engine and drivetrain Engine swap

[Biemenstien]

I'm getting ready to do an engine swap, is it easier to pull just the engine, or both the engine and transmission together? My Hayes manual says to pull both together. Does anybody have a better resource than a Hayes manual? Share your secrets and spare me any frustration I might encounter. Thanks.

[DrewinFoCo]

it's easier to pull them both together, but you need a leveling bar for your engine hoist. Well maybe not "need", but it makes it a whole lot easier. If you have access to an automotive lift, it's pretty easy to drop everything out the bottom too, you just have to disconnect the suspension and take off the brake calipers and hang them from the body so you don't have to re-bleed the brakes. Either way it's not an incredibly difficult job. Try pulling an S4 motor, that's a giant pain.

[bcthomas122279]

Depends on what equipment and help you have at your disposal. I've pulled a few m10 engines by myself with meager equipment and found it was easier to separate the engine and gearbox prior to removal.

[TobyB]

take the dizzy out first!

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[Biemenstien]

This is the current set up. What would you change, if anything?

[Biemenstien]

This is the current set up. What would you change, if anything?

[BillWilliams]

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,304318/

[Biemenstien]

For some reason it looks to be a lot more involved to remove it from the bottom, but i guess I have never removed it from the top. Thanks for the pics they help a ton.

[BillWilliams]

in both scenarios, you have to disconnect all of the electric and plumbing.

Bottom Drop:

eight lug nuts = real easy

two brake line bracket bolts = real easy

four brake caliper bolts = not too bad

six bolts on the strut bearings = real easy

three bolts on the transmission = real easy

six bolts on the sub frame = easy

Pluses:

No engine crane needed.

No need to remove the hood = a real plus if you are not Michael Dubois. Aligning a hood on reinstall is a challenge.

No scratches

No need to disconnect the transmission from the motor.

Provides an opportunity to really look over the sub-frame and clean the engine bay.

Biggest winner for me is being able to couple the motor with the transmission before install and not having to align the hood. I have not been good at mating the transmission to the motor while it is in the car or aligning a hood, even with Michael's meticulous directions.

[Biemenstien]

Eric kerman is shipping my engine next week, what say you plan a little vacation to Utah for a little skiing and help me put the thing in?

[BillWilliams]

Sounds like a great trip.

[Biemenstien]

What kind of lift did you use to set the engine on (the red one) and is it something I might be able to rent from a shop?

[BillWilliams]

I discovered one of my boys bought an ATV/Motorcycle jack from Sears. Since it has something resembling a platform - we used that and it did help balance things a bit better.

We did one motor drop and plant with just a normal floor jack and as long as you keep everything balanced it works really well.

Here are shots of Mike Pugh putting in the motor in the orange car with a floor jacket. There is a creeper supporting the transmission.

In this shot you will see the struts hanging from the inner fenders. I did not like doing this as well as seen in the other way.

Notice here the car is raised and the motor is low.

Notice here the car is lowered and the engine is raised.

[Biemenstien]

Looks good, I have access to a shop with welders and lots of steel, I think I can put something together to adapt a basic floor jack for the job. Thanks for the pics it's nice to visualize whats going on. did you get all those new poly bushings as a set? if so where?

[BillWilliams]

I believe the bushing came from Ireland but I am not sure I remember.