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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Removed engine with 4-post lift

Posted by: mskala Aug 16 2010, 05:20 PM

I have a common 4-post lift and figured that some other folks would want to
know how to do a 914 engine drop. Yes, there has been a long time ago the
picture of Gint with the car hanging half off the end, but...

If mine is typical, the space between the rails is 32". However, the sheet metal
on a 914 is 38". I made a totally reversable mod to get to 42.25" spacing. The
rails have a lip on the inside edge to support those plastic drip trays. But the
rail that doesn't contain the hydraulics is totally free to be moved wherever you
want to drill the holes.

Max movement on mine was 7", but I also took the rail and flipped it around to get
rid of the lip. It is very easy to remove the 4 bolts and move it back later, I will just
not get to use the lip.

Note that I'm using the Pelican Parts jack adapter on a normal jack. In the future I
should get a high-lift longer jack, because the only difficult part is getting under the
car to take the 3 bolts out while the lift is up about 18".

Did I mention I have a -6? Disconnecting exhaust and all oil lines is something I
prefer to do while standing up.

Pics to follow.

Posted by: mskala Aug 16 2010, 05:21 PM

Rotating rail

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Posted by: mskala Aug 16 2010, 05:22 PM

New holes drilled to left

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Posted by: brant Aug 16 2010, 05:23 PM

I've done it twice
it was my car on gint's lift hanging off
(we did use 4x4's and strap downs)

I did it also on Ferg's lift
his is an extra wide (non porsche) lift and this helped an awful lot as some are too narrow for the flat motor.

I've got a 2 post now and intend to use the lift to lift the chassis in another month to leave the motor onto a rolling box
(ala, JP style box)

brant

Posted by: mskala Aug 16 2010, 05:24 PM

Now 42 1/4" apart

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Posted by: mskala Aug 16 2010, 05:26 PM

Inside of rail view

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Posted by: mskala Aug 16 2010, 05:27 PM

Pants on the ground, I mean engine on the ground

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Posted by: Gint Aug 16 2010, 08:51 PM

Yup, same problem with mine. You have to spend all the money for a really nice 4 post in order to drop a 914 motor without mods.

As Brant said, we did hang Brant's 914 off of the end of mine once. It worked, but it was a lot of prep work. The process needed a lot more refinement. I never did it it again that way and probably won't.

I thought about drilling holes in my rails to move them out also. Haven't done it yet, but that probably will happen. Especially now that I've seen this thread Mark.

Posted by: RobW Aug 16 2010, 09:18 PM

4 post lift....

Posted by: carr914 Aug 16 2010, 09:19 PM

Man, you got my hopes up, so I went out to look at my Rotary Lift. It can't be done with mine , as the ramps are secured differently and there is only about a 1/2 inch of room to move a ramp even if I wanted to.

Posted by: Gint Aug 16 2010, 09:29 PM

Most of the cheaper models targeted at the home hobbyist are narrow. Ferg's is a Bendpak (I'm pretty sure...) that has movable rails. And a buddy of mine has a different model Bendpak with rails that are really wide.

Posted by: carr914 Aug 16 2010, 09:36 PM

My Rotary was far from Cheap, but was American-made & built like a tank. When the next Hurricane comes through, I will be hiding under that thing. My house might get blown away, but my lift is going nowhere. My garage floor that it is anchored to is 14 inches thick !

I think when I bought my lift, I chose this model to fit my garage. Other than this motor drop procedure, it is perfect. I do have a plan for my engine install. I'll let you know in a couple months if my crazy idea works.

Posted by: mskala Aug 17 2010, 06:33 AM

Wow, things must have changed since I got mine about 8 years ago. (It was sold
by Gemini.) I've seen so many pics that look exactly the same as mine with
different brand names. Also they would build it longer or wider if you wanted. Hence
the easy adjustability by the drill method. I guess everybody is coming up with their
own designs now.

Posted by: carr914 Aug 17 2010, 07:47 AM

I picked Rotary as that is what is in every Dealership and they have local service. In fact, they delivered & installed it ( saved me a lot of Beer ).

I've had it for 5 years without a problem. At the time they had 2 versions of the same Model. I picked the smaller one as it was the only one that would fit in my garage.

My ramps extend over the end rails & bolt in from the top. Is there anything holding your ramps other than those 4 Bolts?

Here's mine with the Strenger GT - you can see that I'm pretty cramped in there.

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Posted by: Mark Henry Aug 17 2010, 08:10 AM

I'm glad I had the room for a two post.

Posted by: mskala Aug 17 2010, 08:57 AM

QUOTE(carr914 @ Aug 17 2010, 09:47 AM)

My ramps extend over the end rails & bolt in from the top. Is there anything holding your ramps other than those 4 Bolts?

No, on mine the rail extends and sits on the top and the bolts go through from the
side, that's it. With the bolts out I can just push the non-hydraulic side around
easily. Man, yours is compact.