Engine Out

Rather than continuing the saga of the seized brake drum I decided to do something more useful, namely remove the engine.

I'd read up on the removal procedure many times, so it didn't take long to do all the preparation:

• Remove the boot (or is it bonnet) and the hinge supports.
• Disconnect engine wiring.
• Remove the tinware from the rear of the engine.
• Remove the air cleaner.
• Detach the throttle cable from the carb.
• Detach the heater pipes running to the cabin.
• No need to detach the heater cables as those had rusted away to nothing.
• Cut and bung the fuel line.

Here is a picture of the engine bay, post preparation:

So all that remained to do was remove the four nuts holding the engine in place and pull it out. And amazingly it was that simple - although there was a slight delay as I didn't have a suitable bit of wood to support the engine during jacking.

A little bit of jiggling and the engine was sitting on the floor. Then I had to embark upon a bit of jacking to lift the car high enough to slide the engine out. The first lift brought the car up high enough to rest on elevated axle stands. Then the jack itself was raised on to wood and bricks so it could get the car high enough. As you can see it needs to be pretty high!

After sliding the engine out, I lowered the car and, with the help of my brother in law, lifted the engine onto a dolly. Now, when the seized drum has defeated me, I have a long list of other jobs I can get on with. It's going to be a busy year...