Dropping Oil Pan - Can I Remove ONE Motor Mount?

MarcZ · 07-09-2007, 12:52:58 AM

So I am dropping my oil pan to get all the sludge out real good and also to see what I can do to get the drain plug bolt out....the problem is whoever had the car before my friend (he did nothing to the car) messed it up real bad, I tried everything the bolt won't budge.

Anyways, I learned that the motor mounts are slightly in the way of me dropping the pan. Right now I have every bolt but one off the oil pan and it is just siitng there, being help up by the mounts on each side....my question is, is there a way to safely remove one of the engine mounts so that I can slide the pan out, while somehow holding the engine up (possibly with a floor jack in the back of the engine where tranny meets motor)???

K5JMP · 07-09-2007, 01:06:40 AM

Place a floor jack under the harmonic balancer/pulleys with a block of wood in between so you don't damage the pulleys... ask me how I know about that one.. LOL

! If you lift from the middle of the motor you might crack the bellhousing on the transmission... might, not for sure... but why take chances?

Pull the bolts on both motor mounts and carefully jack the motor up until the pan will slide out. Pay close attention to the dizzy to firewall clearance while jackin the motor up.

Personally I would just get a different pan from a junkyard rather than trying to repair the old drain plug. Used pans are plentiful and cheap.... and new stock replacement pans don't cost a lot either.

MarcZ · 07-09-2007, 01:49:37 AM

Hey, there's a thought on the pan....thanks! Though it is really just a bolt....maybe if I can have more room to work with the pan out I can get it out and get a new bolt. Then again, buying a new pan is better than having to clean an old one!

Marks71BB · 07-09-2007, 02:20:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarcZ

, buying a new pan is better than having to clean an old one!

And still having to mess with the stripped drain plug!!

327 BlackBird · 07-09-2007, 02:45:15 AM

Or spend a few more clams and purchase a Nice Moroso deep sump pan. Seeing as how it's a project car, that would be a fine purchase!

Toomanyhobbys · 07-09-2007, 09:58:01 AM

Pull the dizzy cap, mucho easier. also you might have to unbolt the fuel lines and exhaust. You will also have to pull the fan or fan shroud, depending on your setup

pdq67 · 07-09-2007, 11:20:58 PM

I think clocking the damper's timing mark at 5:00 O-clock will help you b/c I think the front counterweights are up top so there's more crank clearance.

pdq67

MarcZ · 07-10-2007, 02:23:52 AM

My god this is ridiculous....NOTHING is working out. I could only get off one of the engine mounts, the passenger side one has a bolt in it that cannot be reached, but I did not try to unbolt it from the frame, only the engine side. I tried raising it a bit with the driver's side mount unbolted from the engine side, but it didn't seem to help, it actually dropped for some reason on the driver's side and now I can't get it back up to line up with the engine mount bolt holes.

Tomorrow I will try to unbolt the passenger side mount to see if that will help me in raising the engine more (i think that one side being mounted was hindering me. Right now the drivers side is being supported by my floor jack.

Also, should I lower the car? It's on jackstands right now, and I think my floor jack is almost all the way up which is probably another reason why it is not jacking the engine up high enough to line up with the bolt holes.

shortyforty · 07-10-2007, 12:23:32 PM

I just did this on our 71.

The manual says to remove the 2 engine to frame bolts and raise the motor 3 inches with a jack under the pan (use a block of wood to not damage the pan) and place 3 inch wooden blocks between the seperated mounts.

I used my engine hoist with a chain in the front of the heads instead of a jack and blocks. Kept my eye on the distributor while rasing it up. Didn't have to remove the exhaust, but the starter and bottom bell housing sheild had to come off.

Came out with no trouble at all. Turned out to be easier than I thought it was going to be.

K5JMP · 07-10-2007, 12:34:45 PM

Drop the starter to get at the passenger-side motor-mount bolt.

MarcZ · 07-10-2007, 06:23:00 PM

already had before I posted...there's one last pan bolt under the mount that I cannot get to without taking the mount off. I got one bolt off on the pass. side, working on the other....they are in an extremely tight space under the frame, I've had quite a time holding the nut inside the frame while trying to turn the bolt on top.....would be a lot easier with a helper, if I had one.

Thanks for the help you guys....nothing ever goes right for me when I do any mechanical work.

MarcZ · 07-11-2007, 12:12:04 AM

The engine fell on the frame/crossmember, maybe the pan shielded the fall, now I can't get it back to line up with either sides mount holes. The pass side of the engine looks dented, don't know if they were there before. I don't know what to do. I want to cry.

Mwilson · 07-11-2007, 08:08:20 AM

Be careful I bent my crankshaft lifting from the harmonic balancer before, If at all possible Id lift from above with a hoist.

rindoze · 07-11-2007, 09:55:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarcZ

The pass side of the engine looks dented, don't know if they were there before. I don't know what to do. I want to cry.

You talkin bout the engine block or the pan? Cause the engine block is cast iron and doesn't really dent just cracks. I know it's kinda late to say but what you shoulda done was get the car on a lift, raise it up, unzip the bolts that go through the motor mounts, then put a tranny lift or somethin similar on the front of the engine and raise it till the oil pan clears the crossmember. And you may need to remove the pickup tube for the pan to slide off, I had to on my motor but I had a racing pan with a side kickout.

K5JMP · 07-11-2007, 10:13:10 AM

That sucks. Can you post-up a few pics? Might not be as bad as you think...