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MG MGB Technical - Engine removal

Hi all

I need to remove my engine to change the clutch release bearing and clutch in general.

To do this, I want to/need to strip out the engine bay to remove all of the parts. Do I need to remove the dashboard in order to do this, for example to remove the heater console?

Many thanks,

Matt
M Gifford

Matt,

If you are changing the clutch you don't "need" to remove things such as the heater console. Removing the engine is pretty easy and comfortably achievable in an afternoon. Of course, if you "want" to clean up the entire engine bay while you are at it then that is different, but remember that a days job will instead result in the car being off the road for weeks or months! Beware of the "might as well" monster!!

Iain

PS Heater console is much easier to remove after the engine is out.
I D Cameron

Brilliant, thanks Iain. :)

So, would the dash need to come out before I started stripping things out of the engine bay? I'm very wary of all of the connections and cables to the dash displays, etc

Cheers
M Gifford

Hey Matt, You do not have to remove the dash. The hard part is getting the heater control cable to go bac in and still work easily. When I put mine back it took three tries, with the dash out. BTW, I left the bolt out that goes under the fan motor. To much PITA getting it in & out. Beware the MG quicksand! Regards, Tom
Tom

Matt, you don't need to touch the dash.

Haynes actually has a decent guide, or if you search the archives on this site people have gone through it step by step. It can be done either leaving the box in place or pulling together with the engine. Either works, I prefer leaving the box in place. Read the archives and work out the pros and cons and then decide what you want to do. Don't need to touch anything inside the car, except the gearlever if pulling box.

Good luck!

Cheers
Iain
http://www.mymgb.co.uk/engine.htm
I D Cameron

Regarding the heater control wire, I left it attached to the valve and removed the valve from the block instead. It is a bit tricky, but with just the right spanner can be done!

When you first start to lift the engine take time to look around and make sure everything is disconnected!! A couple of time I have struggled to find something has been overlooked!

Iain
I D Cameron

Matt-
Pulling the engine out of the car need not be an exercise in fear. Get at least one friend to help out, as it is not an easy job on your own. Although it may seem that the removal would be easier if the engine and transmission were separated while still in the car, the easiest way is to pull the engine and transmission as one unit with your engine hoist located directly in front of the car. It is possible to pull the engine separately, but to do so incurs the risk of damaging the first motion shaft of the transmission. In addition, realigning the engine with the transmission still in place can be maddening.

