Can a guy with basic mechanical skills remove an engine? Yes. I’ve been that guy.
The tools: an extensive socket wrench set, an oxy-ascetelene torch, and a chain fall hoist.
The team: One inexperienced wrench-monkey (me), one 18-year-old shade-tree mechanic (My Buddy), one experienced shade-tree auto/semi mechanic (my grandfather).
The victim: 1972 Chrysler Newport that was generously giving its ife to save my station wagon.
It took most of a day. We only needed the torch because the exhaust was too rusted for us to unbolt it, so we just cut the pipes. We had hoped to do the job without removing the engine hood, but the transmission didn’t want to let go of the engine, so we decided to take them out together. That required twisting the engine in directions that the hood was blocking.
The job consisted mostly of unhooking wires and undoing bolts, then wrapping chain around the engine and lifting.
Of course, the “putting an engine into a car” part of the job was one I paid a professional to do.
My favorite part was when I went to pick the wagon up at the repair shop. There was a familiar looking engine sitting by the corner of the shop (outside), and on the head covers in chalk were the words “old” and “bad” and a frowny face. And the engine under my hood had “good” and “new” and a smiley face on its head covers.
My only caution is this: you want an engine hoist. You probably don’t have anything that will do. The only reason it was possible for me to go get the engine from my grandfather’s Newport was he had an A-frame with a chain fall hoist on it that he bought to remove engines and transmissions from trucks. When the engine got stuck the first time, we didn’t notice until we had lifted the front of the car clear off the ground. This is not a power tool: it is run by hand.
Last I checked, engine hoists were expensive. Expensive to rent, and expensive to buy. Too expensive to rent unless you are sure you’ll only need it for a day or two, too expensive to buy unless you’ll be using it a lot.
And just trying to rig something that is attached to the rafters in your garage is a good way to break your house.
Both times when I changed an engine out, I rented an engine hoist. It was basically this type, so you don’t need to find something sturdy to attach it to. It’s all free-standing.
It wasn’t expensive, either. It was something like 30 or 40 bucks, and I rented it on a Saturday which meant I didn’t have to return it until Monday (they were closed Sunday, so I got that day for free).
With inflation I’d expect that to be more like 50 or 60 bucks these days.
I poked around on google and the first hit for someplace local I found an engine hoist for rent for 50 bucks a day (40 if you can get it back within 4 hours).
With the hoist, you can get very cheap tools that will lift the weight of the engine safely. You’re really not talking about that much weight usually-- this engine probably weighs 600 pounds or so with the accessories off. It’s just that it’s awkward, so things like the fancy hoist engineer_comp_geek will make things way easier if you’re doing it alone, but if you’ve got a few extra pairs of hands something like the cheapo $40 Harbor Freight chain hoist will do it just fine (if you’ve got something sturdy to attach it to.)
Of course if you want really cheap, I once pulled an engine out of a pickup with one of those cheap $15 come-along cable winches. It required tons of elbow work and took for-freakin’-ever to get the engine high enough to clear the front of the truck, but it worked just fine. I did have two pretty burly dudes helping too. Plus we were only dropping the engine into the back of another truck; it wouldn’t have worked if we had to put the engine on the floor!
This. Simple, cheap, easy to rent. It’s a no- brainer. If you’re doing engine changes once a month it almost makes sense to buy. Otherwise those rentala are the hot set-up.
We (the SDMB collective) have got to get this engine changed. Let’s crowd fund for the rental engine hoist and frame. I’m proposing a live webcam (or two) along with live video chat at the appointed time. The swap will go like clockwork and be accomplished in no more that half the original time with our constant professional advice. What could go wrong?
Alternately, we could organize a Dopefest. I’ll bring popcorn and an extra folding chair.
I’ll bring the beer. All good male bonding / group DIY project events include copious beer. The good news is the adverse effects of the beer will be offset by all the extra help. As you say, what could go wrong?
The OPs location says “N of Denver”. Boulder or Cheyenne is a bit of a haul from here but it’ll be worth it. When’re we on? I hope he’s got a garage. Doing shadetree work in Feb in Cheyenne on 2 feet of compacted snow sucks big time. But with enough beer the cold isn’t so much of a problem.
Next-door neighbor has a engine hoist. I actually think he wanted me to invite him to help me pull the engine.
As I am a teacher this will be a summer project in my garage. Beer supply is a non-issue. Step-son is not going to be useful. Took him an hour to change a tire.
I’m game to help. I spent a week in Cheyenne on vacation the summer before last (with excursions to Laramie and Fort Collins and Colorado Springs and Golden) and wouldn’t mind going back. It’s not really that far since I’m in eastern South Dakota.
