V1 Track Day Monster 2009 SS/TC Track Frame

[dperkins]

I used an engine hoist to drop the engine onto a furniture dolly and then used the engine hoist to lift the front of the car up over the engine thus not needing to cut the front cross member.

How high did you have the lift the car up to get the engine out from under it? I am worried about the car swinging or falling over or something bad, and I really would not like to hit the cars next to me.

 

[Briann1177]

It doesn't need to be lifted very high. I used jackstands and had plenty of clearance with a 4" high or so dolley.

 

[PG5]

Cutting the cross member makes it super simple to remove the engine. 0% chance of Ferrari or Tesla Carnage.

 

[k.rollin]

I unbolted the front impact bar and used my shop crane to lower my engine and transmission onto a dolly I made from scrap 2x4s and MDF shelving without cutting out the core support. The only difficulty I noticed was that it is a tight fit between the front spars and the powertrain, so when wheeling the powertrain out, bits would snag on the front impact bar mounts and rotate the assembly. I attribute this to my concrete driveway being heavily spalled and eroded, making it difficult to roll the dolly in a straight line.

 

[Adam]

Here's the relevant part of the donor stripping videos (apparently the forum's YouTube embed feature doesn't jump to the part I link to so skip to 6:53 manually):

With just the two jackstands, the car was high enough that even if the cross member was still intact we could have slid the engine out.

 

[ctuinstra]

It was so much fun taking things apart, I took off the front bumper and it slid right out.

 

[dperkins]

Turns out I can't take out the engine today because I haven't taken off the hubs, and I don't have the correct size of socket wrench for the nut (35mm). I need to take a visit to harbor frieght to get the correct size, and I want to make sure I have all of the right sizes. What's the biggest size you all have encountered on the build? I have up to 25mm currently.

 

[k.rollin]

I think that the only socket over 21mm that I needed during my teardown was a 30mm to remove the axle nut.

 

[Silverback]

Except for the 36, I have not needed anything over 25. Amazon supplied a nice 36mm socket:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NPUKJ8/

 

[dperkins]

Ok. I am so close to getting the engine out of the car. I have ran into one problem though. On the build guides, they are working on removing a transmission cable housing for the auto and also removing the transmission cable end. The problem is I cant find any of these parts on the manual car. What do I do? Do i just leave it?

 

[dperkins]

I think I might have found them, but they look a bit different in the manual. I still have the problem of not knowing how to remove it without damage.

 

[ctuinstra]

The cables ends just pop straight up and off the transmission.

 

[dperkins]

The cables ends just pop straight up and off the transmission.

Do I just pull it? Ive tried that and it wont budge. Its the teardrop looking things on the ball joint right?

 

[ctuinstra]

I edited my post with a pic. Refresh. They should just pull up and off.

 

[Briann1177]

I pried mine off with a screwdriver. Mine wouldn't budge either by hand, but they popped off very nicely with a little more force.

 

[dperkins]

Got them off, but not without a casualty . Put a big crack in it right below the ball where it mounts. I pried it off with a prybar, maybe thats why it cracked. In other news, I am sooo close to getting out the engine, but I have once again come into a hiccup. On the LT1, the place where you disconnect the exhaust to drop the engine (in the middle), it has 2 bolts. The SS had 3, and one of them is pretty much inaccessible. I think I might get a acetylene torch and just cut it, but how did others do it?

 

[RichN]

I lowered my engine, the I was able to access the bolts easier.
As fun as the torch is to cut things up, the flex pipe is far easier and safer with tin snips or hack saw.

 

[Silverback]

I dropped the engine too. Then cut the pipe with a Diablo carbide blade on a Sawzall. That stainless was tough! I like Rich's suggestion to cut the flex-pipe, it has to be easier.

 

[TheNuker]

That 3rd bolt is a nightmare, Nothing a sawzall did not fix!

Nuker-

 

[dperkins]

Shes out! Hoping to get the internals and upgrades to this beast next week, maybe next monday.

Sadly, I accidentally ripped off a tube while doing it. It was a black solid plastic one that wasn't very bendy. It went from the brake booster to the tranny, but I dont know what it is. I think its probably the hydraulics for the clutch, but I dont know. Now I have to find a replacement tube and whatever it went into on the tranny because I screwed that up too.