TR4/4A Putting the motor back in the TR4

[doughairfield]

I'm finally ready to put the motor back in my TR4 after the rebuild. What's the consensus on putting the motor and transmission together before it goes back in, as opposed to hooking them back together after the motor is back in the car?

Also, any tips or tricks anyone could offer up when putting them back together would be appreciated.

 

[TR4nut]

Haven't done it yet, but I hate putting the trans in separately so I'd vote for one piece installation if you have a system that can adjust the angle and let you stab it into the car.

 

[tdskip]

I agree it would be easier to put them together outside of the car, but haven't actually done this yet. Randy - would an Oberg give you enough angle?

 

[TR3driver]

Definitely assemble engine & trans first, then insert as a unit.

Haven't used the Oberg myself, but lots of folks seem to like it. In the past, I've just used a log chain through the hoist hook, and drop a punch through a link to hold the angle. More recently I tried out the tilt gizmo from HF with the long bar and forcing screw to move the hook along the bar. Worked OK, but tough to arrange so the crank didn't hit something.

 

[CinneaghTR]

I agree it would be easier to put them together outside of the car, but haven't actually done this yet. Randy - would an Oberg give you enough angle?

If you decide on the Oberg, this was the best price I found a few months back when I bought Dear Old Dad one for Christmas:

https://www.primetimesolutions.com/index....ELAID=241950182

 

[TR4nut]

I went the Harbor Freight tilt gizmo Randall mentioned. Worked fine on the 3A, but the angle wasn't very severe at all so didn't really acid test it.

 

[Rhodyspit75]

Definitly as unit. I put my Spitfire motor and trans back in in about 20 minutes alone. Of course the Spitfire is wide open. If you don't have any kind of tilt device, just get it an approximate angle and once it is partially in have someone inside grab the tailshaft and guide it while you lower the motor and roll the car forward. I have to admit I didn't even know what an Oberg was until 2 minutes ago.

 

[TR3driver]

One nice thing about the HF gizmo is that it lets you get the hoist arm down closer to the engine block. I bought it for the Stag to (hopefully) be able to pull it inside the garage.

 

[doughairfield]

Great thanks for all the replies. I've got a lifting strap that is pretty forgiving for tilting the motor forwards or back to get the angle right, i'll give that a shot before I invest in the Oberg.

 

[MGTF1250Dave]

Aloha Doug,

Here is a dissenting position. Recently my son and I removed an engine and gearbox from my TR3A and replaced them with another engine and gear box. We removed and replaced each item separately.

We removed the gearbox first through the inside of the passenger compartment and then the engine. A floor jack was used to hold and adjust the height of the rear of the engine while removing the gear box. The front of the car was raised on jack stands to allow access under the car. Jacking up the rear of the engine, while avoiding crashing into the throttle shaft and bulkhead, the rear of the gearbox can be raised enough slide it back free of the engine. With one person under the car to support the gear box and another in the car it was easy to lift clear and out of the car through the passenger side. The seats and of course the gear box cover were removed

The front cowling and bonnet were removed to pull the engine. We found that removing all of the front motor mount bolts and nuts allowed for more range of motion in removing the engine. We could move it forward with out needing to tilt the engine much.

Installation of engine and gearbox was done in reverse order. The front motor mounts were loosely bolted to the engine front plate. This allows you to slide the engine into place and line up the motor mounts with the bolt holes in the frame. Aligning the input shaft with the clutch can be harder this way, but not impossible.

We had and shop crane (engine hoist) and a load leveler which helped greatly. Additionally we had a floor jack and jack stands.