Well almost!!! I worked on the car most of today. The engine is totally disconnected from the rest of the car. Unfortunately it is now early evening and things are a bit too dark to continue with the next stage. I cant see the bulkhead clearly enough in the dim light despite having a couple of good workshop lights. I dont want to cause damage just because I cant see clearly enough! Tomorrow first thing I will commence the lift. I have taken loads of photos already but there more to come to document the car being lifted. I will post up as many as possible later.
Hi ! I hope you are enjoying as much as i am doing this work! At the end you will see that it´s fairly easy , as long as you take some precautions. You will know your car much better! Keep up the good work All the best Vitor
Vitor I have really enjoyed myself with the task. From the time in mid summer when I took the decision to take the engine out I could not wait to get started. The job is now nearly complete and my next target is engine strip for cambelts and a complete engine detail Now I have gone through the disconnection bit, I feel confident that I could get the engine out in a day with a little help. I have learned the hard way especially with jacking, I needed to move the jacks every time I did a task. E.g. I would lift the car to remove the under tray only to find that the jack was in the way of the hand brake fitting, move the jack again, and again........ Eventually I got there. Last spring my car was dealer serviced, it gained an oil leak. I took it back immediately and they tightened the oil tank drain. I just removed the plug today only to find that they had partially stripped the threads and the plug will not go back in No wonder my leak continued, I am not best pleased. I will remove offending part and have a new helicoil fitted. Pics to come when I am too tired to go into the garage. This engine removal stuff has been extremely theraputic, I sleep for hours at night now . P
I have spent the day carefully extracting the engine from the car. The whole rear assembly is now located next to my workbench and I have cleared the workshop ready to strip the engine down. I have a few photos of the main event. The top of the engine is now almost bare. I will start to remove the cam covers during the week to discover if there are any oil leaks coming from that direction. Have any eagle eyed amongst you spotted the deliberate mistake??? I made two korkers. When I removed the bumper I replaced the bolts so the rear would not lift........ noticed it and sorted so continued.......... The rear would still not lift, hmmmmmm I wonder why my exhaust mounting bracket is that shape. The top box is mounted to the chassis while the lower box is mounted to the subframe. Clever that p Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Dear Ferraristi, Great job so far Phil ! Keep posting pix...almost as good as porn....well, almost. Shamile Freeze....Miami Vice !
Well after a cold night a fat club I decided that I would continue with a bit more stripping down I have managed to remove the fuel injection system completely along with the three main wiring looms. I have taken lots of pictures and notes in the inevitable event that I forget what goes where.. I always tried to keep the top of the engine as clean as possible. The first shot just shows how much crud can get into the hidden parts. Here all twelve cylinder inlets are blocked off with blue paper towels as is an oil pipe and the cam cover breathers. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that a Ferrari mechanic has taken the time to shape and polish the inlet tract right through where they split to go to each valve. Lovely job!!! Can anyone tell me what the threaded lugs are for (see yellow arrows), Can I lift the engine using them? Fortunately Ferrari managed to design the fuel injection system and distributers into one simple unit as shown in the second photo. Once the injector pipes are loosened it is a fairly easy job to lift the whole assembly out. There is now a whole load of work required to get all the parts clean or replaced. Most parts still look in good condition with no perceivable wear. In the third photo the cams are visible here and all marked up ready for new belts. I need to find out from someone how to check the belt tensioners and if they need changing. I am sure they were done 5,000 miles ago so I may be lucky and not need to change them this time. Good thing is, there are NO oil leaks in this area so I am looking for a loose pipe or leaking gasket now. Back to the garage tomorrow to do a bit more P Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Phil Nice job so far. Your engine looks a lot cleaner than most others I have seen. I am sure I am not going to be the only one to tell you that not replacing the bearings at this stage, is false economy. Keep up the good work. I cant wait to see more pics of yours and get going on mine.
For sure do the bearings. The tensioners themselves are spring loaded and then lock into a static position - they suffer no wear and tear. I pulled 'em, cleaned em, and gave the spring a very, very light coating of lithium grease for corrosion protection and stiction free movement as they set the initial belt preload. Presumably the aging plastic fuel lines are pretty brittle... use caution with any physical movement. Presumably, the TR community will be replacing these en masse one day. Do you intend to clean any of the FI system's internals.... perhaps a few shots of carb cleaner and some lint free rags? Rgds, Vincenzo
Vincenzo, I think I am brave but not that brave. the engine was running fine before the strip down so I think I will chicken out and only do the externals. P
Just want to clarify my statement..... that was not a recommendation. I am however, pondering if there would be any benefit for 'next time'. Keep up the good work - slow and easy. Rgds, Vincenzo
Its posts like this that really impress me and I always ask myself "is this guy a mechanic?" So; Are you a mechanic? B/c if your not, I'm truly impressed !!! So inspiring....
