Anybody Got a Good 'How-To' writeup on dropping an LT1? (Plus Pictures of my GF...)
11-13-2008, 07:22 PM
#16
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NC
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I may have gotten carried away with my 'hoist'...
I made 4 of the recommended 'lumber jack stands' as you can see in the pics, each 10-high (15")... I didn't have wheels/tires to use under the rear and thought the 2x4's would 'seat' the rear tires just as well. They seem very stable.
I was worried about my garage height, it's a basement garage with just over 7' ceilings. I now have the 15" stands under the rear tires and the way it sits there is 38" of clearance under the bottom of the radiator support, yet more than a foot of clearance from the roof of the car to the ceiling, plenty of room everywhere to maneuver the hoist for dropping the cradle.
Wow my car looks like crap... Been sitting/dusty for nearly a year and now in pieces and the lighting in the one pic highlights that dent in the front fender, worst part of the car... I think I can pull that mostly out while I have it apart.
I probably could have finished pulling it apart in the time I just spent posting this. Oy.
I made 4 of the recommended 'lumber jack stands' as you can see in the pics, each 10-high (15")... I didn't have wheels/tires to use under the rear and thought the 2x4's would 'seat' the rear tires just as well. They seem very stable.
I was worried about my garage height, it's a basement garage with just over 7' ceilings. I now have the 15" stands under the rear tires and the way it sits there is 38" of clearance under the bottom of the radiator support, yet more than a foot of clearance from the roof of the car to the ceiling, plenty of room everywhere to maneuver the hoist for dropping the cradle.
Wow my car looks like crap... Been sitting/dusty for nearly a year and now in pieces and the lighting in the one pic highlights that dent in the front fender, worst part of the car... I think I can pull that mostly out while I have it apart.
I probably could have finished pulling it apart in the time I just spent posting this. Oy.
11-14-2008, 11:58 AM
#18
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11-14-2008, 12:08 PM
#19
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Location: Montville, NJ, U.S.A.
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LMAO, I couldn’t resist posting those pics. As for pulling the motor out of a 4th Gen, I would only go out the bottom if I had a lift. That just looks really dangerous having the car that high up in the air.
Nick
Nick
11-14-2008, 08:15 PM
#21
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Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Kernersville, NC
Posts: 2,062
Hmmm.....I'm really worried with that setup.
I think you should leave the engine/front wheels on the ground and raise the chassis. Your going to need quite a jack to control the transmission as it comes out like that.....It also looks like the cherry picker is going to smack the nose of the car before you get the engine down if you lower it with the cherry picker....I'm assuming that your going to use the cherry picker on the front of the engine and a jack on the transmission.
If you need two wheels to set the rear tires in, I can loan you a couple of my salad shooter wheels to set the rears in.....I also think you will be fine with the 7' ceilings to pick up the chassis. You only need 36"-40" from the bottom of the nose to the floor to pull the engine out.
I personally think that will be much safer than trying to control close to 1000lbs coming down from that height.
Here's a pic of mine going back in.....my garage door height is 7'. You can see that I had plenty of height left. I even lowered the car with the garage door open...as a matter of fact...I remember raising it with the door open too.
Here is the cherry picker attached and ready to go down....no where near 7' needed....
I think you should leave the engine/front wheels on the ground and raise the chassis. Your going to need quite a jack to control the transmission as it comes out like that.....It also looks like the cherry picker is going to smack the nose of the car before you get the engine down if you lower it with the cherry picker....I'm assuming that your going to use the cherry picker on the front of the engine and a jack on the transmission.
If you need two wheels to set the rear tires in, I can loan you a couple of my salad shooter wheels to set the rears in.....I also think you will be fine with the 7' ceilings to pick up the chassis. You only need 36"-40" from the bottom of the nose to the floor to pull the engine out.
I personally think that will be much safer than trying to control close to 1000lbs coming down from that height.
Here's a pic of mine going back in.....my garage door height is 7'. You can see that I had plenty of height left. I even lowered the car with the garage door open...as a matter of fact...I remember raising it with the door open too.
Here is the cherry picker attached and ready to go down....no where near 7' needed....
Last edited by ACE1252; 11-14-2008 at 08:39 PM.
11-14-2008, 08:31 PM
#22
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Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Kernersville, NC
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Nothing unsafe with doing it like I've got it above. I've done it twice and the setup is rock solid. I didn't come up with this setup on my own....I just followed the advice on this forum.
11-14-2008, 10:02 PM
#24
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Hmmm.....I'm really worried with that setup.
I think you should leave the engine/front wheels on the ground and raise the chassis. Your going to need quite a jack to control the transmission as it comes out like that.....It also looks like the cherry picker is going to smack the nose of the car before you get the engine down if you lower it with the cherry picker....I'm assuming that your going to use the cherry picker on the front of the engine and a jack on the transmission.
If you need two wheels to set the rear tires in, I can loan you a couple of my salad shooter wheels to set the rears in.....I also think you will be fine with the 7' ceilings to pick up the chassis. You only need 36"-40" from the bottom of the nose to the floor to pull the engine out.
I personally think that will be much safer than trying to control close to 1000lbs coming down from that height.
Here's a pic of mine going back in.....my garage door height is 7'. You can see that I had plenty of height left. I even lowered the car with the garage door open...as a matter of fact...I remember raising it with the door open too.
Here is the cherry picker attached and ready to go down....no where near 7' needed....
I think you should leave the engine/front wheels on the ground and raise the chassis. Your going to need quite a jack to control the transmission as it comes out like that.....It also looks like the cherry picker is going to smack the nose of the car before you get the engine down if you lower it with the cherry picker....I'm assuming that your going to use the cherry picker on the front of the engine and a jack on the transmission.
