Remove Engine on a GT?

[baz]

thats some bad iron worm you got there bill

[Itsa '70 GT]

Yes I know; I thought I had left all of that stuff back in Michigan when I moved here! I guess not...however, for my intents and purposes, this little car is going to fit the bill just fine. Watch for updates as I'm entering the chassis re-fit stage! BTW, my wife does not enter this part of the garage anymore. She's got me up there with Dr. Frankenstein!

[jeff denton]

Okay, now that we all know how to do it and we are getting the gigglies, may I share with you the story of how we used to steal motors from the county auto boneyard in Great Falls, Montana when we were teenagers?
We'd get in through the (downed, somehow) barbed wire fence between the boneyard and the Monster Hills (abandoned gravel pit) with my friend's dad's Brand New Chevy 4by4 pickup. Find an old Chevy car ("hey, a V-8!") and get it unbolted. Then, hook dad's handy-dandy tow strap to dad's sweet new truck and also up over the roof, down the side, under and into the frame of old chevy (with V-8). Lock in the hubs and go. Almost always results in an beat up car being dragged a long way (til it's no fun anymore) and then we'd unhook it and go back and look for the V-8 that fell out way back there. Four teenagers can easily get it into the pickup (sorry about the tailgate, but it's supposed to be a WORK TRUCK, right, dad?).
Now THAT is how you get the motor out of a car.

[Killer Texas GT]

I have done it both ways, but know its easiest out the bottom, just have to pull the intake and and AC. Here is how I do it now, sorry about the darkness of the picture.
rk

[BQS4]

Yeah, yeah, rub it in Rodney....

[jeff denton]

Greensmurf's comment about getting the input shaft splines into the clutch disc prompts me to share how I modified Speedway GT's bellhousing so that I can do it like I do a big truck wth the 15" clutch. After twenty years of doing truck clutches "by the book" I recently saw a trick you'll never see in any book! This is the only way I'll ever do it now.
I holesawed a handhole in the bottom of the bellhousing just like the one on a truck. Put the bellhousing on the transmission. Then just set the pressure plate on the input shaft, slide the clutch disc on, and slam the engine to the bellhousing, or vise versa. The only thing you have to work into place is the input shaft to the pilot bushing, that's only the last inch before it's "home." Next put a couple bolts in to snug the bellhousing to the block. Then you put the pressure plate bolts into the flywheel through the handhole. Slick!! If you'r worried about the hole (I'm not) a cover plate can be made to close it up, just like on a truck.
The only difference is I can do this myself on a creeper. No jack, no help. Wish trucks were that easy...

[soybean]

Jeff, that's the way I've done tractors for years. Another trick I was shown a few years ago for auto transmissions was to install everything, seat the torque convertor to the pump on the floor, put a "C" clamp on the bellhousing in front of the convertor, then put it up to the flex plate. This way the convertor doesn't move out and you don't break the "tangs" on the convertor or mess up the tranny. Jarrell

[nobody]

Ok the Opel 4 speed:

Do the clutch as normal and use the alignment tool most come with anymore. Get it started with the tranny in any gear, rotate the output shaft to align the input side and if aligned right it slips right in. If by some chance it's off alignment just get in the car and through the hole for the shifter pull it up close to the correct height push in the clutch and push it forward. You can do this under the car too by use of a pry bar on the clutch rod or by overtightening the adjustment pivot. Not that I've spent days under a GT doing this kinda thing or anything or blown more than my share of trannys.

[greensmurf20]

dave, i really like the idea of getting in the car and pulling the transmission up through the shift hole. had a problem with that once and just had to keep dropping the trans down, pulling bellhousing back out until i got the disc in the right place, cuz i had no alignment tool.

[nobody]

I'm sorry, I've been there done that and learned from it. A car 3 to 4 feet off the ground isn't safe. This is one more follow a book that has already been proven wrong. If Your stove or refrigerator needed work would you get it 3 feet off the floor then crawl under? Let's use some common sence here and not put Opelers in harms way. Want pics of what happens from a short fall to set it home?

[Betta Carotene]

For me I take it out the bottom. The car is held up by 2 1/2 ton jacks and steel ramps in the rear By putting the motor and trans on a roll dolley. pushing it under the car and pull the motor and gear box up by an engine hoist. bolt it in place and there you go.the car only hast to be up about 24 in's.

[nobody]

I know it's true but Gravity actually works. You never ever put yourself in the way of potential energy. It's #1 on the safety list. I wonder how many have had a motor or car slip in any way by following this premis. Better yet, lived to tell the tale. The book was written for service work in a full factory garage. Not what most of us have. Not a car on an incline or hoisted from above, look at your manuals they didn't do it like that. Why? it's not safe to work under a 2000 pound load of potential energy. Honest, common sence if your above it and anything happens you walk away. If your under it and something happens guess what? I've seen jack stands fail, I've even seen a hoist and lift fail. I'm not saying it happens alot but just wondering why go there?

