Removing Gearbox - Step 1: Remove Seats

Lotus Twincam: To replace the water pump per the book, you pull the engine/trans, remove the head and pan, replace the water pump, "reverse procedure." You do not have to pull the seats in a Europa anyway.

Already covered the German Ford 2.0 cam R&R shortcut which involves radio removal in another thread.

Spitfire, GT6 and TR6 tranny removal is done the same way as the Land Rover.

907 Lotus dizzy points are done by removing the dizzy. This sounds easy until you see that it is mounted horizontally under the intake manifold. There are unconfirmed reports of manifold R&R for access.

First step in anything 914 Porsche that's engine related except spark plugs and points: raise the car for access. That one also has an ignition timing setting procedure where you have to guesstimate the base timing setting, start the car, hold the engine at IIRC 3000 RPM and set the timing. The problem: if the point gap is even slightly off, your base timing is too but at least on the 1.7 there's no mark for the base timing setting. Aggravating as hell.

Some pre-Shadow Rolls-Royces involved removal of the front wheels and valance panels to change the spark plugs.

And many of Ettore Bugatti's early cars did not have removeable cylinder heads (cast as one piece with the block...no chance of blowing a head gasket!). So, if your Bugatti straight eight needed a valve job, you needed to pull the (roller bearing) crank, rods, pistons, etc to get at the valves.

And the front four oil pan bolts on my MGB are a challenge!

No ignition timing mark of any sort on A-H 100-4s. (?!?!)

Jensenman wrote: Spitfire, GT6 and TR6 tranny removal is done the same way as the Land Rover.

And if you're a goofy 18 year old kid, you can not put the transmission cover back on and drive around with an open hole in your GT6, pretending it's a race car.

Until you drive through a puddle.....

-Rob

Ever read the procedure for doing timing marks on a replacement cam gear for a Spitfire? For the uninitiated: they 1) had no marks 2) had four bolt holes but two bolts, two were 'offset' so you could flip the gear around to compensate for chain stretch or crappy indexing of the sprocket teeth to the bolt holes 3) per the manual, you needed 2 dial indicators, one to find TDC and another to find the centerline of the cam lobes for #1 cylinder. I was always very happy I didn't have to put a new OE gear on one.

See the pop marks on the gear? Those were pretty much only for individual engines.

I knew this was about an old Land Rover before I read the topic :) It's not like it takes a long time to pull the interior out of one of those! Aftermarket frames have removable transmission crossmembers so you don't need to do this if you don't want to.

I've heard from reliable sources that replacing the battery on a BMW 750 IL is a 7 hour job, what with it being under the (full-power) back seat and all. And if you talk to anyone who's dealt with old SAAB's, ask them about the fun involved with replacing the flexible transmission mount bolt. Stand well back when doing this.

Amazingly, the British motoring public put up with quirks like these and even called them fun characterisitics.

The only quirk that comes to mind at the moment is the need to remove the engine on 4 cylinder Fox-bodied cars when any tranny work was needed...at least on the manual trannys, not sure about the automatics.

integraguy wrote: The only quirk that comes to mind at the moment is the need to remove the engine on 4 cylinder Fox-bodied cars when any tranny work was needed...at least on the manual trannys, not sure about the automatics.

Huh? Fox body Mustangs?

Clem

MGAMGB wrote: Sure the seat cushions come out easy - they can't rust (even the British couldn't make vinyl that rusts), but I guess you've never had to remove steel bolts that were bolted into/onto aluminum and then steeped in salt and muck for 35 years. Some of the nuts are even captive - and not through galvanic corrosion, by design.

I put a new frame under my 1967 Land Rover, I'm quite familiar with the process :) I replaced all the fasteners on my floorboards, makes life much easier.

To this day there are MANY passages in Land Rover shop manuals that read "With the help of a trusted assistant..."

MGAMGB wrote:

I remembered another one. On either a Midget or MGA the timing marks are on the bottom front of the engine. Apparently you lay on your back under the car with the timing light pointed at the crank whilst at the same time standing up, leaning over the fender to adjust the distributor.

