Question About Engine Removal

Shootnride · #1 (**permalink**) 07-08-2013, 07:27 AM

I'm about to pull the engine on my SPF car and was hoping to tap some of the wisdom on this forum. The engine is an FE with a TKO transmission. I'd like to pull the engine and trans as a unit but not sure if that's the best approach. Anyone here have experience doing this or is it best to separate the engine and trans ? Can the engine be removed by itself easily without moving the trans rearward ?

Any assistance is appreciated.

Thanks,

Ted

PSB · #2 (**permalink**) 07-08-2013, 11:47 AM

You can do it either way. Because of the length of the nose of a Cobra, you have to position the engine hoist on the side rather than the front of the car.

Pete

Mark IV · #3 (**permalink**) 07-08-2013, 01:02 PM

You can do either but we prefer to do them as unit, saves the alignment issues when reinstalling. You need the nose up some to allow the trans tail to clear the ground. Be sure to plug the trans output or you will make a real mess....

Some engine cranes (the better, heavier duty units) have an arm long enough to access from the front, the cheaper units have shorter arms to allow the capacity rating.

55312 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-08-2013, 01:54 PM

Do you need to pull the transmission? In my case, I didn't need to pull it (a top loader) so I split the engine at the bell housing and had at it. Really went very smoothly and putting it back in was no problem. Alignment was not an issue as long as you install the clutch and pressure plate properly. Also....some beers and a friend or two makes it go so much easier.

Tim

Shootnride · #5 (**permalink**) 07-09-2013, 08:31 AM

Gentlemen,

Thanks to all of you for your input.

Tim,
No, I really don't NEED to pull the transmission, but after looking more closely at the situation and taking some measurements, I'm thinking it may be a little easier to just pull the whole thing as a unit. The crankshaft nose on the FE motor is pretty long and after looking up the length of the TKO input shaft, there isn't enough room to move the engine forward to clear the input shaft before the crankshaft nose would hit the front frame cross member. So, at the very least it looks like the trans would have to be unbolted, shifter removed (and possibly removal of the driveshaft) and either raised or slid rearward, so if I have to do that, I might as well just pull it. Also, as Mark IV said, it eliminates any transmission re-alignment issues.

Hopefully it will be out this weekend and I won't have to bother you guys with more questions.

Oh ya, and friends and beer will definitely be involved. They always are for this sort of thing and over the past 40 odd years, we haven't ruined any cars/engines yet !

Thanks again,

Ted

Dwight · #6 (**permalink**) 07-09-2013, 07:14 PM

I extended the arm on my lift and added 120 lbs of counterweight. We have pulled a "lot" of motor/trannies from the front.

Dwight

Shootnride · #7 (**permalink**) 07-09-2013, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwight

I extended the arm on my lift and added 120 lbs of counterweight. We have pulled a "lot" of motor/trannies from the front.

Dwight

Hi Dwight,

I've done similar things for lifting large electric motors, gear boxes, etc. I made a short set of legs for my lift so I could get in closer to machinery and added as much as 350 lbs of lead for counter weight. Works pretty well but you do have to approach the lifts with a little caution because it is just engineering by the seat of your pants !

Ted

STEVE-O · #8 (**permalink**) 07-10-2013, 06:54 AM

If you need to separate the engine and transmission in place, the transmission tunnel in the Superformance comes off so you can get access to everything from the top. I believe the instructions are at Craigscobras.com

Shootnride · #9 (**permalink**) 07-10-2013, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STEVE-O

If you need to separate the engine and transmission in place, the transmission tunnel in the Superformance comes off so you can get access to everything from the top. I believe the instructions are at Craigscobras.com

Steve-O,

Thanks for the tip and also for the link to Craigs Cobras. His website has some great information and is now in my "Favorites"

Ted

Clois Harlan · #10 (**permalink**) 07-10-2013, 08:32 AM

Hey Craig,

I just helped a friend of mine pull his FE out his SPF about 8 mos ago. We split the engine from the BH and pulled it out fine but we did remove the radiator. Easy peasy. It took us about 15 mins once we had the headers and side pipes removed (of course on the drivers side we just removed the header bolts and left the headers in the engine bay).

Re-install was just as easy with a little shaking of the engine to align the trans input shaft. Much easier than Monkey ___ing the whole unit back in.

Shootnride · #11 (**permalink**) 07-12-2013, 05:59 AM

Well, the engine and trans came out successfully yesterday without incident. The process was a bit slow and tedious because of the issue some of you mentioned....the long front end on the Cobra. Fortunately I had a load leveler for the cherry picker which certainly made the job easier.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Ted