Engine/transmission installation help please.

[ichthos]

I am finally ready to put the engine and transmission into my Bugeye. There is no one around to help me install these, so I will be putting them in by myself. The bonnet is currently off. My question is, is it easier to install the transmission and then the engine, or the two bolted together since I am doing this by myself? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Kevin

 

[smaceng]

Kevin,
Congratulations on your progress!
As one has to say about the job of restoring a BE, it is all about the "baby steps"
See my reply to your last post.
All together, as it is a royal pain to do them separately.
Good luck, and don't pinch any fingers!
Scott in CA

 

[ichthos]

I read your reply, Scott. Thanks for the reply and compliment. I am pretty excited to finally get my car together, and I am trying to be patient, but I am running out of time. I know I will still have lots to do once my car is together. I have a winch that I know will support the engine and transmission. I do not have one of the levelers you showed. I am going to clear out my garage so that I have lots of room to manuever. I am also going to cover the engine bay with thick blankets. I have to move my engine out to the garage tomorrow and bolt everything together now. Any other tips?
Kevin

 

[JPSmit]

I reinstalled my engine with the car up on jackstands - gave a lot more "under room" as well as no chance of it rolling and not so far to bend over.

 

[smaceng]

Hard to put the engine and trans in with just one person without the leveler. I would highly recommend it. I got mine at Harbor Freight. Also put the slave cylinder on with the pipes beforehand. Don't forget to insert the drive shaft in the trans as you are putting it home into tunnel.
Scott in CA

 

[TexasSprite]

I installed the engine/transmission as a unit. Radiator off, of course. I did mount the drive shaft on the transmission before I installed it. I did not have a leveler, but found drive train for the BE to be light enough to easily tilt and slide it in place by myself. There is a trick about the motor mounts which I can't exactly remember, but it has something to do with leaving one of them off of the engine and bolting it up after everything is in place.

 

[Billm]

Motor mounts-
Mount the one by the steering column to the car first, the one for the other side to the engine and that's it. If you do it the other way then the steering column prevents the mount from dropping all of the way down.
BillM

 

[Guest]

double post

 

[Guest]

Good luck, and don't pinch any fingers!
Scott in CA

I prefer pinching buttocks myself. (not my own)

I reinstalled my engine with the car up on jackstands - gave a lot more "under room" as well as no chance of it rolling and not so far to bend over.

This is a good idea as my hoist won't fit under the car enough to get the motor in. A leveler makes things so much easier too.

 

[JPSmit]

I prefer pinching buttocks myself. (not my own)

was that you???!!!! :madder:

 

[mightymidget]

I reinstalled my engine with the car up on jackstands - gave a lot more "under room" as well as no chance of it rolling and not so far to bend over.

I'm gonna third that.

Makes the job so much easier, plus a biggie is like it was said not needed to bend over so much while you are twisting motor.

I put my motor /tranny in together (midget) with out a leveler by myself. it wasn't that big of a deal. actually don't belive I would have used it if I had one.

I just took my right hand and held end of tranny down as I let the motor down with my left hand. stoped. push picker in do motor moved back in tunnel. then did the same again

 

[JPSmit]

Oh, and we put towels and blankets on the edges and new paint

 

[ichthos]

Thanks for all the tips, everyone. If everything goes right, I should have the engine in this weekend. I will post pics once I am done.
Kevin

 

[c5racer]

Anyone have a part number for the engine leveler at HF? The search engine is worthless or I can't figure out the "key word"

 

[2091351]

Northern Tools : https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_19979_19979

Good luck.

I tried HF and could not find one? $%^&*

Steve

 

[ichthos]

I ended up having to go to Harbor Freight to find what I needed - well actually my wife did. I couldn't seem to find anything on line at their site. The model she bought was #5402. The cost was $40. It is rated for 2,000 pounds. They also had a cheaper one on sale for $25 that was rated for 1,500 pounds. I have the engine suspended up in the air at the moment, and the turn screw turns easily. One of the problems I have heard about cheaper levelers was that the turn screw does not turn well when there is weight on it. Maybe someone who bought the cheaper leveler can give you some feedback. With sparse descriptions for levelers on line in general, it was difficult for me to figure out why some are more expensive than others. Hope that helps.
Kevin

 

[jlaird]

And for 50 bucks how could a person go wrong.

 

[c5racer]

Picked one up at HF today #5402 cost was $40. It looks a little safer/solid than the $25 one.

Thanks!

 

[jlaird]

er correction. For $40 bucks how could a person go wrong?

 

[ichthos]

Glad you found what you needed. I finally got my engine in over the weekend and it worked great for me.
Kevin