What is your fastest time to pull an engine, install another and drive it away?

[nutz]

Yea if its not just a swap.....and it never is
When I do an audi.turbo is on,intake,waterpump ect. But if you need to swap all that then the exhaust bolt snaps in the head.......

 

[mopowers]

I plan to do the 360 for 360 swap tomorrow.
It won’t be just an engine swap though. I have headers to put in and a different radiator. I’ll use different motor mounts, pulleys, air cleaner but those are bolt on things. I should still be able to get the car running before sundown.

View attachment 1716499907

Famous last words. At least you said should.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[RAMM]

The guys that worked hard deserved the money that they earned.
In construction, when you did "Piece Work", it was the same thing. Some called it Target Hours. If the roof paid 16 hours and I did it in 12, I got the 16 and moved to the next house.
There were jobs I worked where I made more than the foreman. One job I had would put you on Target Hours but if you beat the time, they told you that you were now paid hourly. One guy was really fast and when they said they'd switch to paying him hourly, he slowed down the pace. THAT right there is a perfect example of Capitalism VS Socialism. If the incentive to make more than the other guy is eliminated, the desire to work harder often goes away.

Flat Rate should be illegal. I have always said this, always. Flat rate is a BS "chosen one" scheme that works a man to death, J.Rob

 

[nutz]

When i was flat rate I would bill 90 an week average in a 50hr week
But the service writer was good
Problem is guys go haft *** and cut corners
Now im lucky to do 20 a week
But I do run my shop ...so more bs then wrenching
And to make time in a indy shop you need 2 lifts and 2 dead bays to keep the jobs moving when your waiting on parts

 

[Kern Dog]

Flat Rate should be illegal. I have always said this, always. Flat rate is a BS "chosen one" scheme that works a man to death, J.Rob

Flat rate, Target hours, piece rate has benefits and drawbacks. It appeals to those that agree with Capitalism.
The harder that the employee works, the more money they can make. The slower, the lazier, the dumber one is. the less money they earn.

 

[nutz]

Flat rate, Target hours, piece rate has benefits and drawbacks. It appeals to those that agree with Capitalism.
The harder that the employee works, the more money they can make. The slower, the lazier, the dumber one is. the less money they earn.

Shop needs to be set up for it too
Dealers...have parts in stock ...same cars every day
I always worked on everything soo a little harder to make good time

 

[70SwingerGuy]

Ive worked both flat rate and hourly, and it isnt always about how hard a person works in order to make money, at least in a body shop. To make good money flat rate, besides being good at your job, you have to be in a shop that does primarily insurance work, and is set up with good equipment, AND has the ability to be constantly be bringing in work. I dont care how good a tech is, or how hard they work, if the management isnt bringing the work in, or there is a backlog due to inefficiency or crappy equipment, then you are either starving, looking for another job, or cutting corners to be able to make your hours.

 

[nutz]

Yes i could see body flat rate would be a lot harder
Mechanical is funny
I seen book time on a bmw case at 3.5
Jeep at the same ....I could do 2 bmws in 3.5 takes 4 to do the jeep

 

[Chris Nicholson]

Way back when I was into Corvairs, I could replace a throwing bearing in a half hour. By myself, not rushing, using stands, hand tools, and a cheap floor jack. Would have been quicker had I rushed and not stopped to drink a can of root beer, but I was working in my parents' driveway, under the Tennessee summer sun.

A rear main seal took about 45 minutes.

Later, when I was a tech at an MB/Porsche dealership, it usually took me an hour to drop the engine from a 911, which were all air-cooled at the time. Sure, I had air tools, but I didn't like using them on aluminum.

Haven't done my Dart yet, but that's coming.