I just don't want to see anybodies name in the obituaries for being crushed. Work smart not hard

[greensmurf20]

well, now it is official. i HAVE pulled a engine and transmission out the bottom of the car, and its royal pita for me. the engine doesnt drop down far enough for the head to clear the firewall so you can slide the engine backwards so the oil pump clears the front suspension. i'd much much rather just pull the engine alone out the top, atleast in a GT. it took 3 hours to wrestle the engine out with both me and my father today working on it, when can pull the engine from the GT in about 1.5 hours on my own. unlike most opinions, i've been on both sides and i say out the top.....still.

[jeff denton]

Then you would love pulling the engine on my car! Just think, no cowl, no radiator support. The only thing that hits on the way out is the oil filter, and it comes off pretty easily...
The one time I tried it out the bottom was with a mockup motor, the front suspension was absent at the time. It was a breeze.
When it was still rather intact and I was stripping it down, I had a heck of a time getting it out the top, remember that?
Whatever works for you, and remember, practice makes perfect!

[pullenj]

I recently pulled the engine on my GT from the top and it was a "pita" it took my brother and I about 2 1/2 hours. I've never so much trouble pulling an engine as we did with this one. I'm planning on putting it back in through the bottom after the rebuild, just to see which is the biggest "pita".

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by greensmurf20 well, now it is official. i HAVE pulled a engine and transmission out the bottom of the car, and its royal pita for me. the engine doesn't drop down far enough for the head to clear the firewall so you can slide the engine backwards so the oil pump clears the front suspension.

Well that was fun, I hadn't read all those posts in quite some time. Very entertaining, especially when I re-read the post about the chain attached to nobody's ankle, through a pulley and attached to the car body so it pulls him out as the car falls down. No wait, the comment about the "glock" was the best (I hadn't heard the story about the ex-wife kicking the jack stands out with him under the car when that was first posted. Wow, talk about "a women scorned"!).

Jared, why didn't the engine drop down enough to clear the firewall? Did you drop the engine and tranny as a unit? How high was the car? I last dropped Kat's engine, by myself, including BUILDING a set of 24 inch jack stands (mine were under my own GT) in less than two hours. With the proper set up, I could drop it out in under an hour EASY.

I am still amazed at how this continues to be a controversy, but I definitely admire anyone who goes to the trouble of pulling a GT engine, rather than dropping it. And apparently, 78% of the 66 Opeler's who voted agree with me.

[greensmurf20]

i dont have exact measurements, but the front was still hooked up on the wrecker boom and was high enough to slide the engine out with carb still on (weber) and the back was on jackstands, as high as they'd go. i'm sure if i did it out the bottom more it'd be easier, i agree with keith, this is quite an interesting thread to read......this may be the most controversial issue with opels i think!!!

[dryandell]

A friend and I pulled the motor along with the auto-tranny from the top in around two hours. The radiator was removed, but not the water pump. The cross member under the motor had to be removed for the bell housing to clear. Other than that, it wasn't that big of an ordeal. The motor does have to be chained low though, because it has to stand pretty much straight up to come out. Being Americans and all we decided to try pulling the motor out the top, because the Germans didn't think it could be done.
Definitely not an all day ordeal with two people!

[fredopelgt]

Originally Posted by dryandell A friend and I pulled the motor along with the auto-tranny from the top in around two hours. The radiator was removed, but not the water pump. The cross member under the motor had to be removed for the bell housing to clear. Other than that, it wasn't that big of an ordeal. The motor does have to be chained low though, because it has to stand pretty much straight up to come out. Being Americans and all we decided to try pulling the motor out the top, because the Germans didn't think it could be done. Definitely not an all day ordeal with two people!

However, The clever Germans solved the quickest way

[nobody]

Sorry to disagree but I've pulled 1.9s from GTs out the top in half an hour by myself. Removal and replacement of the front sway bar alone takes longer plus you don't have to climb under a ton of car hoisted in the air several feet. Work smart and never put yourself in the path of something that can kill you.

[okiejohn]

well i just pulled my GT motor for the first time today and i will never pull one out the top again what a pain in the @$$ (note to self in the future drop the motor and tranny together out the bottom)

[tom_laan]

Another idea on taking the engine out from the bottom:

1. put jack under and screw everything loose,
2. lift the body,
3. put a table under on of the jack stands.

[nobody]

Okay one more time, Murphy's law and gravity are constants. To place yourself in the potential path of a ton of steel is asking for trouble. Pull the head first and it comes out easy and safe. If you need pics of what happens to a 155 pound person after a car falls I can oblidge. It's not pretty so just don't go there. Hurts like hell too, trust me.

[jlthunder]

OK, back on my soapbox

Nobody is correct. Gravity does not play favorites. I work with children and adults who have been involved in accidents. It is not worth taking the shortcuts I'm starting to see posted here. The picture above and the GT on the Toyota pickup are just 2 of the recent events.

Do I take calculated risks? Yes. Do I take some stupid risks, Yes, but I have the scars to prove it.

I just finished putting sway bars on the GT. It was supported by 8 jack stands(4 on the suspension and 4 on the jack points) along with roller jacks positioned under the rear axle and engine. Was this overkill, probably, but at least I will be around to enjoy the car.

OK, I'm off my soapbox now.

[gtjames]

I have pulled them out the top and lowered them out the bottom. Out the top once and out the bottem from then on. After you get by the idea of raising the car that high, it's a piece of cake.