nothing like booze and power tools for a sure trip to the hospital. Im with 55dude, do the job well and then celebrate the work learned by looking at YOUR pulled motor on your new HF engine stand! Have fun
You wont need a cart .On your first motor pull your bound not to plug the trany out put with drive line yoke and you will have 8 quarts of atf all over the ground and the trany will slide real easy across the floor . Wink wink Hint hint
I know what your talking about on the help thing.I have had help pullin motors and such a few times but by the time you have to bribe buddies and then spend time waiting on them to show up you could have been done.Most ofem's idea of helping is ****ing down all your beer and supervising anyway.I have pulled ******s ,swapped motors ,etc,. while laying in snow or mud under a car with the tools so damn cold they would sting your hands.Like others said your better off to learn to reley on your self.Good luck with the swap and old truck tires will work in a bind but a motor stand is better.
tell your uncle if he ever wants his garage back he needs to help....worked for me. and well, i bought the beer.....
you have already gottin a ****load of good advice , get a digital camera and take a lot of pics as you progress and take stuff apart it will remind you where and what goes where ..
Man you don`t know how many times I find myself alone in the garage with the radio on and bust`n knuckels to my hearts content. Atleast when you work by yourself no-one will see you drop that rim on your foot or get hit by the 5/8 wrench you just slung across the shop.
I don't think it was clear or not, but pull the engine ****** as a combo. You can get a plastic plug for the end of the ****** from just about any ****** shop to keep from emptying it on the ground, Don't steal a shopping cart and cut it up, get yourself a furniture dolly from Northern Tools or someplace and two 2x4's and you can set it right on there and roll it around.
He's at his uncle's house....I ***ume he was requesting knowledge help more than actual physical help
I learned 40 years ago not to depend on so called friends. Yes, its good to have someone around as a safety factor, but you can't depend on those *******s. Seems to me you are under the gun time wise, being in the uncles driveway and all.....This is no way to do a project. Get yourself a place that you can take your time and do the job properly........If you are pressured and it done quickly, its just going to be a hack job, which you won't be happy with.
You will learn that you can not have too many engine dollies. I've got 3 and I need more. Think of them as an investment and build a couple. Don't skimp. Use 2x6s, bolts and heavy duty casters that won't flat spot after a few weeks. The rubber tired ones are fine for hard wood floors but a PITA in a concrete garage. If you want to get ***y make a long handle that hooks directly to the dolly so you can pull it around while standing up. Pulling on the dolly rather than pushing on the engine keeps everything upright. Cut the left over 2x6s up into 12 lengths that can be used as cribbing to chock the many different engines that it will haul over it's long lifespan. You'll have 2 great tools that will come in handy for so much more. Get used to flaky friends it's a fact of life. I get everything ready to pull including all the wires, hoses, accessories removed before I ask for help. I did this a month ago. With everything ready to go it only takes a few minutes to do the deed. Nobody wants to stand around and watch you disconnect fuel lines etc. Have it ALL ready to go and you don't waste your buddies time. Besides if you have a bunch of beer drinking buddies over, nothing gets done but a bunch of bull ****ting. After it's out and sitting on your new dolly then break out the beer. They met me at 10 AM we pulled the mill ********ted for a while and I took them to lunch. None of us are beer drinkers. It was fun for all of us because I was ready for them.
Beer and food. This is the answer to getting people to help to follow through. Begging/asking for free labor is unacceptable to most people. There needs to be some trade off...hence...beer and food along with fellowship will fill the garage (though some will be worthless). Take your new found fabrication skills and build a wooden frame to sit the motor off if you're not gonna spring for the motor carrier. Northern tools, $29.00, cheaply build, but holding up a Buick 455 for months now. Good on the lernin'...doing it yourself is the best way anyway. I've pulled several motors alone but I bought my tools so it's easy enough.
Buy a frickin engine stand - fixing ANYTHING on old cars isn't cheap. Doing it right starts with doing it with the right tools. I learned this all the hard way. I also learned the only person I can rely on is myself. You'll be old and grey before most of your "friends" spend their free time and energy on you. At least that's how it has worked out for me. Welcome to the Lone Wolf club.
Get an engine stand. Your going to need to do some work on the block before you put it in, and a stand makes it a lot easier to rotate. It always makes sense to change the oil pump from the donor, and you can't do that with the engine sitting on tires, or 2x4's.
i use a shopping cart without basket it tapers in the front which allows it to slip under the cherry picker, works great...when i pull a motor i dont roll the cherry picker..i roll the car out leave the cherry picker in place.....and drain ****** oil or cap end with a spray can cap and somr gaffers / duct tape good luck
Another vote for the shopping cart idea. I've got one with a 455 Olds / 200R4 sittin' right on it and I can move it anywhere with little effort. I used to get crate engine shipping cradles and bolt heavy duty casters on them, too.
