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Becky The Valiant - Nd Engine Swap Tips
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Author:  sixaddict [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Becky The Valiant - Nd Engine Swap Tips
Hi all, my 67 Valiant (Becky, sitting for 15 years) is about to get a heart & lung transplant (eng, tranny, brake parts, radiator, basically everything) from a running & driving 69 Dart.

(Becky has sentimental value and a 67,000-mile interior, that's why. :))
(Don't worry, the Dart is basically a bunch of good parts in a car well past its prime...)

I have a driveway that won't let the cherry picker move around - we'll be pushing cars under it.

The cars are both /6 auto column shift man. steer, man. brake, 1-barrel 4-doors.

This is my first engine swap, and I want to pull the engine & tranny together, hoist it, roll car #1 back, roll under car #2, and drop it in. I know there's a bit more jockeying to it than that, but any tips on this dirt driveway adventure that's shaping up will be much appreciated.

I have the assistance of a strong young mechanic's helper.

I thank you, my wife thanks you for helping me turn two heaps into one, and of course... Becky thanks you.

~Scott in TX
Author:  kipamore [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:44 pm ]
Post subject: 
I think I can give you a couple of tips. It's going to be tricky without being able to roll the cherry picker. It's going to be a LOT easier with one of those adjustable engine "tilter" thingies. It's a big screw on a big bar that lets you pitch the engine fore and aft. I would think that most places that rent cherry pickers also rent the tilter thing. I urge you to procure this, as the engine and trans together will need to point skyward to come out. Kind of like reeling in a very heavy bass.

To add to that, you are going to want to get the nose of the car up on ramps or jackstands up pretty high. Maybe 1ft over stock ride height. Since you are on dirt, perhaps you have the ability to dig a trench under the trans!

In my experience, it's actually easier to pull the engine and trans separatly, but reinstall them as a unit. Others may have different opinions.

-Kip on Truckin'
Author:  Reed [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:13 pm ]
Post subject: 
If possible, remove the radiator support. I can't remember if you can do this in A-bodies, but I know you can do it in a van.
Author:  InThePink [ Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:37 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
In my experience, it's actually easier to pull the engine and trans separatly, but reinstall them as a unit. Others may have different opinions.

-Kip on Truckin'
I agree. Remove them separately and you don't need to tilt the engine nor roll the engine hoist.

I've always installed both separately, too. Just easier for one person that way in my experience.
Author:  vynn3 [ Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:20 am ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
To add to that, you are going to want to get the nose of the car up on ramps or jackstands up pretty high. Maybe 1ft over stock ride height. Since you are on dirt, perhaps you have the ability to dig a trench under the trans! -Kip on Truckin'
Or, instead of raising the FRONT of the car, raise the REAR as high as you can. Really helps when you're pulling both the engine and tranny together.

But getting it back IN w/o moving the picker? Good luck. I'm sure it can be done, but it won't be easy...
Author:  6shotvanner [ Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:27 pm ]
Post subject: 
All that plus,1/2" cdx plywood 4x8 sheets,like 3 or 4 of those puppies makes a nice movable "dance floor" work area for the cherry picker.When done just lean um upside the house for next time or claim they're for a new shed you're going to build "some day" :) Lucky me I have a 4x4 ATV that got used as a "tractor" to pull the engine/picker assembly when it sunk in the dirt on my first driveway engine pull.I did have to replace 2 of the caster wheels after that :oops:
Author:  vynn3 [ Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
All that plus,1/2" cdx plywood 4x8 sheets,like 3 or 4 of those puppies makes a nice movable "dance floor" work area for the cherry picker.
Now THAT'S a good idea! :idea:
Author:  rock [ Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:31 am ]
Post subject:  I use plywood, but I had a disaster the firs time
Howdy!
I am a dirt specialist, and to make it trickier, my operations area slopes gently down from passnger side to driver side. The first thing that happened was the cherry picker rolls downhill, load or no. So I had to nail a 2 x 4 rail to keep the cherry picker headed in the right direction.

Now I am working on a truck so the lift has to be lot higher than with a car. Upon getting the engine and tranny in the air, the weight made the cherry picker front wheels punch through the plywood. I had to set the engine down to pry the cherry picker out of the wood. Next time I put some sheet steel down where the load would be. under the wheels

Now on account of the tilt, next time the engine was in the air and I was pulling the picker back, the center of gravity was so high the picker fell over sideways (with the engine attached) I had to undo one from the other, pry out the picker, and start again.

This time I undid the tranny and was able to lift it right out. Now that I have a system it only takes a few hours to do a swap, but that first one..... Oh, I wouldn't even attempt it without the load leveler thing on your cherry picker or hoist that someone else was mentioning. They are only about $30 at Harbor Freight.

rock
'64d100
Author:  dietz_diggler [ Sat Aug 30, 2008 5:54 am ]
Post subject: 
i've done this swapping Poly 318's, i dont know the weight difference but even w/ the plywood, the wheels are going to go in between sheets and sink in the ground if its soft. if you have help with a strong back he's gonna come in real handy. when one of the casters gets close to the edge of a sheet, one of you needs to be lifting on that particular wheel until its on the other sheet. and keep an eye on each one at all times! i did it by myself and then had the wife come out and help. it kept coming off one sheet then another. she wasnt too happy w/ me by time we were done.

if your engine is already out of one car and all you truely have to do is move one and then the other directly under thats great. the less you have to move the engine hoist the better. like the others said i would remove and replace the eng and trans seperately.

and also if the old engine isnt out yet, take plenty of pictures of EVERYTHING. carb linkage, wiring, all of it. get close ups. it will make hooking things back up go alot quicker when memory fails.

good luck!!
Author:  sixaddict [ Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:40 pm ]
Post subject: 
Such GREAT advice! Especially the jacking up the REAR of the car and the whole plywood thing. I have solid spots on the ground, it's a caliche and gravel driveway, so a few sheets on a level spot of that and I can roll it. I will screw 2x4s to the edges.

It doesn't look like the radiator support is removable - seems like a structural member for the front end, spot welded into everything.

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. There'll be two of us on this, with a dry run of pulling out the old engine out of Becky the Valiant.

I'll get a tilty thing (where's that Harbor Freight catalog now that I'm LOOKING for one?!), coolant, tranny fluid, liquid wrench, jackstands, floor jack, fuel sending unit (have a new tank, might as well replace it while the ass end of the car is three feet in the air, and might as well do that while the tank is out), old t-shirts & rags, fluid catch pan, cold drinks... I think I'm set. I think this can happen.

Keep the advice coming though. I'm getting more confident by the day. This is a rite of passage. Suggested tunes?

IF I attempt the engine & tranny as a combo with the rear jacked up and the cherry picker moveable a bit on the plywood, suggestions on what bolts to chain it to that'd start me off at a good angle? This is the stuff, never having done it before, I'm a bit shaky on.

Thanks a bunch guys, really!

~Scott
Author:  6shotvanner [ Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
There's a couple threaded holes in the head towards the back up top by the valve cover that'll work.I've always been a tranny out then motor next so don't have a clue how the tilty thing will work with trans still attached.Lets see,you're in Texas so I'm thinkin any ZZ Top tunes will work plus some Willie maybe? On the road again,I just cann't wait to get on the road again :) This ain't a job,it's an adventure so,tap your toes on that "dance floor" and have sum fun 8)
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