I am looking to drop my motor (first time for me). I'm considering this hydraulic table cart from HF to help do the job:

http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capaci...0730-10041.html

I'll be jacking the car up with jackstands and chocking the front wheels. Question is, how high do I need to get the car up in the air to get the motor out?

According to the specs, the minimum height on this lift is 8.125 inches.

Use your floor jack and save the cash.

I'm all about saving money (as i am a CSOB), but balancing on the floor jack seems a bit precarious. I looked at Tangerine's Eng/Trans lifting plate that can be attached to a floor jack, but heck that's $110 for the plate.

If i am going to use the floor jack alone, where does one position the jack under the motor to get good balance? Directly under the sump plate?

I just raise and lower the car onto the engine/trans, while it's sitting on a furniture dolly. No balancing act required. Helps if you have two floor jacks.

Furniture dolly $15

about 33" w/ rear bumper removed. I've owned one for a few years but the best method is the one described at Pelican where you use a furniture dolly (HF $7-$15) and remove the wheels. lowering the car and engine onto the dolly then disconnecting the drive train mounts and lifting the car whilst the drive train remains on the dolly.

My answer was a bit short. I use a small piece of 3/4" plywood, maybe 12" x 12", and put that on the jack pad and then center the jack near the flywheel. Get a friend or two to come by when its time to drop the motor to help balance it. It's not really that hard and tends to balance well. take the engine and trans out together.

Wow, that cart would be a luxury. I use a regular old floor jack and a few short 2 x 6's. The engine actually balances pretty good with the jack between the engine and trans. I leave exhaust and all on it. I've taken the engine out many times this way.
BTW, if you still have FI, watch that your injector clamps don't catch. I've started putting a thin piece of metal or plastic between the rubber on the body and the engine.

How heavy is a motor and trans?

Do the balancing act. It's fun!

It took me about 3 hours for an engine drop the first time (after reading and re-reading 914 world posts) and about 1 hour the second time. Always solo w just a floor jack and 4 jack stands. I used a small square of plywood on my floor jack to avoid greasy metal to metal, the wood helps with the "grip" on the jack plate.

DON't put pressure directly on the sump plate. That bolt through the middle is an achilles heel that if damaged can ruin the entire case. I have the "tuna can" sump that hangs low so I am sensitive to this issue.

Go for it! Take it slow and just use the basic tools and it will be very satisfying

I use that table from HF, I jauck the back end up so that the tires are about 12" above the ramps. You have to get it high but is't comes out easy and goes in easy. The other advantage is that when you get it out you can raise the table to work on the motor/trans. the total weight is about 450lbs.

No one has answered your question yet so see this (McMark discussion I believe): http://www.914world.com/specs/tech_engdrop1.php

Also, I picked up the 1K cart lift from HF. It was on sale (and remember your 20-25% discount coupon) so I ended up paying about $200. Am very happy with it so far. I bought it with an engine drop in mind but so far I've used it to pick up an engine that I bought. The seller helped me slide it onto the cart, jacked it up and slid the engine into the bed of my truck. At home I reversed the process with a little help from the wife, slidding the engine onto the table and wheeling it into my garage. Kept it on the cart until I pumped it up to put the engine into my engine stand (by myself). Little effort required.

The only negative is that the damn thing (cart) weighs about 150# so lifting it up (e.g. putting into truckbed) can be a bit problematic by solo.
A worthwhile purchase as far as I'm concerned.

Keith

My 600lbs one looks the same (but yellow) and it's 9-1/2"
I think it would be a PITA doing it the jackstand route...but it's the shnizzle when using it with a lift.
Also great for mounting engines on stands, etc.

This is the one I have.

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/Moving-...-Cart/8017549.p

Get one of harbor freights 1000# movers dolly, then make up a little cradle out of scrap wood like mine. I slid the dolly over the floor jack and afar a couple tries to get the balance point correct dropped the motor/tranny with ease. i was able to slide the jack out from under the dolly with just a little lifting, now have a mobile power train.
For the cradle I had a 3' length of 2X10, a short 4X4 notched to fit under the tranny, and a 1' length of 2X6 to fit under the mount bar. Here's what it looks like:

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Yes ....but with that can you put four or a six on on an engine stand all by yourself?

The real question is how often do you plan to do this, once or twice then go the cheap route. But if you have an addiction to aircooleds or other uses for it they're great.

They also double for a portable work bench.

I use threaded rods through the engine bar mounts and the floor jack for just the tranny. Its a bit slower but no chance of it tipping over this way.

i just went through removing my engine and trans a few days ago and ended up useing a harbor freight motorcycle jack under center engine.i uses a small floor jack under trans and raised car with 2 floor jacks at jack points behind engine bar.my floor jacks go up to 23inches,but you dont need that much.useing motorcycle jack may make it easier to put back in.the balancing issue is not such a big deal,you can hold onto it with a block of wood.its not hard ,im proof of that.

