Porsche 911 Engine Re-Installation
This is the final journey from the engine stand back to the engine bay.
If you recall, I originally lifted my engine from the floor to the engine stand using ratchet straps. This was pretty sketchy (and not recommended), but it worked because I had fine motion control of the straps in the tightening direction (upward). Not so in the loosening direction (downward)! For this purpose I decided to pick up a chain hoist. I had never used one before and lowering my fully dressed engine onto my motorcycle jack was a breeze.
Stuck the landing with no problem. Next time I do this Ill gladly rent an engine hoist (cherry picker) for a weekend and/or get a stand with jack clearance directly below.
I broke down my stand and stored it for the next rebuild. Thank you for your service little stand.
Then I mated the gearbox and engine. I made sure the throwout fork was in the groove of the throwout bearing.
I scrubbed off my dirty old Bosch starter and slapped it back on. Apparently there are much lighter high-torque starters nowadays so maybe that’s something to think about once the car is running. The starter can be replaced with the engine and gearbox in the car.
At long last this is ready to go back into the car.
I took a second to admire the powertrain before me and recall the countless hours I put into getting it to its current state:
Since I did all the additional mechanical stuff on the car while the engine was being rebuilt I had the car raised pretty high and horizontal. This was high enough to clear my CIS boot and roll it under the car with no problem.
Once the engine and gearbox were safely tucked under the engine bay, I slowly raised them, trying to keep both units as horizontal as possible to maintain stability.
Unfortunately my motorcycle jack didn’t have enough vertical travel to bolt the engine and gearbox in one go, so I had to prop it on blocks while I swapped out a bigger block under the engine to pick it up higher. Engine Tetris of sorts. 🙂
As I slowly raised the engine and gearbox, switching back and forth between the two jacks, I had to make sure the shift rod at the front of the gearbox cleared the bulkhead enough to be raised into its final position, then the entire engine and gearbox rolled forward to put the rod into the center tunnel hole and the two engine and two gearbox mounting points to line up on the car.
This worked like a charm and after making sure nothing was pinched between the engine tin and engine bay I was able to bolt the engine and gearbox in with no issues.
Everything has been smooth sailing up to now, but next time we will cover a common problem with engine and gearbox installations that was not a fun experience. 🙁