Engine out and rebuild...

Post Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:44 pm

I'm gonna take the engine out of my 325i e30 just wondered if it is possible to do this on a drive way i.e. with out a crane. Basically I was gonna whip the head off and take it out bit by bit, is this gonna be a pain in the arse?

I'm planning on doing a full rebuild and I've done it this way on Novas any big gotchas to watch out for? I.e. parts to deffo replace?

Engine has 123,000 on it.

Post Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:48 pm

I just finished doing that myself. I snapped a rocker in the head for the second time so i just thought F*** it i wanna different or totally rebuilt engine. So i thought, i might aswel do the 2.7 conversion as i was going to rebuild the engine anyway.

I started by taking the bonnet off, then taking the head off which allowed me to gain access to the top gear box mounts that i got to with torx spanners. But you don't really need to do that as i ended up taking the box out with the engine in the end anyway! It does show it can be done either way tho, so its whatever takes your fancy.

Also make sure when you buy all the parts that you are given the correct one's before you leave the shop as most of my parts that i got had to go back and ended up costing me a day.

stappin wrote:any big gotchas to watch out for?

Yeah if it's an auto. When putting the engine back in the car, put the torque converter in the box before bolting the the box to the engine. I bolted the torque converter to the engine then fitted the box and buggered the oil pump

.
That does mean that i'm yet to drive it

Post Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:16 pm

Sorry dude, i've just re-read your post! Are you seriously going to try without a crane

Two of us had trouble lifting the short block once it was out!

It'll take atleast four people to lift it out without a crane.

It might be an idea to recon another engine then get a garage to do a swap. If you need any parts e.g. block, head i do have some going spare.

Post Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:41 pm

chu346 wrote:Sorry dude, i've just re-read your post! Are you seriously going to try without a crane

Two of us had trouble lifting the short block once it was out!

It'll take atleast four people to lift it out without a crane.

It might be an idea to recon another engine then get a garage to do a swap. If you need any parts e.g. block, head i do have some going spare.

Yup I'm gonna try with out a crane Im not taking it out in one hit im gonna break it down. On Nova (I know its lighter) but you can strip the engine down in the car and pull it out in bits.

Post Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:34 am

u can lift whole lot inc gbox still attached with a hoist...., ive done it a couple of times now

Post Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:48 am

Karan wrote:u can lift whole lot inc gbox still attached with a hoist...., ive done it a couple of times now

I don't think i could have done it with the flintstone's equipment that i had. We had to pull the engine up then roll the car back whilst pushing the gearbox up to clear the car.

Stappin
I still think your crazy doing it without a crane. I also used to have a nova, and i know i could have just pulled it out like you said but these cars are made with some heavy metal!

Post Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:02 am

An alternative way of getting the engine out is to unbolt thesubframe and lift the body off, leaving the engine, box and front suspension sitting on the ground.
You don't give any indication of why you want to rebuild the engine.
A Nova engine at 123,00 is going to be just about finished, but for an M20 this is little more than a good running in. Should reach double this mileage easily.
The last M20B25 engine I did a full rebuild on, I carefully checked every part. (Rebuilt because a spark plug had broken up in cylinder 6 at about 140000 miles).
Every part of that engine was within original specifications, except for the rings on piston six, and a bit of wear in all the exhaust valve guides.

Post Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:38 am

We refitted mine by lifting the car up.

The tools we used were a pair of jumbo axle stands, a scissor jack, a bottle jack and a trolley jack.

Found it pretty easy, especially compared to the nightmare that was lifting the engine out from the top!

My engine had done about 200k, the crank exhibited no wear whatsoever! The block just needed the cylinders re-honing and the exhaust valve guides needed replacing, plus the valve seats re-cutting.

All in, it cost about Ãƒ”šÃ‚£1k to rebuild.

Post Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:40 pm

Well I'm building a 325i for rallying and I want to freshen the engine up and was thinking of a steel crank and new cam also some porting problem is my garage is out of action so cant use a crane. I need to do it on my drive way and lifting the body over sounds like a good idea.

Post Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:10 am

Some people have said that they prefer to drop engine and lift car over, as Brian has said.. but I did what Karan said and lifted complete engine and gearbox out in one go!! it worked but was very very tight!!!

also apparently if you drop the engine and gearbox mounts, it'll give you enough room to get to the gearbox torks bolts to split from the engine and leave g'box in!! I might try this next time