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Re: MGA engine removal

To: william.eastman@medtronic.com
Subject: Re: MGA engine removal
From: bk996@freenet.carleton.ca (Eric R. Stephen)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 10:09:47 -0400 (EDT)
***********************************
Bill:

This almost seems like deja vu!  When I pulled the engine and tranny last
fall, everything you described also occurred in my garage.  Once the
timing chain cover was removed, we had about 1/2" clearance on ht front
brace which was more than enough.  The biggest problem I encountered was
the removal of the tranny support bolt.  Mr. Sawsall made quick work of
that however.  This ewas after we drilled a hole in the tranny cover to
try and knock the bolt free.  My advice to anyone with respect to the
tranny bolt is to order one in advance and save yourself (in my case about
an hour of f*rting around) significant time by cutting the bolt ((2
minutes) and proceeding from there.  This is definately a two person Job!

Eric
***************************************************************************
>
>Mike, my neighbor and fellow MGA owner and I just completed pulling the
>engine out of the A last Monday night.  It was not as easy as the books
>make it sound.  Maybe this A is deformed, but the engine/tranny assembly
>was too long to pull out without considerable adjustments to the Haynes
>procedure.  We did it without pulling the floorboards but I don't know how
>much difference that would have made.  The tranny mount, the fire wall, and
>the front engine compartment brace were positioned such that the tranny was
>wedged between the firewall and the tranny mount before the front of the
>engine cleared the brace (where the bonnet latch is located).
>
>After about 20 minutes of frustration, we started pulling parts off the
>front of the motor.  First we pulled the dog nut and the crank pulley. 
>That helped a bit.  Then we pulled the timing chain cover- the timing marks
>point straight down and are in the way.  This was almost enough.  I went
>back under the car and started fiddling with the tranny position and if
>finally popped out.  Is this typical?  We tried moving the tranny to one
>side of the mounts but there wasn't enough room to allow that much
>angulation of the unit.  The front brace was in the way but the front cowl
>lip was not far behind.  We had to remove all padding up there to get the
>motor out and that was scary indeed since the paint is pretty good.
>
>My concern now is getting it back in.  Any advice on a different technique
>would be greatly appreciated.  This was not an issue about the rig used to
>pull the engine not allowing enough angulation.  The problem was hard parts
>on the car grounding to hard part on the engine.  Luckily I had removed
>most of the ancillaries (manifolds, oil filter and lines, starter,
>generator, dizzy,  motor mounts, etc.) before trying this or who know what
>else would have hit where.  One thing we did find that should have been
>remove but wasn't- the tranny dip stick.  Luckily it straightened out with
>a few loving strokes from the mallet.  The tranny still has three levels of
>full- low, high, and MOWOG.
>
>Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Regards,
>Bill Eastman
>61 MGA and running gear undergoing separation anxiety in the garage.
>
>

--
         ' ' '          Great is the truth and mighty above all things;
      (  o   o )        It endureth and is always strong;
<---ooO---(_)---Ooo---> It liveth and conquereth for ever more.
1960 MGA Roadster       The more thou searchest, the more thou shalt marvel. 

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