 

[Kern Dog]

You guys ever heard of The Snowball Effect ?
Some people call it "Mission Creep". It refers to the situation where a simple job takes longer than expected because instead of a simple replacement of something, other things are done since you are already there anyway.
Yeah, most of us have done this. It makes sense though....If you see something broken, you replace it too. If something is grungy, you may want to clean it before reinstalling it.
Yesterday, Rich and I got to it about 10:00. The plan changed a bit. Originally, I wanted to leave the transmission in place and just pluck the '76 360 out as complete as possible, slip the '90 360 in place, swap over any parts that I intend to reuse and fire it up.
Of course.... that sounds easy. In theory, it could have gone that way.
Instead though, I decided to pull the engine with the transmission together based on the assumption that it would be easier. You see, access to the bolts from the bellhousing to engine is not great. Add to that, spool engine mounts make it harder to mate an engine to a stationary transmission.
I'm glad that I revised my plan. It did work out better. The hood even stayed in place. By 4:45 yesterday, the '76 360 & 904 were out, the transmission was scrubbed of all the dirt, oil, ATF and grime. The '90 360 was prepped and the 904 bolted up, then set in the car. The garage floor was cleaned with degreaser, the starter was scrubbed of oil and grime, the tools were cleaned and put away. I installed the '76 360 over 20 years ago. I did it on a budget so some corners were cut. I've been off road, on trails, through creeks, wide open fields, on the road and it never failed me. As we got into the project, I started laughing at some of the Roadkill butchery that I had done. Junkyard exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers that were picked from a dumpster...the baffles were rusted out and I just patched them up...single chamber flowmonsters! The left hand motor mount was missing one bolt and nut, one bolt was missing a nut and the only one with a bolt and nut was loose. The harmonic balancer bolt is supposed to be torqued to 100 ft lbs. This one was finger tight, maybe 1 ft lbs actually....
It ran and drive fine though!
Today was a bit slower moving but it is close to first fire.

 

[cudamark]

Okay, NOW how quick could you change a Bug engine?
View attachment 1716498344

Depends on how much she helps me or hurts me! It might add a couple hours either way!

 

[cudamark]

Flat rate, Target hours, piece rate has benefits and drawbacks. It appeals to those that agree with Capitalism.
The harder that the employee works, the more money they can make. The slower, the lazier, the dumber one is. the less money they earn.

Yeah, back when I was a line mechanic, I worked flat rate and almost always could beat the time. As a shop owner, I also had my guys on flat rate because they could turn out more jobs and make me more money. You just had to keep on them to not cut corners. Otherwise, quality would probably go down, and eating comebacks didn't make anyone happy.

 

[JDMopar]

The Snowball Effect is real ! I yanked the 318 out of a new to me 71 Challenger to replace all of the freeze plugs because the ones in the back of the block were rusted and leaking. That simple job turned into new cam/lifters/springs/timing chain. Also an aluminum intake, TTI headers and new exhaust. Swapped the 904 for a 727. Yoinked the 7 1/4 and installed an 8 3/4 and ditched the cop wheels that were on it when I got it and installed 15 x 6.5 Rallyes with new tires. Oh.....and freeze plugs, yeah, I remembered to do the freeze plugs!

 

[cudamark]

You guys ever heard of The Snowball Effect ?
Some people call it "Mission Creep". It refers to the situation where a simple job takes longer than expected because instead of a simple replacement of something, other things are done since you are already there anyway.
Yeah, most of us have done this. It makes sense though....If you see something broken, you replace it too. If something is grungy, you may want to clean it before reinstalling it.
Yesterday, Rich and I got to it about 10:00. The plan changed a bit. Originally, I wanted to leave the transmission in place and just pluck the '76 360 out as complete as possible, slip the '90 360 in place, swap over any parts that I intend to reuse and fire it up.
Of course.... that sounds easy. In theory, it could have gone that way.
Instead though, I decided to pull the engine with the transmission together based on the assumption that it would be easier. You see, access to the bolts from the bellhousing to engine is not great. Add to that, spool engine mounts make it harder to mate an engine to a stationary transmission.
I'm glad that I revised my plan. It did work out better. The hood even stayed in place. By 4:45 yesterday, the '76 360 & 904 were out, the transmission was scrubbed of all the dirt, oil, ATF and grime. The '90 360 was prepped and the 904 bolted up, then set in the car. The garage floor was cleaned with degreaser, the starter was scrubbed of oil and grime, the tools were cleaned and put away. I installed the '76 360 over 20 years ago. I did it on a budget so some corners were cut. I've been off road, on trails, through creeks, wide open fields, on the road and it never failed me. As we got into the project, I started laughing at some of the Roadkill butchery that I had done. Junkyard exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers that were picked from a dumpster...the baffles were rusted out and I just patched them up...single chamber flowmonsters! The left hand motor mount was missing one bolt and nut, one bolt was missing a nut and the only one with a bolt and nut was loose. The harmonic balancer bolt is supposed to be torqued to 100 ft lbs. This one was finger tight, maybe 1 ft lbs actually....
It ran and drive fine though!
Today was a bit slower moving but it is close to first fire.

