Posted by Gus Blazek on February 29, 2000 at 01:19:54:
In Reply to: Re: V-12 fantasy aka heavy front end posted by Bill Bowes on February 28, 2000 at 19:57:33:
BB,
I’ve read some of your previous posts. I bow to your calamity. You are the master of impending disaster.
Speaking of boat anchors, I’ve never dropped an engine, but I once almost dropped a garage………
My ex-father-in-law was a great mechanic and had this wide one-car garage with the ceiling joists running lengthwise instead of crosswise as is current practice. He had this nifty setup for pulling engines, a long truck driveshaft resting on four of the joists (2x12) with a fitting and heavy duty cable hoist. Hook up the lifting bar, pull the tranny back, pump the hoist just enough to neutralize the engine mounts, disconnect the mounts and pull that sucker straight up. Once clear of the body, I would stand on the fenders and roll the driveshaft along the joists 6 or 8 feet towards the back of the garage, either to the waiting engine stand or to the big workbench, set up with blocks to snag the engine mounts and not bend the pan.
We pulled everything with this. The Mopar slant sixes were a little difficult just because of their weight and bulk. They were pretty bulletproof, so it was rare to pull more than the head. I could yank most fours by myself, piece of cake.
This system worked great for years until the day an International Harvester pickup drove in, burnt valve only but the owner wanted an overhaul despite the compression being good for it’s high mileage. The engine was a 305 cubic inch V-6, but the block was massive and there was not a speck of aluminum anywhere. All cast iron, manifolds, accessory fittings, etc.
We should have been warned when the front springs lifted the body a good 6 inches as I cranked the hoist, and that was with me standing on the front bumper. As the hoist took up the full weight of the engine, not just the four joists but the entire garage started to creak and groan. Holy S#$!, it sounded like we were going to pull down the whole building! I tried to hurry the engine to the workbench and only succeeded in getting a swing going with the creaking and groaning travelling from end to end of the garage depending on the direction of the swing.
Tearing down the engine on the workbench revealed a deep skirted block with massive internals and water jackets a good quarter inch thick. We had to hoist the heads off, and after turning the engine over I almost ruptured myself when I tried to lift the crank out.
We learned our lesson and reinforced the joists with vertical two by fours when the engine went back in. Still, that old garage was never the same.
Gus