25 replies to this topic

[markmail]

Hi everyone,

what's the easiest way to remove the engine from a mini? I have a haynes mini workshop manual, but the steps described in the manual is not very clear~ i guess it'd be easier to follow the steps from people who actually done it :grin:

i have disconnected the heater hose and rained the radiator, what should i do next? can anyone briefly guide me thru the steps.~ (by the way, i don't have a engine hoist) thanks :tongue:

[clubman_dan]

when i took the engine out of mine this is how i did it.
take off the speedo cable, throttle and choke cables.
take of the clutch slave cylinder.
make sure all the wiring attached to the engine is removed.
i took the carb and head off (cover the top of the engine to protect the bores).
i cant remember if i removed the rad.
drain oil and water
disconect the gear linkage.
then i undid all the subframe moutning bolts and me and my friend jack the car up and rolled the whole lot out in one piece and the pushed it in to the garage.
i ithink thats everything i did, i'm sure someone else will correct it/ offer a better way!
DAN
*edit* dont forget to disconect the steering rack form the hubs as well

[minimadjonesy]

Take the radiator, Alternator and dizzy off the engine. disconnect the exhaust at the manifold end and remove the inlet and exhaust manifolds.
disconnect all wires from engine components and any connectors to dash instruments.
unbolt slave cylinder
Disconnect the gear linkage - 1 bolt and 1 drift pin
undo the engine mout bolts (top steady, ulitmate steady if you have one and bottom mounts!
Lift out engine using crane or a couple of bloody great big friends!

Make sure that as you lif it out you disconnect the speedo cable from the gear box!!
and if you have oil coolers etc they need to be unbolted too.
Also, a lot of people have air horns mounted in the engin bay! take them out if you want to keep them! and engine breaks then real easy when it bumps into them!

[markmail]

is it necessary to take the head off?? im not going to work on the engine~ I just want to respray the whole car and give it a new interior~ im running on a very limited budget :sad: but i already have some ideas of the new interior~

another question, i know this is what the manual said, but is it really necessary to use new gaskets when u put the engine back together (ie oil pan) ??


by the way, my mini is a 1978 Morris Mini 1000

[minimadjonesy]

No, I never take the head off! I don't even drain the oil! just hoick it out! if you use my method and lift the engine out then you need the head to attach the crane to!

However if you take something off that has a gasket then replace the gasket with a new one and clean the surfaces of the components!

[Guess-Works.com]

I don't even take the rad off and if I can get away with it the carb stays on too...

Things to defintely remove...

Accelerator cable,
Choke cable,
Heater cable,
Heater hoses ( one to head and one to bottom hose )
Top engine steady
Bottom gearbox steady (if fitted)
Clutch slave from housing.
Starter solenoid ( if on inner wing )
Alternator, just gets in the way...
Gearshift mechanism
Exhaust, if LCB the you can just separate it at the Y piece.
drive shafts ( to do this remove top ball joint and lean hub back )
Brake servo (if fitted)

Then lift and separate..

oohh.. and Dizzy cap and rotor arm..

Edited by GuessWorks, 06 October 2005 - 08:31 AM.

[Add_Gee]

minimadjonesy, think you might have a slight issue with the drive shalfs still attached

That was where my skill ran out, so i decided to just drop the whole subframe, steering rack, engine and everything that makes the wheels turn....

[markmail]

is it easier or harder to drop the whole subframe? sounds like a good idea, remove everything in one piece~~ and i might need to repaint the subframe with some rust proof stuff~

[Purple Tom]

its far easier to lift the engine out of the car, rather than drop the subframe.

The best thing to do re: the oil is to drain it out, and pull the pot joints out of the gearbox output, they're on splined fittings held in place with spring clips, usually pop off with a bit of persuasion with a lever, or the correct tool if you have it.

Dropping the subframe involves splitting brake pipes, undoing all the subframe bolts etc etc, not easy.

If done properly you should be able to have an engine out of a car in 2-3 hours maximum. Obviously if it hasn't been out of the car for 30 years, you're going to encounter problems, siezed/dirty/rusty/corroded bolts/threads/fittings etc, but its all small easily replaceable stuff, so if you shear an engine mount bolt its not the end of the world.

With the engine out you can still clean and paint almost 95% of the subframe.

[minimadjonesy]

bugger! Thanks add gee! New I forgot something! they tend to pop out anyway! especially if the Boot has gone on them!

[markmail]

do i need any special tools to pull out the joints?? it seems a bit complicated~~
i will try read the manual tonight and hopefully figure out how to pull the joints apart

i've never pulled any engine out~~ but i do have some basic mechanic skill and common sense :tongue: ~ do u guy think i have enough skills to do it?

by the way, what will happen if i don't drain the oil out??

[stormduck]

It's 5 litres heavier if the oil's still in :smartass:

I've never done it before and i've removed all the engine bay parts ready for the engine to come out, and to be honest, so far it's not difficult at all. I followed the haynes where i needed to particularly in marking the distributor when you remove it so you know how it goes back in! Everything's just nuts and bolts up to the point i'm at, just make sure you have 1/2" and 9/16" long socket pieces, and the same size in spanners. The mini uses imperial measurements a lot of the time and if you get a stuborn bolt using the closest metric socket can round the corners off.

It all sounds a bit too much in words, but once you get out there and start removing things it gets a lot easier.

[DenZal]

it will be heavier by about 4/5 litres lol, its worthwhile doing for the sake of £10 on new oil, i want to remove my engine to clean up and check the engine bay :cool:

[Purple Tom]

also, the pot joints need to be removed (unless you pull the driveshafts out of the pot joints, which almost always requires a special tool!), and its the pot joints that act as the seal face for the diff output seals! Remove the pot joints and oil literally pours out.

To get the joints out, split the top ball joint and trackrod end ball joint, get someone to support the hub in a vertical position (just rotate it slightly so it clears the top arm), then use a lever (pry bar is good) between the diff cover and the joint.

They SHOULD just pop off fairly easily, but if you have problems don't start wacking the lever, because there's a very real risk of causing damage to the diff output shaft end plates if you do this.

If that method doesn't work, then you will probably need the special tool to remove them, or you'll need to pull the driveshaft out of the joint, which again almost certainly will need the special tool, but can be achieved without if you don't mind damaging the pot joint CV boot).

[minimole]

i removed my engine yesterday and i would have got away with leaving the rad and the carb on if my exshaust wasnt in the way i had no way to disconnect it as i t was well and truly stuck i tried everything except cutting it. and i remove the pot joints with 2 screwdrivers