Engine removal question ??

[SweetChuck]

In a few weeks I will be dropping my engine for a A/T Manual conversion .
I have bought a manual halfcut NSX with everything I need except clutch line .I all looks pretty straight forward .

For anyone or has ever dropped an engine , how far up does the base of the car have to be off the ground ??? I was counting on having a 2 post hoist for this but that has fallen through . I does not look like something that can be done with jack stands , correct me if I am wrong

 

[NSX-SA]

Send me a pm with your phone # i'll talk you through it i have swapped engines a couple of times. Theres also some mods to do while the engine is out.

 

[Daves_X]

I just did this.. I dropped mine on jack stands. I had a hoist that fed through the top of the car and lowered it down onto a dolly and it will roll out the side under the fender where the tire would be if you had all the suspension out of the way. With the valve covers on and everything else on the motor you might need to jack it up a little more depending on how tall your jack stands are. I had the car a good 3 feet off the ground and it went in and out with no problems. Hope this helps.

 

[SweetChuck]

Very helpfull info guys :smile:

 

[myhui]

...and it will roll out the side under the fender where the tire would be if you had all the suspension out of the way

Was there anything particularly hard to do when disconnecting suspension from car?
<p>Did you just follow the engine removal instructions in the service manual (maybe the latter years, 1998+)?
<p>Raising the car's body 3+ feet off the ground on jack stands might be rather dangerous, wouldn't you think?

 

[SweetChuck]

Was there anything particularly hard to do when disconnecting suspension from car?
<p>Did you just follow the engine removal instructions in the service manual (maybe the latter years, 1998+)?
<p>Raising the car's body 3+ feet off the ground on jack stands might be rather dangerous, wouldn't you think?

Also what about this ball joint remover the manual talks about , is this a honda tool ???

 

[SweetChuck]

So by looking at this procedure does that look high enough??
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/DIY/jack_up_the_car/jacking_up_the_car.htm

That looks more like 2 feet to me

I just did this.. I dropped mine on jack stands. I had a hoist that fed through the top of the car and lowered it down onto a dolly and it will roll out the side under the fender where the tire would be if you had all the suspension out of the way. With the valve covers on and everything else on the motor you might need to jack it up a little more depending on how tall your jack stands are. I had the car a good 3 feet off the ground and it went in and out with no problems. Hope this helps.

 

[LJSB]

how far up does the base of the car have to be off the ground

So by looking at this procedure does that look high enough??
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/DIY/jack_up_the_car/jacking_up_the_car.htm

That looks more like 2 feet to me

Also what about this ball joint remover the manual talks about , is this a honda tool ???

I am concerned about a mechanic that needs to ask these questions.
Please be careful and don't get hurt. Make sure someone is around should something go wrong and you need help.

Figure out how tall the motor is when it is sitting on whatever you plan to use to roll it out from under the car.
That height plus at least a few inches is what you are going to need at the lowest point where you plan to roll the motor out from under the car.

The ball joint removal tool is not a Honda part.

Are you sure this project is something you are capable of?

 

[SweetChuck]

OK for one thing I am not a mechanic , I'm an engineer and second I have
performed 9 engine pulls on Z32's TT's , skylines etc and built 2 500hp VG30dett engines . The only reason I ask if the ball joint remover is a honda special , is the manual specifies a part number.
After studying the manual the engine removal looks quite basic compared to the 300zxTT , I have just never pulled an engine from the bottom before .
I'm sure there will be unforseen challenges , and you may think these are dumb questions , but preparation is key to this scale project no matter how dumb the question is .

thanks for you concern though , BTW whats a torque wrench ?? just kidding :smile:

I am concerned about a mechanic that needs to ask these questions.
Please be careful and don't get hurt. Make sure someone is around should something go wrong and you need help.

Figure out how tall the motor is when it is sitting on whatever you plan to use to roll it out from under the car.
That height plus at least a few inches is what you are going to need at the lowest point where you plan to roll the motor out from under the car.

The ball joint removal tool is not a Honda part.

Are you sure this project is something you are capable of?

 

[nigel]

DON'T SPLIT THE BALL JOINTS or you will be replacing them. THE MANUAL IS INCORRECT!

Cheers
nigel

 

[SweetChuck]

DON'T SPLIT THE BALL JOINTS or you will be replacing them. THE MANUAL IS INCORRECT!

Cheers
nigel

The great thing about having a half cut is I get a rehersal before even touching my car . Also I will have 2 of everything in case something does break . I couldn't imagine anyone doing this conversion by buying all the parts seperately , what a nightmare

 

[Daves_X]

Ok. I never removed the ball joints. I undid the axle from the hub like the manual says to do. Then I undid all the suspension pieces that it says to undo in the manual. There are the two bolts in the upper control arm. The bolts behind the upper control arm and the two bolts that mount behind the motor. You will need to undo the mounting bolts from the motor to remove the suspension from the motor and frame.

As for having the car that high in the air it was only to get the motor out from under it. I had a jack on either side of the car supporting the main weight of the car. The car was never in any serious danger of falling or anything like that. It isn’t like I left it there after taking the motor out. You would want to drop it back down for stability purposes.

I am a novice at this type of stuff and by no means am I saying my way is the 100% correct way. I was just saying that I just dropped my motor in about 8 hours following the manual. The longest part of it all is undoing all the wire harness and making sure you don’t get caught on anything as you are lowering the motor. The manual is a great reference and if you follow it and if you use the advice of the people here on prime you can’t go wrong. I did my clutch and my heads in a bout a month. I would have been done sooner if I wasn’t working around work and other unexpected problems.

 

[SweetChuck]

Sounds good , I also think it would be a good idea to change the timing belt on the replacement engine while its out , it only has 38000 Km's on it but its over 10 years old . I think the clutch and snap ring should also be looked at .
Is there anything else that should be checked while it is out ???

 

[davidf]

DON'T SPLIT THE BALL JOINTS or you will be replacing them. THE MANUAL IS INCORRECT!

Cheers
nigel

+1, this has been discussed before I believe.

 

[Alex]

+1, this has been discussed before I believe.

Removing the engine with the use of a couple of jack stands is a no brainer, my son and I just did it a week ago. I took some pictures, let me know if you need them. The only have a hurdle to sove before we swap the engine form the drive train assy, we didn't remove the axles before we dropped the power train assy and I just realize that we need to remove then in order to separate the engine/Transmission assy form the drive train.

 

[Alex]

Send me a pm with your phone # i'll talk you through it i have swapped engines a couple of times. Theres also some mods to do while the engine is out.

Please call me at 817 455 8019 or email me at [email protected], I would like to hear about the engine mods and to see if you have any suggestions in how to remove the axles. My drive train assy is off but I need to figure out how to remove the engine