Dropping a motor in- any last tips or advice?

-
MRGTX

MRGTX

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
2,198
Reaction score
728
Location
CT, USA
After many delays due to personal and business reasons as well as some competing financial obligations, I'm FINALLY ready to actually put the Magnum into the Dart.

The transmission is bolted up but the exhaust manifolds and accessories are going to be installed after the motor is in the bay...assuming that more clearance= better.

Do you guys agree? Is there anything that is more easily installed before dropping the motor in?

Secondly, the motor mounts are attached to the motor but I didn't torque them down- because it seems like it might be beneficial to be able to move them a bit to get them into the mounting points on the chassis... is that right? If not, how should I proceed?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

-Mike
 
How are you going to do it? Lift the car over the engine or put the engine in from the top?

On my Challenger, the car was lifted over the engine. I had everything installed as an assembly. Everything. Four K-member bolts, four trans x-member bolts, hook up the fuel line to the pump, hook up the throttle cable and booster line, one wire harness connector, rad hoses, connected UBJ's, slid torsion bars in and installed the driveshaft. Done

When I removed the 318 from the Dart, the alt just barely scraped the inside of the frame. When the 360 goes in, I'll leave the alt belt loose for a little more room. Everything else will be hooked up and tight.

If you are going in from the top then you won't be able to have much preassembled.
 
I left my motor mount bolts loose also when I put my engine in. I cant say that it made the job any easier but it made sense to me to do that. I also left my distributor out just to be safe.

Take your time & good luck!..............Ted
 
Jack front end up a good amount so the transmission doesn't hit the floor.
 
Use grade 8 hardware and a strong chain. My best friend almost lost his arm when we were removing an engine from a C-body all because we used hardware we just had laying around. Fortunately he removed his arm from the engine bay just before the bolt broke alowing the engine to slam back down into the car. I've always used good hardware and a strong chain ever since. Be safe and good luck!
 
burdar said:
How are you going to do it? Lift the car over the engine or put the engine in from the top?

On my Challenger, the car was lifted over the engine. I had everything installed as an assembly. Everything. Four K-member bolts, four trans x-member bolts, hook up the fuel line to the pump, hook up the throttle cable and booster line, one wire harness connector, rad hoses, connected UBJ's, slid torsion bars in and installed the driveshaft. Done

When I removed the 318 from the Dart, the alt just barely scraped the inside of the frame. When the 360 goes in, I'll leave the alt belt loose for a little more room. Everything else will be hooked up and tight.

If you are going in from the top then you won't be able to have much preassembled.
Click to expand...

I really like the idea of dropping the car onto the whole assembly but due to my space limitations, that won't be possible. Motor is going in through the top.

DusTed74 said:
I left my motor mount bolts loose also when I put my engine in. I cant say that it made the job any easier but it made sense to me to do that. I also left my distributor out just to be safe.

Take your time & good luck!..............Ted
Click to expand...

Ok... and removing the distributor is a very good tip. I probably should have thought of that! :D THANKS!

Fst73_360 said:
Jack front end up a good amount so the transmission doesn't hit the floor.
Click to expand...

Ahh.. another good point. Will do.

Thank you, all!
 
If they are just manifolds I would put them on, headers, wait until its close to in before motor mounts because you have to jack the motor up usually to get in the drivers side anyway.
Personally I say no matter how much room you have from the bottomis better, if you have room to mmove around a hoist in front of the car then you have enough room. The car only needs to go up about 3 feet and you need some kind of heavy duty dolly to roll it under.
 
use a tilter if you can... It's a lot easier than moving a chain around, and leave the pulleys off it too.
 
Please dont drop it .......LOL


UOTE=MRGTX;1970171628]After many delays due to personal and business reasons as well as some competing financial obligations, I'm FINALLY ready to actually put the Magnum into the Dart.

The transmission is bolted up but the exhaust manifolds and accessories are going to be installed after the motor is in the bay...assuming that more clearance= better.

Do you guys agree? Is there anything that is more easily installed before dropping the motor in?

Secondly, the motor mounts are attached to the motor but I didn't torque them down- because it seems like it might be beneficial to be able to move them a bit to get them into the mounting points on the chassis... is that right? If not, how should I proceed?

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

-Mike[/QUOTE]
 
Make sure the hydralic pump is working properly and watch your fingers!!!
Yes like others have said clearance is key, and remove anything you can bolt back on later that's easy to do.
Good luck and take your time.
Last swap i did i had two motors in the air i swapping two barracuda motors at once.
it was a cool site that was like 25 -30 years ago LOL.
 
Damn bro, you think too much. Put it in. From the bottom, or the top. You don't need a symposium on it to do so. :shaking2:
 
quote
"Yes like others have said clearance is key, and remove anything you can bolt back on later that's easy to do"

I agree, I usually end up removing a bunch of parts I've carefully installed because of clearance issues. I've also found installing the motor usually takes longer than I expect. Just block out more time than you think you'll need, you always run into unexpected delays. Your installing a Magnum engine, so you'll probably run into little snags along the way. On my 318-360 swap we had to modify the driver-side motor mount. I had no idea i'd need to do that. Also I used Magnum heads, and had to fabricate new mounting hardware/brackets for stuff like my Alternator(Magnum Heads are about 1" longer than stock heads)

When you run into problems just take a break and check this forum for solutions. If your having a problem, chances are someone on here has encountered it before... and can suggest a solution. :-k
 
Ideal setup is as follows

gantry on wheels. This allows for the whole motor/trans to be moved forward and back.