No wonder the price of groceries keeps going up with you *******s stealing all their carts.......................... About friends....They might show up at your funeral, if there is free food ............
I prefer a 4 leg engine stand ... much safer and only a few dollars more when purchasing. I also prefer to work alone ... as a general rule. Sometimes ... you NEED help ... and have to recruit help ... Thanks ... to fellow HAMBers RFH1931 and Lo C Dan Calm down and then go rent a cherry picker or better YET ... BUY ONE ... pull the engine ... remove the transmission and put the engine on YOUR stand ... I also suggest you invest in a engine tilter ... Some of the BEST $$$ I ever spent on tools ...
It is amazing what you can do by yourself with a good cherry picker. Best money I ever spent on a tool. If you take your time you can figure out how to safely do most of the work by yourself and your not waiting on people to show up. Plus as you are finding out you can always get lots of good ideas by asking on here.
You buy a crane for under $200. You can use them for lots of lifting jobs especially if you get a load leveller for another $30.-40. Buy two engine stands and use one for your ******. We recently used our crane to lift the body off a '39 sedan and also to help ***emble a car lift. You gotta have these tools especially when you work alone most of the time. Xmas is coming, maybe Santa can help with tools. Nobody said our hobby was cheap. Be patient.
I "third" the appliance dolly idea. You can get them for $15 from Tractor Supply. As long as you don't have to work much on the motor and just need to move it around, they work great.
My $0.02 worth of advice: Get a box of plastic sandwich bags,put bolts ,nuts,spacers,etc in them and label the bag as to where they go back...believe me ,you will forget where they go !! Buy/beg/borrow a cheap camera(even those throwaway kind) ,take lots of pics of vac.hose connections,wire harness connections,wire & hose routings,bracket locations ,etc ....again ,you will forget where/how they ran Notepads..you will be surprised how valuable a simple note to yourself will pay off later on.Make notes on wire colors/connections,etc.Jot down things you need to do before you reinstall the ***embly On any roll around dolly,engine stand,etc ..the larger the wheels ,the easier it rolls on rough concrete...so if you build your own, use large dolly wheels Treat the friends that do show up to help to Lunch,Dinner etc...There will always be more "no-shows" than "shows"..then you know who your real friends are.. Most importantly ..keep on trying things...knowing how to do things on your own isn't all bad Stan
You might try checking on Craigslist.com in your area for tools. Sometimes you can find garages that are closing or a mechanic that is retiring and getting rid of tools. I just got one of those 3 legged brake drum pullers, almost new, for 10 bucks. I've watched them go for 75-90 on ebay. And i agree, learn to do it by yourself. I've taken my 29 coupe body off the frame 3 times now all by myself. Mike
If you have a local grocery store with a lazy "engine stand" round-up guy, or the customers take the "engine stands" and leave them a few blocks from the store, you can liberate one of them and cut the extra basket part off the top, and weld on a few cross braces. Oh, the only person you can count on is you, and even then you might end up disappointed when you f something up. Don't get discouraged.
I have 3 friends who ALWAYS show up when it's wrench twistin' time-ME, MYSELF and I!!! A friend is great help, but just plan on doing this by yourself-helpers are a bonus, not a given. Work slowly, don't just take stuff off. You have been given a lot of good advise, use it. WELCOME TO THE LEARNING CURVE. Good luck.
Not that I'm standing up for the flaky friends or anything, but... ...wanting pals to pull an engine/trans in New York in December is a tough sell...no matter how much beer you've got. I bet they'd have shown up in September..but with snow and ice on the ground, the concept of crawling under someone elses project loses it's appeal quickly. But, doing all this work yourself will make you a better hot rodder in the long run. And, it'll let you know who to trust! ~Scotch~
First of all, I don't think I would p*** up an invite to help a friend tear into a car, but I may be alone on this one. I work a lot better when I'm alone, although a good alternative is someone to sit around and BS while I'm wrenching. My girlfriend likes to chill and read, or try to learn to knit.... then she's always there for the tough parts: "Baby, when this almost touches that, yell." Most importantly, you need to decide what you are doing with the motor first.... If there isn't any work to do on it, you shouldn't buy an engine stand for one swap. Just drop it on a tire. If you have work to do on the motor while it's out, you will probably want to separate the motor/trans and put the motor on a stand. If this is the case, you need to look into how long you can rent the hoist for. If you advertise where you are in NY, you will probably find a local Hamber with a hoist you can borrow and maybe even some help for lunch and some brew.
The Jalopy Journal
