Removing the engine
 

I started to strip my donor (CFi CVH) today with the aid of a haynes sierra owner's workshop manual and thought it best to try and get the engine and gearbox out 1st. I managed to get as far as removing the air and draining the coolant but then started to struggle a bit as I don't know much and trying to learn as i go and what a lot of the parts should look like when the book says remove x from y. Especially with all the hoses that connect into everything! Should I just try and disconnect everything attached to the engine and worry about what they are later when I try to get the engine into the roadster? Or just slowly work through each bit as I get stuck and follow the order the book says? Any suggestions would be appreciated to help out a newbie, stuck at the moment on trying to work out what hose/s are the brake servo that connect to the inlet manifold? (not really sure what the inlet manifold looks like either..)

If you are unsure just take lots of pictures, you will be able to get it out with almost everything still attached anyway, dont worry about the servo on the brakes its not needed for the roadster

If you find by the time you get round to fitting it into your roadster you are stuck a quick photo on here and someone will know where the part in question goes

Just ask TT on here ive never known anyone with as much knowledge on sierras as him :eek:

The inlet manifold is on the opposite side to the exhaust manifold and lets the air into the engine

i would say get the area around the engine clear first, all the wiring, hoses e.c.t out so that when you remove the engine from its mounts i should just come straight out.

like you say this is all new to you so just take your time, sometimes removing things like alternators, manifolds, powersteering pumps, washer bottles and the like first can help, they allow you to see more of whats going on in the engine bay.

i havnt stripped my sierra yet but have done plenty of other cars, sometimes taking the front bumper and radiator off can help as it allows the engine to slide out rather than be lifted

hope this helps

If you have a look at the first gallery in my signature then you can see how I stripped my donor. I would remove any small fragile bits that could be knocked or damaged, but leave big items like manifold and carb in place until you've got the engine out.

If you can the easiest way is to drop the cradle,engine and box in one piece and do the same with the rear axle and strip off the bits you need.

I have done it this way and believe me it saves a boat load of time if you can do it this way,just ask Handy Andy.

Good advice there Paul :)

I seem to remember that when you stripped HandyAndy's donor, you was all done before Andy got back with his van :D

I reckon he was back at his place drinking tea :D

[Brainbug

Grab yourself a roll of masking tape & a permanent marker n label everything you remove .... Even if that means writing numbers or letters if you do not know the components names ;)

As said, if unsure, post a picture on here & help will be forthcoming.

His face was a picture Ronnie he could not speak for at least ten miinutes and walked round the garage shaking his head in disbelief .

Drove in and was dragged out a shell on a chain.

I would loved to have been there .... Andy .... Speechless :eek: :D

Seriously, I spoke to Andy about it at Stoneleigh & he was absolutely gobsmacked that you srtipped it so quickly.

That's where a lifetime of professional knowledge helps :cool:

I don't envy you mate, done a lot of major work in my time but never in an against the clock enviroment ;)

To be honest, I,m still in awe of how quickly Paul stripped my donor :eek: Paul did an amazing job, I hardly got my hands dirty at all, I spent more time sweeping & mopping up than holding a spanner ,

Paul is telling it how it was, drove the car into the workshop at 8.15am & towed the shell out on its floorpan at 4pm with everything I needed from it in the back of my van .

Brainbug, enjoy the strip down, take lots of photos, especially of the fuel & coolant pipes around the engine, will help later on in your build.

cheers
andy

All you ford guys are very lucky!
It took me allmost 2 days to strip the skyline of its valuables! Worst bit on the gearbox was the fact that it was 4x4 so had tons of extra stuff attatched all over. And front driveshafts were a complete pain to remove. I put the engine and box on some scales and it came to 242kg >_< and also broke the scales.

Anyhow like the guys said just take loads and loads of photos. Also when you remove plugs from bits put stickers on the wires and the plugs they came from and lable them. This will help loads later down the road. Also get a load of old takeaway box's and stick lables on them with what bolts are from what bits. i have about 20 tubs full of labled nuts,bolts and bits. This will also save you a massive amount of time later. (can also put some cleaning solution in them as well!) oh and did i say take more pictures?

As a rule i try and go around the hole engine and gearbox removing everything thats connecting them to the shell, then remove the engine. after that collect the wires and anything else thats handy. But i try and leave any of the tubes connecting bits of the engine to other bits of the engine on. Its a bit different from my engine as with the turbo and intercooler pipes it added a load of extra junk.

Hope that helped a little.