• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Wedge Tr8 engine removal question.

Share this page

I had this discussion before. (Couldn't find it in the archives)
Pull it from the bottom. Not to hard I hear. There is a guy here who I am gonna borrow his little lift to do mine. Basically unbolt suspension undo wiring and plumbing and lift the front end and pull it out the front
 
Two ways to pull the engine: You can drop the engine/transmission assembly with the front subframe, or you can pull the engine and transmission from the top. I know some have separated the engine and transmission before pulling, but I think the preferred method is to pull them together. Lots of resources online if you do a Google search.
 
On the 8 I used to have, I pulled it out the top with the trans attached. I put the rear of the car waay up on jackstands to do it. I just found a pic of the motor coming out

TR8Motor1.jpg
 
Hoo-boy! Flashback! That's how I did the one I had as well. Raising the back end is somehow counter-intuitive, but definitely makes a difference.
 
You can pull it out the top. but it's more work with the potential to do some damage. In order to get the engine out the top, you have to remove everything from the front of the engine. This is so you can clear the overhang under the front of the hood. Your best bet is to remove the hood, raise the car onto tall jack stands, remove the radiator, remove the shifter from inside the car, disconnect brake hoses, fuel line, clutch hose, throttle cable, speedo cable, ground straps, electrical connections, and steering shaft. Then you unbolt the four subframe mounting bolts, trans mount, driveshaft, and strut top mount bolts. Lower the whole assembly out the bottom using an engine crane. You can leave the trans in place if you wish by removing the bell house to engine bolts, but "while your in there", yada yada yada. If your plan is to remove the engine for a rebuild, then your better off tearing it apart inside the engine bay piece by piece, before finally removing the short block. That way all of the attachments to the engine are left dangling sort of in place. Power steering pump is the worst part of the job. Nearly inaccessible mounting bolts. Good luck, it's not that bad of a job, TR7 engines are far more difficult to remove.
 
tr8todd said:
... If your plan is to remove the engine for a rebuild, then your better off tearing it apart inside the engine bay piece by piece, before finally removing the short block. ...
Click to expand...

Kind of like this

DSCF6436.jpg


And this is what it would look like out the bottom

MikeMadden2.jpg
 
Yeah, once you get the heads off, there is hardly any engine left down there!
 
In order to take it out the top, remember you have to drop the radiator to get an impact gun on the bolt securing the crank pulley. Then you need to remove everything from the front and undo all of the bellhousing bolts. Even then, there is barely enough room to pull the engine forward and up out of the opening on top. I used to pull them routinely this way on the race car, but there was no extra stuff in the way, every bolt came apart with ease and I also had a large section of front scuttle cut away. On any TR8 where the engine has never been pulled before, I'd go out the bottom. Removing steel bolts that have set into aluminum for 30 years is easier when the engine is on the ground in front of you.
 
Back
Top