Engine Drop

When I was young I used to disconnect everything then put a couple of largish tires between the engine and the ground.

Then we'd tie to something such as the exhaust pipes, count to three, and in unison give the old heave ho. Plop!

I saved all my finesse for when the engine was goin' back IN.

VT

Congratulations! Pretty easy, huh? I've done two thus far: the first one took about two hours (a 75FI) and the second (72) less than an hour so it gets even easier - maybe eventually we'll be able to do it on no time :) A digital camera is your friend when it comes to documenting where everything goes. Also tag stuff, even if where it goes it seems obvious at that time (ask me how I know :).

Not sure if you intend to do the rebuild yourself but in case you do here's a couple of things I've done: I've put mine on a desk stand mounted on a cart so it easily moves around - it is a pain to work on the floor. With one of those desk mounted stands, you can rotate the whole thing easily and if you mount it a couple of feel off the ground, you won't have to bend down. You should be able to easily lift the engine in the stand with two people. The bugme video on engine rebuilding is very good but also look for Bob Hoover's comments in this group - he's pointed out a lot of 'gotchas' books don't cover. Besides the Bentley manual for reference, another good book on engine rebuilding is "how to rebuild your VW aircooled engine".

Remco

LOL,

you mean you didn't just throw it in from a distance?

:)

Jan

Dropping the engine on tires -- you don't see that described in the bugme video or bentley? I like it!!

About the finesse to put the engine back in, is the procedure to put it it on yet even more large tires and lower the bug over it? :)

Remco

I bet this is where the sawzall comes in :)

Jan

We used to hike up the Bug on jacks and blocks, then put my friend on a creeper, shove him under and drop the engine on his chest, and pull him out. No kidding. (He was built. Liked to show off.)

Remco and Jan,

Both of your responses caused me laugh out loud! Thanks!

Vernon - Arch Mechanic

Thanks for the good information Remco. Ideally I'd like to rebuild as much of the engine as possible. Now, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to move the engine around. I feel like this is such a basic question and I've gone through and looked in archives, but are their any tips for lifting the engine from the ground to a work bench? I'm assuming that I'll be able to move the block around once some basic items are removed (ie tin, exhaust, flywheel, clutch, etc).

Brennan

My brother and I definitely eyed the sawzall during the experience. The idea of being able to pull the engine from the apron area was tempting. Instead, we ended up adding a couple more 2x4's to the jack :).

Brennan

That's nothing, I once had the whole bug land on my chest.

Good thing my legs were still sticking out from under the car, and good thing they were right next to the jack that was supposed to hold the bug up in the air, and good thing I had left the lever on the jack, and good thing I managed to pump the jack up little by little with my toes just reaching the handle.

I'd rather not do that again. Not enough air in my lungs to cry for help, and even if could, there was nobody around to hear me.

Glad to be here.

Jan

glad to know we are good for something :)

Jan

Yeah! Jan actually knows stuff, but I'm just here for comic relief..

The engine is pretty heavy so I took the heat exchangers and muffler off on the ground. I actually lifted it by myself (and I used to be over 6' tall :) but it will be much easier to lift it with someone else. Also make sure you don't snap any studs removing the exchangers and muffler. You may want to just crack the nuts (basically smack the nuts with a chisel and hammer to break them) so you don't risk breaking studs.

Remove the flywheel and clutch on the ground because getting that gland nut off is a real bear (at least the 75 was a pain, the 72 was much easier): On the 75, I bolted a 2" square piece of 6' steel to the flywheel and then took the 36mm socket on the 1/2" breaker bar and slipped an antenna pole on it. The square bar was resting on a bar stool and, after literally hanging on the pole, the gland nut finally gave way and came off. Here's a picture of the set up:

I lazily built this page using MS Publisher and it isn't theneatest page on the planet. It also hasn't been updated since lastwinter).

Here's a picture that shows a stand.

desk stand is in two pieces: one bolts to the block, the other tothe stand. When you lift the engine, you slip one piece of the standinto another. The stand is basically built out of some 2x6 lumber and has a bar that holds the engine stand. It is strong because you don't want it to tip and also holds an outboard. It has casters so it can be rolled around the shop and out of the way. A floor was put in, so that it conveniently catches stuff that falls off or holds stuff after it has been taken off. I considered those roll around VW engine stands on ebay but they don't look particularly strong to me. Not sure if the engine can be flipped in the stand while still being safe enough to use tools (Wouldn't want this thing to drop on your toes). That can't happen with my stand. Let me know if you need more detail.

Remco

That's gotta be the easiest way to bolt on 12 extra horsepower :)

Jan

I see you know your watercooled engines too, knowing its HP by just looking at the outboard.. :)

In restoring an old wood Cape Cod dory, thought that just wouldn't look right with a flaming new Johnson bolted to it so got this 1955 OMC SeaKing 12HP on ebay a last December. It was seized up, so no one was bidding. Got a repair manual and nursed it back to health. It now runs like a chimp and is good as new (well, after I repaint it, that is).

My dory is not ready to go yet so it will probably be a while before it sees open water, unfortunately. (divided interest between house maintenance, restoring my wife's _too_ many antique finds, robots, garden and my bugs - you know how that goes)

Remco

I always heard VWs would float. But this is really pushing the envelope!

VT

Mmmmmm... That's an idea - It'll turn quite a few heads on the LI sound.. :)

Dude,

With that comment you brought back one of my favorite - but nearly forgotten - memories.

I was up in Homer Alaska one day during a crew change. It is a stunning place. The air is clear and cold. The water is cold and inky blue.

I was sitting inside a restaurant that had a huge window on the ocean. I looked out and saw what appeared to be a small boat coming across the bay.

As it drew near I saw this lumber jack looking guy with his two children, a boy and a girl. They were all grinning from ear to shining ear.

His "small craft" was an old bath tub! It was being powered by an old outboard of the same or similar vintage as yours.

Oh, for the required VW content. It was a VW brand bath tub...

Pinocchio

That's ballsie - on open water in a bathtub! _One_ wave and you're swimming. I guess he's a lumberjack and he's ok... (obligatory MontyPyton reference: a shot in front of open goal has to be taken :)