Lifting engine for installation

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Canuck Bryan

Canuck Bryan

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To clarify I have searched the topic - just looking for some specific advice.

It is coming time to install my 318 back into my '71 duster. I have new edelbrock aluminum heads and edelbrock performer aluminum intake. This means that the usual lifting choices (header bolts, intake bolts, using a carb adapter plate) are all into aluminum and I do not want to strip any threads out. Was easy removing it as everything was cast so I wasnt too worried. Will the usual spots still work and am I just being paranoid?

Any thoughts??

Thanks.
 
I used the carb adapter plate with my 318-904. Aluminum intake, iron heads.
C
 
I usually go from head to head (rear of head to front of other) and use unused bolt holes that way if a bolt does snap you have nothing to worry about engine wise (may damage car)
 
Carb plate here with aluminum tunnel ram....works like a charm :glasses7:
 
I saw this discuss in great length some were else. Not to step on any ones toes but I would never use those carb adapters to lift an engine. They are hella convenient, but the bolts are way to small of a size to hold that much weight. They were sized only to keep a little carb bolted down, not hang an engine from. Working in the aviation field you learn allot about the yield strength of bolts and 4 of that size of bolt, especially screwed into aluminum is way under what is needed to suspend an engine in space. I wish I could remember where I saw this on line, but there must have been three pages of people who tried to use the carb plates only to have there engine drop to the ground. I remember that one of them broke just as he was pushing it over the car. One engine crashing threw the nose of a old corvette. I know that many people lift them that way but I would not take the chance. If it were me I would get some longer bolts and use the good old front and back intake bolt locations. I use 4 of them and an engine leveler. No worries of striping anything that way.
 
The correct way is to lower the car onto the motor. I always did it this way even before I had a lift. You can assemble the whole motor trans and k-member with suspensin and headers. The car without the motor , trans , and suspension is light. You can set the whole engine/ suspension on the floor to keep it low. I would put weight in the trunk and would be able to lift the front of the body with ease. Now I have a lift and a stand. But years back I would do it on the floor and with freinds. Just think of how easy everything woud be to assemble. I don't even take the radiator out. Just take off the Fan and hoses, unplug the harness, fuel line, Drive shaft. Torsions, shocks and uppers . Steering column. No scatches or damage to the inners and you leave the hood on. No fighting with the headers.
 

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Those upper arms aint gonna work that way :)
The Mac brand leveler is sweeet but good lord thats a lot of coins.
A 1/4 inch bolt is good for 900 lbs. but cast aluminum threads are anyone guess and gamble.
 
do it like this, no lift needed............

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I always use the front of one head, rear of the other. It uses stonger bolts, and allows for some adjustment of the tilt of the engine. I usually put the engine and transmission in together, so this helps. I bout a unit that allows to the tilt adjustment on the fly about a decade ago. It helps a lot.
 

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What's the tensile strength of a 5/16 grade 2 bolt. It's 3900 pounds. Grade 5, 6300; Grade 8, 7850

Even in shear, there is more than enough to hold an engine.

If people are dropping engines using one of the plates they did something wrong, somewhere, bad threads in intake, etc.
 
crackedback said:
What's the tensile strength of a 5/16 grade 2 bolt. It's 3900 pounds. Grade 5, 6300; Grade 8, 7850

Even in shear, there is more than enough to hold an engine.

If people are dropping engines using one of the plates they did something wrong, somewhere, bad threads in intake, etc.
Click to expand...


Yes you are right but remember those test loads are with a nut on the bolt. Not threaded into aluminum or questionable hardness. A 5/16 bolt is only as strong as the metal it is threaded to. Not to mention unless you are using mill spec, MS or NAS hardware you really have no idea how strong that "grade 8" made in India or china TSC bolt really is. Just more of a chance than I am willing to take with my investment.
 
They will hold thousands of pounds.

http://www.kaizen-ms.com/Loadlevelingliftplate.html

These guys had one tested, and it held almost 8000 pounds. When it did go, it was the loop where the hook attaches that actually failed, not the carb studs.

If your hoist will do it, you could lift the whole front of the car off of the ground.

I pulled my iron headed 318 with aluminum LD4B intake and 904 attached with a carb plate (didn't have to pull the hood either), and that's far from the heaviest thing I've pulled with one.

EDIT: Just don't do it with one of those popcan chinese intakes on there! haha
 
...........I have pulled bb with alum intakes with tranny attached at leats 100 times with a carb plate............not 1 problem....................kim.........
 
Use and air gap and put a 10K kevlar truck strap under the runners. I saw a motor lifted with a kevlar fan belt once. I too wondered about the motor plate, but remember its in by 4 of those puny bolts, so divide 650 lbs (guess) by 4 and you got only 163 lbs per threaded bolt. I would use the motor plate again, but safety is always paramount: NEVER go under a suspended weight and pre plan your lift so its suspended for the shortest time possible and keep the weight over the center of the hoist. Use smooth actions if you are positioning suspended loads, jerking the lift will cause the load to swing and can be disastrous. I had a cherry picker fall over very close to me and my friend, the caster got caught in a concrete seam while we were positioning it and the motor swung and tipped it right over. Crushed the pan but that was about it, but his kid was in the same spot not 30 seconds before we started (I told him to back away and Ill never forget that). Oh and we used a motor plate there too.
 
604 said:
Yes you are right but remember those test loads are with a nut on the bolt. Not threaded into aluminum or questionable hardness. A 5/16 bolt is only as strong as the metal it is threaded to. Not to mention unless you are using mill spec, MS or NAS hardware you really have no idea how strong that "grade 8" made in India or china TSC bolt really is. Just more of a chance than I am willing to take with my investment.
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I don't doubt an aluminum intakes threads are softer than a bolt but I've used a carb plate numerous times lifting big blocks with iron heads and an aluminum intake. Just gotta make sure and use a stud that makes use of most (or all) of the threads in the intake and tighten them down.

oldkimmer said:
...........I have pulled bb with alum intakes with tranny attached at leats 100 times with a carb plate............not 1 problem....................kim.........
Click to expand...

More proof that it's not a problem using a carb plate on a aluminum intake.
 
Like I stated before. I have no doubts it works most of the time. But if just one engine has hit the ground due to a carb plate failure that is one to many when there are other options. I personally will take the extra 5 minutes it takes to better attach my engine crane to my engine, or a customers engine. Simple decision for me. To each there own.
 
604 said:
Like I stated before. I have no doubts it works most of the time. But if just one engine has hit the ground due to a carb plate failure that is one to many when there are other options. I personally will take the extra 5 minutes it takes to better attach my engine crane to my engine, or a customers engine. Simple decision for me. To each there own.
Click to expand...

That is true. Do what you feel safe with. The only time I have actually had an engine drop was lifting it with a chain cross bolted to the heads. The one that dropped due to a broken chain was a mystery because it snapped right in the middle. Chain was fairly new and looked fine and my cousin had used it before but that time it just snapped a link. My cousin nearly lost some fingers over that one. That's a scary thing to see!
 
I have R/R both ways from the top and from the bottom. I like to drop the car on the motor and trans. When I did a top drop with the motor I used the 3/8" holes in the front and rear face of the heads and a chain. I would use the carb plate for a top drop if I didn't have a six pack.
 
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