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Yea actually split it before u take it out. I forgot that you can actually see the bolts at the top of the gearbox.

Ill have a go at taking the prob and box off in the morning. Are there just 4 bolts holding the prop shaft to the gear box??

Got the heat shields, exhaust manifolds and front pipes off today after some serious effort. Took the bonnet off too and took a right chunk out right below the windscreen Deffo a 2 man job that part

excellent work there! makes me laugh that your stuffing rags in the ports to stop stuff going in the engine, the engines next to worthless and you'll most likely scrap it tbh. atleast it wont have any stray bits in.. lol

if your leaving the g/box in the why take the prop off???
unbolt the starter and take it off. theres two top bell housing bolts, one under the starter, and one at the exhaust side. also theres a tin plate underneath, bolted on the bell housing by two 10mm bolts.

has your engine crane come yet then?

I put the rags in to stop any shit leaking onto the floor to be honest, even though its a mess anyways. Plus the heads in good nick so will prob take it off. Engine crane came today actually!! Gonna go get my engine from work tomora. How easy is it to maneuver the new engine back onto the gear box if i just un-do that without touching the prop? I just assumed that id have to remove the prop to give me some movement in the box to de-attach then re-attach the engines (if that makes any sense what'so-ever)

Spent 2 and a half hours on it this morning and all i got off was the starter motor. How the chuff can you split the box in the car!! Those bolts are on far too tight and in too much of a confined space to move them at all. Is there a super secret technique you guys use or something ?

DrGonzoPOW wrote:Spent 2 and a half hours on it this morning and all i got off was the starter motor. How the chuff can you split the box in the car!! Those bolts are on far too tight and in too much of a confined space to move them at all. Is there a super secret technique you guys use or something ?

Socket and Loooooooong extensions to behind gearbox.

Ben

How long are we talking for that!? Would it just be easier to take it out attached to the engine??

You're talking just over the length of the gearbox. You'll need 2 good size extension bars. The alternative is to undo engine mounts, prop, remove rad etc and then lift the engine % box out from the front of the car. You'll need to remove the bonnet and hang the engine from the hoist with the front higher than the rear. It's awkward but do'able.

Think thats the best option. Bonnet is off and i have plenty of space to move engine/box up and out. The bell-housing bolts are just too fooking tight to budge at the mo

aghhhhhh. no no no. get the ring end of your 19mm spanner on the bolt head. grab another spanner of similar size, the open end of the 19 spanner hook the ring part of the other spanner into it to get more leverage on it.
if youve not got room to do this then stick a jack under the sump (with a bit of wood inbetween) to take the engines weight and remove the engine mount leg off the block on the N/S completely and lower the engine down on the jack. you'll get another half inch inbetween the back of the head and the baulkhead and it very usefully turns a bit too doing this. you should have all the room you need to hook two spanners together doing this!

its all easy!

Cheers, ill have another go tommora

Lol, I had the tight bolts on that 323i I fragged, so I took engine and box out in one go on my own. Was a 20 minute job.. I had the chain shorter on the front then the back.

I can see the logic but then trying to line up the clutch is a complete pain in the ass when you put your engine back in.

I fitted my m50 with the gb attached and it was easy but the engine needed to go in at a right jaunty angle.

Still couldnt get it out by taking one of the mounts off. The bolts are just on too tight for me to get any kind of leverage even with the old spanner trick. Got some help tomora so i rekon its coming out with the box still on.

surprised at that tbh. hmmmm.

Sorry Murran, i have failed you! Got a mechanic mate helpin me tomora so 'should' make some progress

Anyway. The good news is ive moved the engine and the crane works a treat