It was the Midget you had to do that in. However, the workaround was a small mirror laid on the front crossmember with a light shining on it for the initial timing. Thanks to my dad for teaching me that one and why I have a mirror in my toolbox to this day. -Rob

AE92 SR5 - to replace the Auxiliary Accelerator Pump Diaphragm on the carburetor, the easiest method is to detach the exhaust manifold and remove the cylinder head - a testament to the lack of space in the engine bay and sheer number of vacuum lines running to the carb and intake manifold.

MGAMGB wrote:

Keith wrote: I put a new frame under my 1967 Land Rover, I'm quite familiar with the process :) I replaced all the fasteners on my floorboards, makes life much easier.

Do you know Chet aka chetcpo?

Locost builder, right?

The Rover was my first major project car. It taught me a whole lot, especially when it comes to removing recalcitrant fasteners. When we changed the trans, we did it without a hoist - just two guys lifting it out of the truck.

Jensenman wrote: Ever read the procedure for doing timing marks on a replacement cam gear for a Spitfire?

Many times! My 1500 race-Spridget has the same engine. I just had it apart a few months ago. The existing gears have punch-marks and scratches all over them (from the DPO). None make any sense. I'm probably switching to a 1275 this winter (at which point I'll use the adjustable Duplex gearset from Moss....so I'll still need the dial indicactor).

Btw.. that is a SWEET land rover. I really want one. I had an early jeep a while ago, and now want a landy.

That would be me :) Locost, MGB, Series IIa SWB Land Rover, classic Mini, Miatas all over the place, big ol' Cadillac. You know, interesting cars.

Get a friend to help with the trans, it'll be fine.

You have to remove the battery to change the left headlight bulb in an A4 Golf.

IIRC you have diconnect the exhaust and the transmission linkage to change the front sway bar on an EG Civic.

MGAMGB wrote: Any other engineering gems out there?

Yea, try looking at the front suspension of a B5 VW Passat or an Audi A4. Talk about overengineered E36 M3! Can't we just use normal control arms?

NGTD wrote:

MGAMGB wrote: Any other engineering gems out there?

Yea, try looking at the front suspension of a B5 VW Passat or an Audi A4. Talk about overengineered E36 M3! Can't we just use normal control arms?

Ugh, have to help pop change the timing belt, brakes and probably change the O2 sensors in his 98 A4. He's already given up on getting the front crank pulley bolt off with normal tools, so he's probably going to hit up his brother with the forklift service business. Not much longer down the road, we get to service the front suspension. That will be a painful endeavor, no doubt.

how about any heater core in ANY car. (except Yugos)

step 1) remove whole car. step 2) inspect and replace heater core. step 3) put car back together

Im convinced the reason we sold our ford Taurus is because it had a bad heater core...

integraguy wrote: The only quirk that comes to mind at the moment is the need to remove the engine on 4 cylinder Fox-bodied cars when any tranny work was needed...at least on the manual trannys, not sure about the automatics.

Not one with a T-5. I changed the clutch in my SVO in a few hours.

Worst repair I ever did was a timing chain on a 3.4L DOHC Lumina. All those freakin' gears and not a timing mark to be found.

CarKid1989 wrote: step 1) remove whole car.

Hahahahahaha...hahahahahahaha....aaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha.

I laugh because there's a few jobs I think of I've done that I'm certain it would've been easier to disassemble the entire berkeleying car in my driveway than to tear it apart just enough to replace the piece I was trying to replace.

Shift cables on a Saturn and the thermostat on a VG Maxima come to mind...

bamalama wrote: Worst repair I ever did was a timing chain on a 3.4L DOHC Lumina. All those freakin' gears and not a timing mark to be found.

Ah, I remember that one... They trained us to R&R engines in high school with those. Thanks GM for the kind donation of 12 engines to make sure that I would never work for you!

NGTD wrote:

MGAMGB wrote: Any other engineering gems out there?

Yea, try looking at the front suspension of a B5 VW Passat or an Audi A4. Talk about overengineered E36 M3! Can't we just use normal control arms?

IIRC, that's the one you have to align with the suspension hanging. You roll the car onto the alignment machine, use the axle air jacks to raise it until the wheels are off the lift, align to specs and then set it back down. The VW dealer I worked for had to buy a special ($44,000.00!) Hunter alignment machine just for this.