Block and tackle. For lifting/lowering

Tilter. Coz the trans goes in first.

Raise front of car up

Take the distributor out of your motor, or it will almost certainly get destroyed.

Cover your carburetor with cloth and zip ties or soft wire. you don't want any nuts/bolts/washers to find their way in there.

If you have a spare transmission yoke, it's a wise idea to slide it into the transmissions output shaft or it will piss fluid all over your workshop, no matter how empty the trans pan is. Keep some sawdust handy just in case.

Lift from 4 points on the engine, each corner of the intake manifold works well for me, however I only have experience with cast iron heads.

never under any circumstances bolt a chain link directly to your motor, always use a washer above and below or a flat surface to spread the weight over a greater area. Make sure the head of each bolt is torqued up firmly against the flat surface. This prevents damage to threads in your cylinder heads and puts less leverage on the lifting bolts

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/80049/10002/-1

This is a good example, although In my experience the corners usually need to be rounded to suit your particular intake manifold.

Obviously you will probably be best off with longer bolts to compensate for the additional thickness of the chain's end plates.

Also keep some rags handy for those tight spots where you want something to protect the paint on your firewall. 600lbs of cast iron takes some shifting and can take lots of paint with it in the process.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope it helps
 
Oh, make sure your starter motor meshes properly with your ring gear, you absolutely DO NOT want to have to change the torque convertor because none of your starter have the correct pitch/number of teeth.

It can happen, guess how I know? :banghead:
 
Take your time is the key!!! I just put mine in for the 2nd time this season! :violent1: The good thing was, it went in a lot easier this time than the first time!
 
Take your time is the key!!! I just put mine in for the 2nd time this season! :violent1: The good thing was, it went in a lot easier this time than first time!
 
frosty_the_punk said:
Ideal setup is as follows

gantry on wheels. This allows for the whole motor/trans to be moved forward and back.

Block and tackle. For lifting/lowering

Tilter. Coz the trans goes in first.

Raise front of car up

Take the distributor out of your motor, or it will almost certainly get destroyed.

Cover your carburetor with cloth and zip ties or soft wire. you don't want any nuts/bolts/washers to find their way in there.

If you have a spare transmission yoke, it's a wise idea to slide it into the transmissions output shaft or it will piss fluid all over your workshop, no matter how empty the trans pan is. Keep some sawdust handy just in case.

Lift from 4 points on the engine, each corner of the intake manifold works well for me, however I only have experience with cast iron heads.

never under any circumstances bolt a chain link directly to your motor, always use a washer above and below or a flat surface to spread the weight over a greater area. Make sure the head of each bolt is torqued up firmly against the flat surface. This prevents damage to threads in your cylinder heads and puts less leverage on the lifting bolts

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/80049/10002/-1

This is a good example, although In my experience the corners usually need to be rounded to suit your particular intake manifold.

Obviously you will probably be best off with longer bolts to compensate for the additional thickness of the chain's end plates.

Also keep some rags handy for those tight spots where you want something to protect the paint on your firewall. 600lbs of cast iron takes some shifting and can take lots of paint with it in the process.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope it helps
Click to expand...

Some useful tips there, good luck with the swap!
 
From my experience, installing an engine and transmission together is easier with the back of the car up on jackstands and air let out of the front tires, to get the front as low as possible.

This gives the transmission and engine a more level install angle and allows it to be installed with the boom of the hoist much lower and safer, as well as keeping the engine leveler at less of an angle.

When you lift the back of the car and drop the front, it lifts the transmission tunnel away from the floor and gives the transmission more room. The transmission cross brace has to be out to do this.
 
If you are just doing an engine, hold off on installing the intake until it's in the car and use the intake bolts to attach a sling chain across the cam galley, into the heads.

Get the boom of the crane way down low, into the area where the intake would normally live.

If you can do this with a single sling of chain, go across " / " and use a bolt and nut through a link of the chain on either side of the crane's hook. The engine will want to turn 90° as it comes out. Let it. There is more room for the engine to come out sideways, with the hood on.

This also allows you to swivel the engine hoist 90° and come out over the fender, to pull the engine in a shallow garage, with the car's wheels still on the concrete pad of the garage.

I always pull engines with the front wheels on the ground. I get everything ready underneath and put it back down. Makes life easier not lifting a bunch and if you get the boom down low in the cam galley without a balancer, you don't need to mess with taking the hood off.

Scampengineinstall01_zps09430571.jpeg


I elected to leave the heads off, but you can put them on and this still works without taking the hood off.
 
Interesting, I've never tried having the back of the car raised and the front lowered.

having to constantly hold an engine in one position when it wants to spring into a funny angle while raising or lowering the hoist can get annoying really fast.

If running a single chain diagonally, I would suggest having a horizontal pivot point above the hook like what is shown in this example

http://blog.mr2ev.com/engine-removal-day-3/

This allows the engine to be rotated while remaining horizontal and neutrally balanced.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top