

| Subject: | Re: Dolly for engine removal |
| From: | neil N |
| Date: | Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:30:45 -0800 |
I should add that I used this setup for engine/transmission removal. Not sure if it would help when just taking out engine. Neil. On 11/29/07, neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi all. > > I'm sure this has been done before, but it might bear repeating. > > > If you're a one man show, and have limited room to use floor jack to scoot > the engine back once it's free, this may help. It also helps in that you can > move the engine around more easily. FWIW, I would have removed the handle > from the jack, but this just seemed totally unsafe. > > > Basically you make a dolly that rolls under engine when van still on > ground, and has enough room between rails for floor jack to go underneath > it. > > I made mine this way. Your jack may be different. YMMV! Also this design > is not meant for a lot of use. > > > With jack saddle seated, I measured height from floor to saddle. Mine > turned out to be ~ 6". > > > Each rail of dolly: > > > 2 pieces of 2x4 and a 3/4" piece of plywood at roughly 17" long. Attach 2 > 125 lb rated plastic swivel wheels. (you may want something more substantial > than plastic wheels. You may also want to add a cross member at rear to ends > of rails.) The wheels I bought were ~ 2.5" from bottom of wheel to top of > plate. Whatever you use for material, just make sure you make it so jack > will slide out once dolly is on the ground. > > > Deck: > > > I think it was 18.5" x 15" but for sure is 3/4" plywood. I sized it to > support engine and IIRC, the carrier bar (aka load bar) but for sure not the > exhaust header. I positioned it on rails as such. > > > Here's how I used mine. > > > With van still on the ground, I put dolly and jack under engine and jacked > up dolly to support the engine. I supported the tranny, and removed the > mount and plate it attaches to from frame and tranny. I removed the > fasteners from the engine carrier, and lowered the engine/dolly to the > ground. Then I snuck the jack back to the tranny mount point on frame, > (there's room with other parts removed) jacked up the van, put some jack > stands in there for safety, then I removed the bolts and nuts holding engine > to tranny, wiggled the engine off the tranny, and with some fenaggling, it > rolled out nicely! > > > I had removed some parts from the engine, so you may find there's not > enough lift on your jack to make this possible. Even so, you could add wood > to your jack. As it was, I had to uh, persuade the sheet metal under bumper > so the tower thingy (crankcase breather??) would clear. The body on this van > is scrap so I didn't care. Again, YMMV. > > > The best part is I can roll the engine out to my other van, get the jack > under the dolly again, and with any luck lift it up level with the van and > slide it in! > > > Heh heh. > > > This design is not HD, but should suffice for limited use. I'd recommend > using heftier rubber wheels and adding a cross member at rear to ends of > 2x4. > > > I'll post a pic tomorrow. It's too dark right now. > > > Cheers, > > Neil. > > -- > Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - > "Jaco" (Bustorius) http://web.mac.com/tubaneil > > Engine swap beginings: http://musomuso.googlepages.com/home > -- Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco" (Bustorius) http://web.mac.com/tubaneil Engine swap beginings: http://musomuso.googlepages.com/home
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