First, disconnect the ground (earth) on the battery. Remove the gearshift lever (gear change lever) surround, raise the gearlever boot, then unscrew the gearshift lever (gear change lever) retaining bolts and lift out the gearshift lever (gear change lever). Drain the oil from the sump and disconnect the oil cooler hoses (flexible pipes) from both the engine block and the oil filter stand, and then disconnect the oil pressure gauge hose (flexible pipe) from the engine. Disconnect both the throttle and choke (mixture control) cables, then disconnect the fuel lines from the carburettors. Remove the carburettors and intake manifold as a single unit, along with the exhaust manifold, fan, distributor, alternator, heater valve, hot water pipe, hot water hoses (flexible pipes) and oil filter stand in order to lessen the total amount of weight to be moved about and to protect these components from being damaged. If your engine is equipped with antipollution equipment, it should also be removed prior to attempting to remove the engine from the car. Drain the coolant from the radiator and, if you are fortunate enough to have a petcock installed onto the side of your engine, drain the engine block as well. Next, disconnect the thermal transmitter for the coolant temperature gauge, and then disconnect the coolant hoses (flexible pipes) from the coolant pump and the water outlet elbow. Now, crawl under the car. Do not forget to disconnect the front mounting bracket for the exhaust system located on the bell housing of the transmission and to remove the grounding strap. Chrome Bumper models had the ground strap on one of the front motor mounts where it connected the engine front plate to the chassis. The Rubber Bumper cars had their grounding strap on the right transmission mount where it connects from the forward bolt holding the transmission mount to the transmission and the transmission crossmember. While you are under the car, remove both the electric starter and its solenoid, disconnect the clutch slave cylinder hydraulic hose (flexible pipe) and then remove the clutch slave cylinder from the bellhousing, as well as the speedometer drive cable from the main gearbox casing. Next, disconnect the driveshaft (propeller shaft) as well, and then disconnect the electrical connections of the solenoid on the overdrive. Crawl out from under the car and then loosen the 3/8”-18 UNC bolts of the front motor mounts, then remove the gearshift knob and the shift boot retainer plate. Be aware that ¼ x 28 (fine thread) x ½” PoziDriv round head machine screws are used to attach the transmission tunnel cover to the transmission tunnel. The original screws are not Phillips head screws, although commonly mistaken for such. Be warned that if you use a Phillips head screwdriver, you will chew the heads up. If this mistake has already been made, replacements can be found at these firms: McMaster-Carr at: http://www.mcmaster.com/ , MSC at: http://www.mscdirect.com/ , or Metric Multistandard Components Corp at: http://www.metricmcc.com . Remind yourself of how much fun you are having, then crawl back under the car, and remove the bolts that secure the rear transmission mount to the underside of the car. Now, crawl back out from under the car and whistle a happy tune as you proceed to remove the 4 bolts that secure the oil cooler, and then remove the bolts that secure the radiator diaphragm. Remove both the radiator and the radiator diaphragm, along with the oil cooler and its hoses (flexible pipes) in order to give more room in which to maneuver the engine/transmission package and to decrease the angle to which the engine/transmission package must be tilted, making it extraction from the engine compartment much easier. This will also avoid damage to the radiator. Raising the rear axle of the car up about 8 to 12 inches on jackstands will allow the tail end of the transmission to drop down lower and give you a better relative angle. Beg, borrow, or buy an Oberg Tilt Lift load leveler mechanism so that you can alter the angle of the engine in order to allow maximum maneuverability as you lift it in cramped quarters and make the extraction much, much easier. You might feel that it is an unnecessary luxury, but it is worth every cent not to scratch up your paint or dent and/or crease the sheetmetal inside the engine compartment. This is why professional shops always have a load leveler for removing engines!

Removing the fan from the engine is a good idea if you are using a mobile engine hoist, as on some types of mobile engine hoist the fan can catch on it and be damaged. Place the base of the mobile engine hoist as close as possible to the engine bay and do not extend the arm of the mobile engine hoist any further than is necessary. Use the rocker arm studs as lift points only if you are certain that they are Original Equipment items as some of the replacement studs nowadays are of dubious quality. Most failures will occur as a load is applied at an angle to an attachment point, so make those attachments strong, or, better yet, make them nonexistent by using a sling. Although some use a length of chain enclosed in a bicycle inner tube, I prefer to lift the engine with a strap of heavy nylon webbing. Not only is it strong and easy to undo knots from, but its greater surface area in contact with the engine block makes slippage less likely to occur and it is less likely to damage paint. Pass the strap between the engine and its backplate, cross it over above the rocker cover and loop it under the coolant pump, and then tie the ends off with a simple square knot above the engine. With the hook placed behind the knot, it will not slip backwards, plus the square knot is self-tightening and will not slip either. Always remember the cardinal rule to never, ever, put any part of your body anywhere below a suspended motor.
Steve S.

I disagree that it is easier to pull the engine and box together. I had loads more issues when pulling both, not least undoing all those bolts that only need undone to take the box out. You can just leave things like the gearbox mounting alone in leaving the box in. In particular, pulling the engine on it's own is easily a one man job. I agree that with the box attached then it becomes very useful to have a second person there. You will not damage the first motion shaft unless you are downright careless. Just use a jack under the box to support this and don't let the engine weight hang off the shaft.

As I said, everyone swears by one method or the other! Read the archives and you can find out different peoples experience and lots of tips.

Cheers
Iain
I D Cameron

I agree with Iain, it'll take a minute or two to align engine and gearbox, plus another ten to do up the bolts. It avoids a shed-load of work in getting the gearbox out - not least of which is getting the propshaft off!

