V8 Engine & Box removal

[B@man]

I'm about to embark on the replacement of the gearbox on my 400 along with a few other jobs. Quick question will the engine come out with the exhaust manifolds attached, someone borrowed my bible and never returned it

[Jack Valiant]

Yes it certainly will make sure you have access to a good long reach crane:



This was the original coming out prior to the 500 monster going in!

Chris

[TVRIK]

I had a gearbox change 6 months ago, and the manifold had to come off, obviously changed the gaskets while they was at it.

[Wedg1e]

B@man said:

I'm about to embark on the replacement of the gearbox on my 400 along with a few other jobs. Quick question will the engine come out with the exhaust manifolds attached, someone borrowed my bible and never returned it

Was the bible to shim the engine crane level?

[matt-man]

I have only taken the engine out with the body off so hard to comment but I thought it was a pain to get out. Certainly box had to come off and I'm surprised The manifolds stay on too...hope they can for you!

The main challenge is the curved bar on the chassis which is perfectly placed to be a PITFA!

[Dogmanandy]

Put my new engine in today - without manifolds is a lot easier as it gives room for manoeuvre. I second that the curved bar on the chassis is a PITFA as it can foul the engine mount. having said that my body is off too so I have plenty of room to get to and tighten all the manifold nuts, which isn't so easy with body on.

[wooly350i]

Took my manifolds off matey, made it much easier, no room to rock and shimmy the engine with em on.
Good luck.

[Engineer1949]

As above preferably take both off although the nearside one helps the most on a right hand drive car.


John

[Mr Tank]

Hi

You can do it a number of ways with or without the manifolds, with the box on or with out.
It just depends on how confident you are, and how good a crane you have. One good tip is to jack up the rear of the car first as that lessen the angle you have to have the engine at. The easiest way is to remove the manifolds, and even the engine mounts once the crane has the weight of the engine, if you are worried about them catching.

It also depends on what work you are going to do after the engine and box have been removed. In your case if it's just the box replacment then you don't have to remove to much to get the job done quickly. But realy if the engines out you then have the chance to replace the exhaust gaskets, because if you don't you know what will happen with in a month of you putting it all back together, so it's sense to remove them!

Just take it easy and check and double check things as you go and you should not have to much trouble.

Andy

[B@man]

Thanks for the answers guys, I was planning on raising the rear to lessen the angle of dangle and I think I will take the manifolds off as they foul the chassis. I had wondered what that curved bit of chassis was for!

He he Ian nice, and I agree not a great loss

[V8 Fettler]

Does the engine have to come out for gearbox removal on a 400? Engine can be left in on a 350, needs moving forwards in the bay if I recall correctly.

[Yatesy350i]

V8 Fettler said:

Does the engine have to come out for gearbox removal on a 400? Engine can be left in on a 350, needs moving forwards in the bay if I recall correctly.

No mate

You can't get the box out on a 350 without cutting parts f the chassis. You can however change the clutch with the engine moved forward.

Karl.

[B@man]

I'm planning a make over for the engine and engine bay while the lump is out, the grumbly gearbox is just a good reason to get on with it, I've've been putting it off for 3 years. I now have <40K Griff 500 box to go in (once I've swapped the tail housings...)

[V8 Fettler]

Yatesy350i said:

V8 Fettler said:

Does the engine have to come out for gearbox removal on a 400? Engine can be left in on a 350, needs moving forwards in the bay if I recall correctly.

No mate

You can't get the box out on a 350 without cutting parts f the chassis. You can however change the clutch with the engine moved forward.

Karl.

Might be beyond you Karl but it is possible. See Bible and - through the mists of time - http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/tvr/conversatio...
Now irrelevant given that OP states that he intends to remove engine anyway.

[keatsie]

B@man, take some pics while your doing it. I have to do the same on my 400 this year and would appreciate any pointers and notes.