I used the Harbor Freight table to remove my six, but I have a scissor lift.
So no problem with clearance issues. Only issue was motor rocking side to side on the table, so I had to slide a couple of 2x4's on each side of the block.

We have two hydraulic tables at work. It is a requirement on current cars and just makes like a whole lot easier on everything else. This is one of my current projects.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I could see that fitting in a 914 chassis......

I just dropped mine the first time yesterday. Made a furniture dolly, put the rear end on some ramps + another 4" of wood under that so maybe 8" or 10" high with a 6" high dolly. put some jack stands under the engine mount bar, dropped the engine mount, put a jack under the tranny, lowered the tranny, then lowered the engine mount bar with a small scissor jack and removed the stands, rolled it out. Would it be easier with a lift and a hydraulic stand? yes. but i spent almost nothing to get the job done.

Its fairly wide but I think it could be done.

Remove the trailing arm mounts and put a boxster rear suspension under it.

I'd like one, but if you could see my garage there is absolutely no more room for another cart.
haven't faced getting the engine onto an engine stand yet, calla few buds I guess.

I have the 1000lb harbor freight hydraulic cart. I love it but use it in conjunction with my Mid Rise scissor lift. I wouldn't use one without my scissor lift for the drivetrain pull though. All it will do is make you jack your car up that much higher to get your motor out. I never used the Pelican suggestion myself. Although it does sound very easy & not sure why I never tried it. Pulled my first just balancing on the floor jack. Didn't dump it then so I never went another way until I got my lift. Although I did add a 2x8 about 2 feet long on top of the floor jack. Helps balance the whole thing out. Just don't forget that damned tranny strap

Does using the lift with straps on the motor count as "all by yourself" ?

I use the lift for more things like that some weekends.

Rich

I agree the table is great if you have a hoist, I wouldn't buy one if I'm using jackstands.



Not sure what you mean? an engine lift?
All by myself means I don't have to go looking for someone to help me lift a heavy engine.

If you have a lift it's great you undo almost everything, then lower the car and drop it on the table. Take it over to the stand
Installing is easy as you can drop the car over the engine then fine tune all you want with the lift table.
No fuss all by my lonesome.

I have almost the exact hydraulic table cart . Brilliant. I used jack stands and had absolutely no problems getting the engine out or in. In fact it was a dream going back in. Steady as a rock and super easy to line it up and hold it while I bolted it in. It was a simple one person job.

I have used a transmission jack and an assistant before. That was scary since I almost dropped the engine twice since it was so wobbly. Never again.

The hydraulic table cart is the way to go.

I have a car lift....so when putting the motor on a stand, I lift the motor using the car lift and some straps....while its hanging in the air, I put it on the engine stand.

rich

Using this method...does the cart allow room to get to the bolts that hold the engine in?

I have never dropped the engine but want to like a lot of others here. the two things that cross my mind are:
- room for unbolting the engine/trans while it's supported on stands
- exact same problem for reverse process of bolting it all back in

I do the same thing. But to get the engine out, I just unbolt everything but the mounts, then lower the car down and set the engine/transmission on Jack stands. Then I unbolt the mounts, and raise the car up off the engine.

If I am doing something simple, I leave the car up in the air and work on the motor right on the jack stands. That way everything stays aligned for re-installation

If I have to move the motor, I put it back on the jack stands, and align it by using 4 plumb bobs tied to the engine mount points in the car.

Works every time and I don't have to store a hydraulic cart when I am not using it.

Yes, lots of room. In fact the cart handle comes off and the engine hangs off the front of the cart a bit and the tranny hangs off the back a bit. The engine and bar hang off the sides as well. But it is very solid. I used wood blocks to hold it in place at the correct angle as it came out and went in. Taking off all of the exhaust parts first may also help a bunch.

The only trouble I had, and it was small, was when using the jackstands I had to take off some of the FI parts so it would not snag on the Axles as I took it out. No big deal. These parts are super easy to install after the engine is bolted back in.

Ah... I get you now, but till recently all my engine stands were bench mount type.

Really I use it for a lot more than engines, like taking heavy loads off the pick-ups. I'm by myself most of the time with no neighbors to con into giving me a hand lifting.
The wife doesn't lift motors anymore, in fact she's the one who bought it for me.

Does your hydraulic cart have tractor treads for use in the Canukistan snow?

When I removed and reinstalled my -4, I used Chris' plate. Worked awesome and made it a 1 man job, plus I am space constrained (2 car garage), so storing the plate is much easier than storing a hydraulic lift table.

Plus, that's the way the factory did it!