If you need two wheels to set the rear tires in, I can loan you a couple of my salad shooter wheels to set the rears in.....I also think you will be fine with the 7' ceilings to pick up the chassis. You only need 36"-40" from the bottom of the nose to the floor to pull the engine out.
I personally think that will be much safer than trying to control close to 1000lbs coming down from that height.
Here's a pic of mine going back in.....my garage door height is 7'. You can see that I had plenty of height left. I even lowered the car with the garage door open...as a matter of fact...I remember raising it with the door open too.
Here is the cherry picker attached and ready to go down....no where near 7' needed....
I have 40.5" from the nose of the car (as pictured above) to the floor, and 39.5" from the bottom of the radiator support (lowest point on the car...) to the floor. So I could only drop it 3" right? And still get the motor out?
Then that said I do still have the rear about 6" higher than it needs to be... All 4 of my 2x4 stands are 15" high, so I'm assuming a Salad Shooter wheel/tire combo is about 9"ish tall?
I think I have enough throw on the hoist to drop it from where it is, but I hear what you're saying, it would probably be best to lower the whole mess when it's time to actually drop everything, then lift the car off it, right?
Which is sorta what we did on yours but correct me on that as old age steals my memory still... We lowered the motor from under it then lifted the car up a little more?
Although being immortal there will undoubtedly be a fair amount of winging it as well.
Or wait, did you mean you were worried about the way my GF has her underwear setup???
11-15-2008, 01:13 PM
#25
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Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Kernersville, NC
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The tires are 9.6 wide, but the wheels sink into the rim a couple of inches. The friction coeffecient of the tire rubber is way higher that that of the wood blocks....I also think there is more surface area contact with the floor.
You have also got to remember that the torque arm and driveshaft are going to be disconnect during this....that will allow the axle to rotate and the emergency brake will do no good to stop this rotation.
When we did mine, to start I had the front tires just barely off the ground, I had a jack on the transmission and my Dad's "super" jack holding the engine. We pulled the K member bolts and then lowered the engine to the ground....from there I attached the cherry picker to the frame and raised the car nose to around 36".
Looking at your second picture, I don't see how on earth the front tires are going to touch the ground before the cherry picker arm hits the nose of the car. Also, with it that high in the air the brake hoses are going to bear all the load of the wheels hanging.....
IMHO, I don't think that setup is very safe and I want to see you come out of this with no injuries and no damage to the car.
Come get the wheels and let me know the day/night you plan to do this so I can lend you a hand.
All that stuff is crazy heavy(alone, a fully dressed LT1 is around 600lbs...not to forget the wheels, k-member, trans etc.).....just on my brother's V6....we had the engine and trans on the front of the cherry picker moving it back into the garage one day and the front wheels of the cherry picker hit the gap between the outside pad and garage pad. The difference in pad height was less that 1/4" but we could not lift the front wheels to get the it over even that height. It is best to keep all this weight as low to the ground as possible.
One slip and
.
You have also got to remember that the torque arm and driveshaft are going to be disconnect during this....that will allow the axle to rotate and the emergency brake will do no good to stop this rotation.
When we did mine, to start I had the front tires just barely off the ground, I had a jack on the transmission and my Dad's "super" jack holding the engine. We pulled the K member bolts and then lowered the engine to the ground....from there I attached the cherry picker to the frame and raised the car nose to around 36".
Looking at your second picture, I don't see how on earth the front tires are going to touch the ground before the cherry picker arm hits the nose of the car. Also, with it that high in the air the brake hoses are going to bear all the load of the wheels hanging.....
IMHO, I don't think that setup is very safe and I want to see you come out of this with no injuries and no damage to the car.
Come get the wheels and let me know the day/night you plan to do this so I can lend you a hand.
All that stuff is crazy heavy(alone, a fully dressed LT1 is around 600lbs...not to forget the wheels, k-member, trans etc.).....just on my brother's V6....we had the engine and trans on the front of the cherry picker moving it back into the garage one day and the front wheels of the cherry picker hit the gap between the outside pad and garage pad. The difference in pad height was less that 1/4" but we could not lift the front wheels to get the it over even that height. It is best to keep all this weight as low to the ground as possible.
One slip and
.
11-15-2008, 10:25 PM
#26
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Location: Jupiter (NPB), Fl
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Hrm, I had no need to lift the back of the car to get mine out. As a matter of fact I would think it'd be more difficult to get it all back together with the rear lifted up.
I just cherrypicked the front of the car and set it on 6 ton truck jackstands. Plenty high.
Pic below.. I don't have the ghetto-shooters anymore out back
I just cherrypicked the front of the car and set it on 6 ton truck jackstands. Plenty high.
Pic below.. I don't have the ghetto-shooters anymore out back
11-16-2008, 12:55 PM
#28
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Land of George Ryan
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Hrm, I had no need to lift the back of the car to get mine out. As a matter of fact I would think it'd be more difficult to get it all back together with the rear lifted up.
I just cherrypicked the front of the car and set it on 6 ton truck jackstands. Plenty high.
Pic below.. I don't have the ghetto-shooters anymore out back
I just cherrypicked the front of the car and set it on 6 ton truck jackstands. Plenty high.
Pic below.. I don't have the ghetto-shooters anymore out back
02-26-2009, 01:50 AM
#30
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NC
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Thought I'd post an update. Got the mess apart a month ago or so.
Still haven't messed with it much. Have the next couple of days off and hoping to make some progress with it.
I did sit in it one evening, listen to the radio, and make vroom vroom car noises though. If that counts for anything.
Spring is just around the corner though!!!
Still haven't messed with it much. Have the next couple of days off and hoping to make some progress with it.
I did sit in it one evening, listen to the radio, and make vroom vroom car noises though. If that counts for anything.
Spring is just around the corner though!!!