Easyrider, no, I are an enjunear I design avionic systems. But, since being a young lad I have always taken my bike or car to bits out of interest. I luckily managed to buy the very last Lotus Europa Special, Chassis number 74092700P made as you may guess from the number, in September 1974. This was my pride and joy and I cant tell you how it broke my heart when I had to sell it. The Lotus was my last mission. It was a complete down to the last nut and bolt rebuild taking some nine months and included a paint strip down to the jelcoat. I had it resprayed in the original colours of Black with gold pinstripes a la JPS. I have had my Testarossa for just over three years and since I got it I thought that I would like to do my own work. It was only when the reality of realising that my precious Ferrari was just like any other car, very expensive, but mechanically just like any other car, that I decided to stop paying the FPimp (I love that word) and get in there myself. At least doing it my way I have all winter to do the work and detail the engine bay and suspension to my own satisfaction. I may even enter my first concourse event to see how it stands up to the others Once a plan is set it is not too big a job for most people to have a go at. I am not doing anything really complicated, its all in the manual!! And in any case whats the worst that can happen? I have to pay a mechanic to come round and put my error right, and surely it must be almost impossible to get it all wrong. P
This was also one of the reasons I was able to 'rationalize' buying my TR. Systems were still pretty simple for an exotic. I have been up to my elbows in engines and gadgets since my parents gave me my first Craftsman tool set at age 10 or so. So far I have been into the climate control system, fuse panel, and brakes. No issues yet - other than the high price of some parts. I am still a couple years from a major but I plan on doing it myself like Phil, Vitor, and others on this board before when the time comes. It is just a car - a gorgeous, powerful legend of a car! Oh yeah, I am a Ph.D. Chemist by training. Yep, I'm a GEEK!
Hi Phill Great work you doing!!! I just got back from the UK , went to Egham and bought all the parts i need !! Some parts for the water pump are no longer available!! Soon i will post some photos on my thread. Keep up the good work!!! All the best Vitor
Thank you for the inspiration. My next house will have a lift and while not necessary I want to pull the engine on my 3.2 Mondial for ease of service and a proper engine detail. Appreciate you sharing this with us.
This will be your best move. EVER! It is almost a necessity with a Testarossa. It can be done without as you have seen with others. But, if you are limited for space then a lift is the first tool out of the box. P
Phil, Any chance you can weigh the engine assembly before it goes back in? I have not found any published weights. Anyone have some numbers? John
Rifledriver has answered this question in another thread. I haven't been able to find it yet but I believe he said it was 11 to 1200 lbs including the transmission, differential and entire subframe assembly as one unit.
Its bloody heavy!!!!! Dont know what it is but I would agree with Spasso its about 500 kilos or 1,200 pounds. Its no wonder she wants to kick her bum out when you lift off the throttles mid corner If anyone wants some specific pictures please let me know as I am approaching 200 for the removal and engine work. Hopefully I have what you need P Some photos below: 1) The main power connector that disconnects the battery from the engine. 2) Where the throttle cable starts in the engine bay, shown with my fish tank airline already attached to help with rerouting when I rebuild everything later. 3) Yippee, I managed to remove the engine WITHOUT disturbing the critical settings of the gear selector shaft. Many thanks to Vincenzo for this little snippet that hopefully will save hours of frustration later. Sorry for the poor photo but I was on my back at the time with little room to adjust the camera. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Its not that heavy. Never weighed one but a 308 assy is 500lbs, my guess on a boxer type engine would be 600+ lbs. My boxer weighs 400lbs more than my 308 did, the boxer is bigger and heavier as a rolling shell so the powertrain cant be 700lbs more than the 308's.
Is there a thread on that somewhere or was that through PM. I will be doing this job relatively soon and have been compiling some tips on making engine removal easier.
Think Brian thought the entire assy including axle shafts and brake drums with suspension in the basket was near 1200 lbs. Wonder just what the momo by itself weighs, devoid of everything else. BTW....great pix Phil.
Jayf, I think there are a few threads on this topic. All but one suggested removing the bolt as per my picture, and also removing the whole engine side shaft by a link and jam nut. Vincenzo gave me the tip to only remove the end bolt. As long as you can drop the engine and pull rearwards at the same time the shaft will not get in the way. P
