Swapping engines

[tcoradeschi]

Originally Posted by LoneWolfGal

I'm still alive, still getting things set up at my new place. In the meantime, since putting the car on jack stands will be my first order of business, I've been thinking about how to make the process less frustrating.

Consider the following:
With the floor jack under the rear crossmember, jack up the entire back of the car and place jackstands under the left and right side jacking points (just ahead of the wheel wells) and lower the car onto them.
At the front, jack from just behind the front wheel wells, placing the jack well inboard (you will see a good structural location about 18” in). That will lift the front of the car, at which point you can place jackstands at both of the front jacking points, lower the front of the car and pull the jack out.

In summary, lift the car twice and place four jackstands. Easy easy.

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by piper6909

That should work, but you don't need to do all that. The suspension and body are stiff enough that even if the lift points are off-center, the lean won't be all that much.

Here's a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDA-qI5HsIU

Thanks, Al. That was one of the first videos I watched when I first got the car. I like John Salt's videos.

I've had the car on jack stands four times now, using Salt's (and Tom Coradeschi's) method. Which works fine IF you don't need to elevate the car higher than 14" or so. As Salt observed, when raised at the recommended jacking points, front and rear, the car is higher on one side. There's no way around it.

My jack stands have a maximum height of almost 20", and I want every inch of that, to have enough room to drop the engine and transmission. A 14" jack stand height won't cut it. I can't conceive of any way I can achieve maximum height — on BOTH sides — without using something like my floor jack cross member to lift the car evenly and level, both sides at once. I've been thinking about this problem for a long time and I'm fairly certain my design will do the job.

So I'm going to proceed with fabrication (i.e., cutting the channel to length with a hacksaw) of the floor jack cross member, which I have dubbed "The Lift Master" (patent pending). Any bets on whether it will work?

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by tcoradeschi

Consider the following:
With the floor jack under the rear crossmember, jack up the entire back of the car and place jackstands under the left and right side jacking points (just ahead of the wheel wells) and lower the car onto them.
At the front, jack from just behind the front wheel wells, placing the jack well inboard (you will see a good structural location about 18” in). That will lift the front of the car, at which point you can place jackstands at both of the front jacking points, lower the front of the car and pull the jack out.

In summary, lift the car twice and place four jackstands. Easy easy.

Rereading your post, may I assume by "With the floor jack under the rear crossmember" and "just behind the front wheel wells, placing the jack well inboard (you will see a good structural location about 18” in)," you're referring to the same lift points John Salt used in his video? Otherwise, according to Porsche, damage to the undercarriage can result.

[piper6909]

Originally Posted by LoneWolfGal

Thanks, Al. That was one of the first videos I watched when I first got the car. I like John Salt's videos.

I've had the car on jack stands four times now, using Salt's (and tcoradeschi's) method. Which works fine IF you don't need to elevate the car higher than 14" or so. As Salt observed, when raised at the recommended jacking points, front and rear, the car is higher on one side. There's no way around it.

My jack stands have a maximum height of almost 20", and I want every inch of that, to have enough room to drop the engine and transmission. A 14" jack stand height won't cut it. I can't conceive of any way I can achieve maximum height — on BOTH sides — without using something like my floor jack cross member to lift the car evenly and level, both sides at once. I've been thinking about this problem for a long time and I'm fairly certain my design will do the job.

So I'm going to proceed with fabrication (i.e., cutting the channel to length with a hacksaw) of the floor jack cross member, which I have dubbed "The Lift Master" (patent pending). Any bets on whether it will work?

What's the lift on your jack? if it's about 22-24", then the low side should be at around the 20" you need, and the high side will be more than high enough, naturally. .

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by piper6909

What's the lift on your jack? if it's about 22-24", then the low side should be at around the 20" you need, and the high side will be more than high enough, naturally. .

My floor jack's maximum height is 19.5 inches. My brother's jack is approximately the same. Not enough to raise both sides to 20 inches. I could buy or make tall ramps for all four wheels and stick a platform made of 2x8s or 2x10s under the jack. That's one solution I considered. Constructing the Lift Master™ is even simpler: hacksaw 12 inches off a 48-inch-long steel channel, attach a couple of 5-inch rubber pads .— and it's finished! (Well... my OCD-lite will probably compel me to spray it yellow to match the floor jack, so there's that.) There's adequate clearance to get the Lift Master™ under the front or back with its channel upside down over the jack's pad. The pad will be in the trough, preventing the channel from slipping. The arms will extend out 18 inches (from the jack's centerline) on each side, pads positioned under the lift points.

C'mon, Al — you don't think it's a simple, semi-innovative solution?

Okay, where's Grant?!

[tcoradeschi]

Originally Posted by LoneWolfGal

Rereading your post, may I assume by "With the floor jack under the rear crossmember" and "just behind the front wheel wells, placing the jack well inboard (you will see a good structural location about 18” in)," you're referring to the same lift points John Salt used in his video? Otherwise, according to Porsche, damage to the undercarriage can result.

I can’t say, as I’ve never seen the video. It’s a method I’ve been using since 2006. I put some photos up in a post, probably on the Pelican Parts forum, many years ago…

[LoneWolfGal]

Originally Posted by tcoradeschi

I can’t say, as I’ve never seen the video. It’s a method I’ve been using since 2006. I put some photos up in a post, probably on the Pelican Parts forum, many years ago…

Tom, is there another Pelican Parts forum besides this one? Also, if you want to see Salt's video it can be arranged, assuming you can present proper identification.