Firstfives.org

Is pulling the hood / bonnet ( with an assistant ) a big deal ? Seems I read a post or two expressing complications.

If the rear of the engine uses the bell housing, trans and that cross member for support, how does one go about supporting the rear of the engine without those things in place ? As in up on hoist, pull that stuff, then what, to lower car, engine to hook up the puller ?

Reinstalling it is something of a hassle, but pulling it isn't too bad. The installation problem is the spring loaded brackets it mounts to in front want to spring all the way forward. So you have to figure out a way to keep them vertical. I stick a small punch in one of the holes and it then presses against the top of the grill area. Bit of a pain, but not over the top.

On the last pull, I took the engine and trans together. Put the front up on good jack stands. Use a floor jack to support the rear of the trans. Take your time and use the hoist and jack together to manipulate the engine/trans up and out. It will come out almost vertical. You may need to lower the car to clear the front. Watch that the engine doesn't swing back into the windshield. One of those slider bars that attaches to the hoist helps a lot with changing the attitude of the engine, but it can be done with out it (I don't have one). Good stuff in the FAQ also.

I pulled my hood off and re-installed recently. The only problem I had was that my trusty helper had to go away the night it had to go back on and it is really heavy. Apart from that, it was pretty easy. I jammed plenty of rags between the mounts and the front and laid them out on the wings to avoid scratches. Getting the alignment spot-on was a little fiddly.

Cheers