I disagree about the heater wire, I think it more hassle to remove the valve (which is difficult to get off, and to seal again) then to fiddle with the control cable.

Steve's method is really over complicated. No need to remove ancillaries, weight is tiny compared to the block and you will only damage them if you are careless. I like the bit that says you need to remove the radiator to avoid damage! I'd like to see pictures of someone taking the engine out of a B with the radiator still in place!!!

Follow what is says in Haynes manual. Radiator and oil cooler (plus pipes) need to come out, cables and wires need to be disconnected. The starter needs to come off, as do the manifolds, fuel pipes and breathers.

Use two strops, proper length, don't risk chains or knots or ropes. A load leveller is not necessary with the engine only, a mate and a piece of 2x2 is cheaper and more effective.

You need to tie the bonnet open (disconnect the bonnet prop) to get enough clearance to get the hoist in.

FWIW,

N
Neil22

When mating the engine and tranny back up when installing the engine, I found it helpful to jack one rear wheel up and rotate it slowly in 4th gear till the splines line up - the 3 times I have removed the lump without the gearbox, this helped the two mate easily.
I don't remove the gearbox unless I need to. Its kind of fiddly to get the crossmember back together. If not for that I would think its a wash.
Erick Vesterback

I've never removed the engine and tranny as one unit. I guess I was just afraid of the load of both hovering over my car. Mating the engine to the tranny while on a hoist can be a bit tricky unless you get the clutch alignment tool. It should be available from Moss and such for a few dollars. I bought mine decades ago so haven't looked lately. When you attach the new clutch and tighten it all up, the alignment tool keeps the plate in line with the cranksahft opening for the transmission drive. If you're off a little bit, you'll never mate them up. It has saved countless hours of alignment headaches that I experienced prior to buying it.
Rick Penland

It's relatively easy to take out the radiator, oil-cooler and radiator diaphragm as a single unit on chrome bumper cars, but it isn't necessary to remove the oil-cooler where it is underslung. This means undoing the hoses from the cooler if you want to get those out of the way, but that can damage the cooler so probably best left in-situ, along with the diaphragm. I have a 79 clutch to do next week and am contemplating leaving the radiator in-situ as well as there is so much room between it and the front of the engine. We shall see.
Paul Hunt

Paul,
One slip and you're £100 down! It may well be possible to get the engine out from a RB with the radiator in place - but the gearbox too???
Neil
neil22

Oh no, engine only, which is the way I'd decided to go.
Paul Hunt

One thing that bothers me removing the engine only (even though that's what I've decided to do) is that until you have the engine parted from the gearbox you have no idea which way it wants to tilt hanging from the hoist. With the best will in the world you are unlikely to get the front and rear straps exact, and even if you have a leveller you won't know which way to adjust this to get the correct balance for a square pull of the engine off the first motion shaft. If you use a single strap that is also unlikely to slip round to give an even tension on both front and rear portions. The only thing I can think of is *slackening* the bell-housing bolts and tweaking the straps until I can push the engine back and fore, which should indicate they are inline, whilst there is the maximum amount of first-motion shaft engaged as well as all the bolts to limit how much bend there can be between the two.

Any other suggestions?

Apart from remove both together!?

Paul Hunt

Paul,

I pull RB engines without taking out the rad - no problem.

I use a pair of standard BMC lifting eyes on the rocker cover posts and run a loop of webbing between them - the crane hook goes on the middle of the loop and as you lift the engine off the front mounts the loop self adjusts - once the gearbox bellhousing hits the top of the tunnel, stop lifting and jack under the bellhousing to support the gearbox.

Then a straight pull forwards will slide the engine straight off the input shaft.
Chris at Octarine Services

Thanks Cris but unfortunately no lifting eyes. I *suppose* I could lift it by the rocker shaft as I saw someone do (Dream Machine MGB rebuild I think) but just don't fancy that. I'll have to do it with a strap under the engine in a double-loop, lift off the front mounts as you say, then test the 'twang' to see if the tension front and rear is about the same.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 02/06/2008 and 09/06/2008

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