Removing the motor

The observant amongst you will have noticed that I have started removing the motor on several occasions- there are a number of past posts that hint at these moments!  Each time I get close to tackling the extraction I somehow find myself distracted by other tasks.  There are several reasons why I have continually avoided this subject. Basically, I'm a bit worried: working alone it is a little bit frightening and my fear is of getting stuck half way. There are added obstacles: the car is parked on a sloping drive making the extraction angle a little more severe. I have little room to roll the car back meaning its closer to the garage than I would like and the door frame or overhang might block the crane at a point too low for successful withdrawal.  I have at least now fixed the hand brakes and the car shouldn't roll back- but I do not wish to do lasting damage to myself, the motor, or indeed the fabric of my garage! However, this time  there is no getting away from it: I have to remove the motor. The time has come and the evil moment can be put off no longer.

The first thing I did was to buy a new crane. My old one was a Clarke 1 tonne model, and I felt this had neither the reach nor the lifting capacity for a large motor such as that from the Excel (especially if I should ever want to lift an unstripped motor/gearbox combination). I bought a new crane from SGS; it's a 2 ton model, and although it's not a specifically long-reach or high-lift version, the specs suggest it does have the capacity to do job. The first thing I did was to put this crane together- largely a matter of judgement as it came without assembly instructions! I have requested them but nothing has arrived (SGS please note)! I downloaded some for a related model, and with a bit of comparison between these and the parts manifest, I was able to assemble it. This one has the further advantage that it is freestanding when folded and does not require wall space for storage.

Crane assembled and in folded position

So the story so far, you may recall that the motor in the car has already been stripped down quite considerably. The head has been removed, the entire cooling system has been taken out along with the  alternator, power steering and water pumps. The inlet manifold although still in the car is simply laid to one side. I have also detached the left hand engine mounting although it is still in position on the bolts. The right-hand mounting is still attached. So my plan is to put a sling around the engine,  and then unscrew all the bolts holding the block to the gearbox bell-house. Take up the strain and then remove both engine mountings before pulling the block forwards to release it from the gearbox shaft and raising it with the crane. This should leave the gearbox in the car which will be supported by a transmission jack from underneath.

There were a couple of things I had overlooked though:
The starter motor was the only remaining ancillary in position

I had put off removing this because the copper contact studs tend to strip when they are threaded with the nuts.

Connections to starter motor- note partially stripped copper stud on solenoid connection.

The starter is held on by two bolts, unscrewing these and the contact freed the starter completely

Starter out, note additional block-to-bell-house bolt remaining- which was also removed.

 I disconnected the throttle cable from the carburettors in order to remove the inlet manifold- this had seemed complex before I could see the connection clearly- but is actually very simple; just a slip fit on the nipple to trunnion.

Somehow I had also missed the oil pressure take-off line- inexplicably this turned out to be 1/4 W/W!

Next step was to fit the crane sling to take up the weight of the motor in readiness for lift.

Positioning the hoist- arm length seems OK

Sling crossed under the motor- cant go far enough forward at this stage though as the engine mountings are still attached.

I was then able to apply a little upward force to take the strain before  unscrewing all the block-to-bell housing bolts. On my motor there didn't seem to be a full set. After removing the two starter mounting bolts (and the extra bolt described above) there were left just these three across the top of the block...

 ... and two at the bottom. None were really tight and all easily removed.

Removing the RHS bottom bolts- 1/2 extension and a UJ, LHS bbolt visible

I think that there should be more of these bolts and this again points to a hasty reassembly of this motor for sales purposes- and the subsequent breach of the sale of goods/trade descriptions acts by the LBPO.

The next step was to remove the engine mounting legs by unscrewing the three bolts that hold the leg to the block

Sling installed- note three engine mounting bolts that need to be removed.

 ... and the two bolts at the base flanking the rubber foot. I undid these ....

... from below! They seemed new again suggesting this motor has been out recently.

The legs were completely removed allowing the  sling to be re-positioned around the shaped sump in order to stabilise the lift

 ... and spaced out a little more evenly around the block- note LHS engine mounting now also removed.

At this point  I placed a Draper transmission jack under the gearbox to support it. Now there was nothing holding the block to the bell-housing and the plan was to swing the motor forwards, slipping the gearbox shaft out of the crank spigot bearing and freeing the block.  In the past motors I have dealt with this task has been relatively simple, but in this case it was difficult- the block and bell-housing seemed welded together! One of the tricks at this point is to pump the clutch which can then push the whole motor forwards. Sadly, in my case the clutch hydraulics were  inoperative. I had just changed the clutch M/C so I added fluid to this but as the slave was still leaking (it was my intention to change it after removing the block) I was unable to generate any force this way. I was forced to resort to a mallet and a wooden block to tap on the sump either side of the two rear lower bolts, and on the mouldings surrounding the auxiliary housing site in order to tap the motor forwards and break the seal. In the end I also needed a tyre lever inserted from below in the space between the where the two lower mounting bolts had been, and to tap a screw driver into the join between block and bell-house from above.  It took over an hour but eventually the motor started to move and finally slipped right off the bell-housing.

 The hoist was ideal for this work and I was able to withdraw the motor before raising it clear of the body. The protection on the bonnet wasn't even troubled!

I did have some problems with the slope of the drive and had to chock the crane wheels so that I could pull it progressively backwards (and uphill) with no risk of it sliding forwards and smashing the motor into the car's windscreen. I also needed to lower the jib to get it under the garage door but there was enough space to do this and I eventually lowered the motor for temporary storage in the garage. I will start to remove the clutch and flywheel later.

View inside the bell-housing. Clutch release arm and bearing. Note transmission jack beneath. The bellhousing and gearbox shaft did seem a little too greasy- I think too much copper antisieze used here. I have ordered some no fling Lithium molybdenum disulphide grease for the shaft and the release bearing hub on reassembly.

This is the view inside the bell-housing- the gearbox shaft does seem rather greasy and gritty.  I know that the gearbox is a Toyota item and so I have been assuming that it will have no problems. However, I will check for signs of front seal failure after I have removed the clutch bearing and actuating arm.