[Yatesy350i]

V8 Fettler said:

Yatesy350i said:

V8 Fettler said:

Does the engine have to come out for gearbox removal on a 400? Engine can be left in on a 350, needs moving forwards in the bay if I recall correctly.

No mate

You can't get the box out on a 350 without cutting parts of the chassis. You can however change the clutch with the engine moved forward.

Karl.

Might be beyond you Karl but it is possible. See Bible and - through the mists of time - http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/tvr/conversatio...
Now irrelevant given that OP states that he intends to remove engine anyway.

As i said you can change the clutch. I've done it by following Adams guide in the FAQ's. Did it this time last year after getting the car. not to bad the worst part is aligning everything in a 4" gap

But you can't get the box out without physically cutting the gearbox mount out of the chassis and the welding it back in place afterwards. I think this has been done before.

My GB has to come out some time soon as I have a rumbling input shaft bearing. So its a full engine out job for me as well. I had planed to be doing that now but my FHC and its comedy wiring has other plans!

Not sure of you have an engine crane already? But I found a company online who offered a longish reach 2 Tonne for about 20 quid more than I could get a second hand one off ebay. And it was next day free delivery. Can't remember off the top of my head their name but if anyone is interested drop me a line and ill dig the invoice out.

Anyway have fun and let us know how much of a pain it proves to be?

Karl.

[V8 Fettler]

Yatesy350i said:

V8 Fettler said:

Yatesy350i said:

V8 Fettler said:

Does the engine have to come out for gearbox removal on a 400? Engine can be left in on a 350, needs moving forwards in the bay if I recall correctly.

No mate

You can't get the box out on a 350 without cutting parts of the chassis. You can however change the clutch with the engine moved forward.

Karl.

Might be beyond you Karl but it is possible. See Bible and - through the mists of time - http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/tvr/conversatio...
Now irrelevant given that OP states that he intends to remove engine anyway.

As i said you can change the clutch. I've done it by following Adams guide in the FAQ's. Did it this time last year after getting the car. not to bad the worst part is aligning everything in a 4" gap

But you can't get the box out without physically cutting the gearbox mount out of the chassis and the welding it back in place afterwards. I think this has been done before.

My GB has to come out some time soon as I have a rumbling input shaft bearing. So its a full engine out job for me as well. I had planed to be doing that now but my FHC and its comedy wiring has other plans!

Not sure of you have an engine crane already? But I found a company online who offered a longish reach 2 Tonne for about 20 quid more than I could get a second hand one off ebay. And it was next day free delivery. Can't remember off the top of my head their name but if anyone is interested drop me a line and ill dig the invoice out.

Anyway have fun and let us know how much of a pain it proves to be?

Karl.

In my experience, the gearbox can be removed from a 350i without cutting and welding.

[Yatesy350i]

V8 Fettler said:

In my experience, the gearbox can be removed from a 350i without cutting and welding.

If it can that is seriously good news.

I have to get my GB out any advice on how to do this without mauling the engine out would be greatly appreciated.

The only thing apart from the FHC nightmare stopping me doing this is the space to store the engine during the GB rebuild. I wanted to get the FHC road worthy and down to my parents before I start the yellow perils GB. But if it is possible to leave the engine in I could crack on now.

Cheers Karl.

[GV]

B@man said:

Thanks for the answers guys, I was planning on raising the rear to lessen the angle of dangle and I think I will take the manifolds off as they foul the chassis. I had wondered what that curved bit of chassis was for!

He he Ian nice, and I agree not a great loss

When I took my engine and box out I found it easier to have the crane under the n/s front wheel. I was able to get more control I also used a tilt adjuster.

[wooly350i]

GV said:

When I took my engine and box out I found it easier to have the crane under the n/s front wheel. I was able to get more control I also used a tilt adjuster.

I saw Ed China using a 'tilt adjuster' which basically moves the centre of gravity of the chains so we bought one coz I thought what a bloody good idea, bought a new long reach hoist as well so just need to lift something heavy now, garage needs to get bigger as well!