Yeah, been there done that. Started with a running 273 for a "simple" swap. Water pump was seeping a little so pulled that. Found the timing cover was almost eaten completely through. Pulled that and found the timing chain could almost have a knot tied in it there was so much slack. Discovered the intake was cracked, so, pulled that. The oil pan wasn't correct, so, pulled that too. I figure with the pan off, I might as well check the bearings. They actually looked good, but, in pulling the mains, I found the thrust was wiped. ! So, pulled apart a core I had to get a crank, had to have it turned, and all new bearings. New brass freeze plugs for sure. At that point it was virtually stripped down to a long block, so, why not clean and give it a decent coat of paint......frostbite for sure!

 

[Kern Dog]

The old engine…

If I knew what color that I wanted to paint this car, I would have prepped and sprayed the engine bay. It annoys me to see a black engine bay in a car that isn’t black.

The irony here is that I have a car that I painted black (cheap paint) and the engine bay was left the original color Of the car!
The 1990 360:

Rich and I got the Doug’s headers in a lot quicker than expected. The car was on jackstands so high, it did not inspire confidence but I was the man underneath since it is my car. With a floor jack under the oil pan, the engine was lifted and shifted to the right and the header slipped right in. 20 minutes, maybe? The right side was 5 minutes at the most. The center link was unbolted for a clear path.

 

[Kern Dog]

While the engine is in now, there are some small details to tend to. I need to get the right grommets to allow for a PCV and breather. I need a thermostat and the tailpipes are due in tomorrow. I'm thinking of ditching the points ignition too. I have several underhood wire harnesses I can use to install a stock electronic ignition setup.

 

[Master of Mopars]

Flat Rate should be illegal. I have always said this, always. Flat rate is a BS "chosen one" scheme that works a man to death, J.Rob

I've been down this road before, but that's another story.
Anyway a friend of mine worked flat rate in a dealer. As soon as they worked out he was good and fast, they sent every crap job his way that didn't allow enough hours.
So he walked away from it and has never gone back to that type of work again.
He used to call it slave rate..

 

[moparmat2000]

2 days, but I was swapping out a 250 straight 6 and 3 on the tree out of a 71 Chevy C/10 and installing a 350 I rebuilt along with a Muncie M-21 4 speed. The motor and trans bellhousing mounts are in a different location for the V8. Required me to grind and punch out rivets to remove the straight 6 crossmember that mounts the bellhousing , then install the V8 one in the right spot. Plus reconfigure other stuff to make it all work. If it was a straight R&R same type out and in it would be an afternoon. Idrove to work that monday morning with headers and glass pack header mufflers. That truck along with my 69 charger were 2 vehicles I should have never let go of. If this truck already had a V8 in it. The swap would have taken maybe 4-6 hours tops.

 

[nutz]

Ha did a 6 to 8 man to auto in my 78 ford f100 it was a base truck think all it had was ps ...
Had everything out of a 78 ford granda
Had it running in a day but exhaust took a while...used the floor shifter and rad and trans lines ...couldn't believe that even the drive shaft from the man fit the auto...
I didn't care about anything other then make it run yet everything swapped..all I had to buy was exhaust