Scott asks:
> My piston-replacement question has to do with the choice of pulling
> the motor (what? again?) or dropping the pan and pushing the piston
> and rod up out of the deck of the block with the motor still bolted
> to the bellhousing.
>
Frankly, that decision would depend on the mood of the day; can I tolerate
a quart of Castrol's finest in my face? :>
> I'm not looking forward to pulling the motor -- it's such a chore --
> but I'm really a phobe when it comes to lying all the way under the
> car, in a position as would be required for removing the pan (not
> to mention the rods). Every wobble makes me think the car is going
> to fall on me. And I further understand that a few of the oil pan
> bolts, those occluded by the crossmember, are almost impossible to
> remove.
On chrome bumpered cars, The forward five bolts (especially the two corners)
are hard to get out, but an absolute bloody bitch to get back in. Subframe
to bolt clearance is nil by the time the bolt is wound out. This can be
avoided to some extent by cutting loose the engine mounts and picking the
block up as high as possible. The posession of a 1/4' drive 7/16 "wiggler"
socket (shallow socket and u-joint as a single unit) helps considerably,
too.
>
> So my question is for anyone who has dropped the pan on an MGB and
> removed one or more pistons without removing the block:
>
> How ugly a job is it? How far up do you have to get the car? What
> kind of jackstands did you use? What would you do differently if you
> had to do it again?
>
Ugly: Very. :> Besides the fore-mentioned dripping and bolts, you have to
deal with things like scraping pan gasket pieces and torquing bearing caps
upside down on your back.
How high: high enough for you to get comfortably under the car with room
to swing a ratchet and a hammer.
Jack stands: I will use *only* the four-legged ratcheting type in matched
pairs. No tripods, no pin-though-the-hole games. I much prefer the 5-ton
16 inch high truck stands, as the base is much wider (stable) and you don't
have to extend the ratchet part to get a decent working height. The 2-ton
12 inch models are acceptable, as long as you have a level working surface,
and are available cheap from most discount warehouses. My local (east coast)
PriceCo has them for like $25 a pair.
> Thanks for any advice, encouragement, or data you can provide.
Look again at pulling the engine out. You already have the coolant drained,
and the manifolds and head off. To get the pan off you'll need to disconnect
the engine mounts and two lower bellhousing bolts. Another 27 bolts/nuts,
one water hose, two oil hoses, three electrical plugs, and you can set
the short block on the ground. Since the head and manifolds aren't there,
and don't need to be there on installation, the unit will be much smaller
and lighter; more controllable. Also, this job doesn't require removal of
the clutch, so alignment wouldn't be a problem.
>
> --Scott
Randy
randy@taylor.wyvern.com
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